The Cycle Age and Trade Review, Vol 24, No 114
Articles in this issue
- The fifth annual cycle and automobile show at Madison Square Garden was dominated by the American Bicycle Company, which occupied 105 of 179 main-floor spaces, while the near-total absence of independent makers drew criticism that the event was far from representative of the industry as a whole.
- Following two months of reported dissatisfaction with the management, A.G. Spalding retired from the presidency of the American Bicycle Company and was replaced by R. Lindsay Coleman, former president of the Western Wheel Works, while Colonel Pope was elected chairman of the board of directors.
- Dallas correspondents reported the most encouraging bicycle trade prospects in the Texas region for several years, helped by a good cotton crop, active road improvement work, and hardware and implement dealers who had withdrawn from the bicycle field, leaving the business to specialist cycle agents.
- The continued description of the Madison Square Garden show covered the A.B.C.'s display policy of pushing its newest models forward while relegating older brands to the background, the automobile exhibit from fifteen makers, and the notable display of tire companies, bell makers, and other sundries firms filling the remaining spaces.
- Despite the large number of new automobile manufacturers announced in recent months, the motor vehicle section of the Madison Square Garden show disappointed experts, with many promised exhibits absent and several of the vehicles shown lacking originality compared to European practice.
- Trade items reported the Patee Bicycle Co. receiving a cable order from Manila, the Cable Cycle Co. working nights on gasoline engines, the Abingdon Cycle Co. of Brooklyn joining the A.B.C., and the incorporation of the Monarch Emery and Corundum Wheel Co. in Camden, New Jersey.
- Two popular but incorrect theories about ball bearing design were dissected and refuted: the sliding friction theory, which had led several designers to costly redesigns based on flawed assumptions, and the twisting action theory, which argued that races must be laid out to prevent any tendency to twisting motion of the balls in revolving.
- Test results from breaking tests on steel balls of the same diameter showed a surprisingly wide range of breaking loads, demonstrating that nominal size and nominal grade were not reliable predictors of actual ball strength and that purchasers needed to rely on supplier reputation rather than specification alone.
- A selection of recent patent allowances was reviewed and found to consist largely of impractical devices that demonstrated their inventors' ignorance of what the trade actually required, including a complicated gear mechanism that aimed to reduce friction by multiplying the number of running parts.
- Recent motor vehicle developments included a new lightweight storage battery design granted a December patent for improved electrolyte circulation, a French high-speed vehicle described in detail by Parisian correspondents, and brief notes on American automobile company incorporations and mergers.
- The one-piece crank hanger by Geo. E. Lloyd and Co. was described in detail, featuring an unusual absence of small screws and nuts, with cups screwing directly into the bracket with a simple locking ring requiring no special tools and a distinctive Nile drop-forged crown exclusive to the company's products.
- The announcement that Zimmerman, Major Taylor, Harry Elkes, Tom Cooper, Earl Kiser, and Arthur Ross would certainly visit France in 1900 created considerable excitement in European racing circles, with Zimmerman's participation the most surprising given he had been long retired from international competition.
- A northern winter cyclist described a moonlit ride along the sub-tropical shores of Lake Worth at Palm Beach under tall coconut palms, continuing to the Anastasia lighthouse via shell roads and bridges, with an admiring account of the old Spanish buildings and fort of St. Augustine.