BICYCLISTS RACE FOR THEIR VERY LIVES - Crack Riders at Mechanics'
Pavilion.
19 Feb 1895, Tue
San Francisco Chronicle (San Francisco, California)
Newspapers.com
BICYCLISTS RACE FOR THEIR VERY LIVES.
Crack Riders at Mechanics' Pavilion.
Osen, Decker and Byrne Are Winners.
Ziegler Got a Fall and Edwards' Friends Take Him From the Track.
Three thousand people and one bulldog saw any number of athletic young men do
fancy things with their wheels at the Mechanics' Pavilion last night. The
people were about the same as they always are at such exhibitions, but it was
different with the bulldog. That animal was grossly misrepresented, and knew
it. It was supposed to be the mascot of the
Bay City Wheelmen, and was clad in a red and old gold blanket bearing a Maltese cross and the
legend "Mike." Despite this masculine tagging, the festive creature has every
reason to believe that she is the mother of several canines, who are very
Corbetts in the annals of dog fighting. That was what hurt "Mike" and kept her
from being as frolicsome as might be, but when things became exciting she
barked just as loudly as if she had not been misrepresented at all.
The 3000 people were there to see the opening races of the first annual meet a
of the
Bicycle Tournament Association of the Pacific Coast, and they saw some beauties. They also saw some very narrow escapes from
broken arms and heads and necks, the result of tumbles which were spectacular
if not fatal.
Stationed in the center of the arena, around which circled the nine-lap track,
tilted at both ends till it resembled a canoe,
Casassa's Band
welcomed the friends of the out-of-town racers with "Huckleberry Do,” in which occurs that charming invitation, "Do your neighbors - good," And
they did before the night was over, and would have "done" them browner bad
they been able. A big
|
FRANK A. BYRNE OF THE IMPERIAL CYCLING
CLUB, WINNER OF THE $200
LOVING CUP.
|
contingent of rooters for the
Garden City Cyclers
and for the
San Jose Road Club
stationed itself early in the game in section K north, and they made Rome howl
on the slightest possible provocation. They had their voices and their canes,
their feet, their horns and their enthusiasm with them, and they turned them
loose all together.
But they did not have things their own way very long - not by a long shot.
Solidly seated in section G at the other end of the Pavilion some 200
enthusiastic supporters of the
Olympic Club's
chances in the meeting developed a lung and cane and foot power that was
simply remarkable.
Say, gee whiz!
Wah, hoo, wah!
Here we are
Olympic wheelmen -
Ha, hoo, hah!
That was the slogan of the believers in the speed of the wearers of the flying
"O," and their belief was very powerful when it approached their clamor in
strength. They had a sort of supplemental yell, used derisively against the
opponents. It was based on that inquiry as to what was the matter with George
Washington and the answer that "he's all right!" invariably was accompanied by
a rhythmical stamping of feet that shook the building, if not the confidence
of the opposition.
Taking the entire crowd of people it was a jolly one, and certainly out to
enjoy the evening's sport. There were all ages and conditions. and they showed
up
|
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RACERS ON THE HIGH BANK CURVE.
|
dressily in the brightness of the electric light. A goodly number of society
people were out, despite the inducements offered at the theaters.
Henry J. Crocker,
who was president of the first horse show, has becoming attached to the
Pavilion, where he made such a success, and occupied a prominent seat near the
tape. His eyes bulged out as he saw the riders cut the banks inclined, at
angles of 90 degrees, and he concluded before it was over that, for real
spirit and dash, burdle jumping is not in it with bicycling. He saw wiry young
men in pink pajamas and greed sweaters take headers from their shining wheels
that beat anything
Talbot Clifton
ever did at tbe the horse show. He was an eyewitness to the fact that more
riders lost more skin off their noses by sudden contact with the track than
Lieutenant Smedberg
did when he plowed that memorable furrow in the tan bark. But Mr. Crocker
evidently liked it, as did the rest of the crowd, for he stayed it out and
applauded just as enthusiastically and as often as anybody.
There were somewhat less than a million starters, timers, umpires, referees
and other officials to obstruct the view of the spectators, and a number of
them had neglected to regulate their wheels at the beginning. They got them
going in unison finally and then the bicyclers got a chance with their wheels.
Five or six hairy-legged young men in highly colored sweaters could be seen
through the crowd of officials around the tape along about 8:30 o'clock, and a
small man with a large pistol could be seen in the rear of the bunch all ready
to pull the trigger. Some of the crowd stopped its ears, there was a parting
of the official group, a flash and a report and the first heat of the one-mile
novice race was on.
There were five heats and sixteen starters, the winners in each to go in the
final, and in each of the five they raced for dear life, collided on their
turns, took tumbles and scraped the track with their shins and noses. Martin
Joost, unattached, losing more cuticle than any one else. Decker won in the
final, after a most exciting race, in a beautiful finish.
The second race, the one-mile invitation, brought out the cracks. There were
Wilbur J. Edwards
of the
Garden Citys, the holder of the mile paced record;
Harbottle
of the
Reliance,
Wells
of the
Bay Citys, who has underpinnings like a Hercules;
Coulter
of the
Olympics;
Ziegler, the San Jose wonder, and half a dozen others. For four heats they fought,
bled and almost died. Ziegler was knocked out of it by his inability to
avoid
Foster on the banks. Several others dropped out of it with broken
wheels, and
Osen
came in a victor amid the cheers of the Garden Citys.
The ten mile, the last race, was a gem, the riding of
Frank Byrne
of the
Imperial Cycle Club,
M. F. Rose
of the
Acmes
and
Ed Chapman
of the
Olympics, who remained in to the last, was not only brilliant but remarkable. They
fairly set the crowd wild with their spurts, and when the race was ended and
Byrne declared the winner, the big audience went fairly wild.
The first race was for one mile for novices and the prizes were three
medals, valued respectively at $25. $15 and $10 each. The first in each heat
qualified for the final, and there were five heats. The entries in the first
heat were
Frank Fuller,
O. C. W.;
Peter Metcalf,
I. C. C., and Edmond Langer, unattached. At the sound of the pistol they dashed
away, with Fuller in the lead, but he was speedily overtaken by Metcalf, who
won easily in 2:37 2-5, while Langer was distanced. After the joyous cries
of the Imperial men had subsided it was ascertained to their regret that
Metcalf had been disqualified for doing as Bellamy did - "looking backward"
- hence, the heat was given to Fuller.
The entries in the second heat were
George Fuller, O. C. W.;
Edward Mauls,
P. V. W., and
Ernest C. Barley, I. C. C. Mauls took the lead at first, but was closely followed by young
Fuller, a lad of 14 years, who made a sprint in the sixth lap and forged
ahead, keeping his advantage to the end, with a record of 2:33 3-5.
Mauls was beaten by at least ten lengths.
A slight change was made in the entries in the third heat, the contestants
being
A. J. Buzard,
C. R. C.; Adam Guenther, unattached, and
F. L. Day,
B. C. W.
Buzard forced the race at first, but Day
finally passed him like a streak of greased lightning and won in 2:36 3-5.
Buzard's time was 2:38 and Guenther wasn't in it.
In the fourth heat the entries were Charles W. Conger. I. C. C.; Charles
Mayer.
C. C. C., and
E. W. Decker,
A. C. W.
Decker was ahead from the start and kept the lead to the finish, winning in
2:40. Conger was second and Mayer was distanced.
In the fifth and last beat the only contestants were
V. A. Benson.
S. J. R. C., and Martin Joost, unattached. Benson took the lead, with Joost close
behind, but at the high bank curve in the first lap the latter fell from his
bicycle and sprained his sweater. Hence he was disqualified, but he had to
finish his lap, which he did in 3:26.
'The next feature of the tournament was the one mile class B, invitation, in
four heats, for three prizes which were an unset diamond, valued at $125; a
Columbia bicycle, valued at $105, and a $40 suit of clothes.
The ențries in the first heat were
Wilbur J. Edwards,
G. C. C.;
C. C. Harbottle,
R. C. W.;
W. H. Haley,
O. C. W., and Tony Delmas, G. C. C. Edwards, who made a record of 1:34 1-5 last
seek at Livermore, took the lead. On the fifth lap they spurted and
Harbottle fell at the turn, which disqualified him, and also Delmas, who was
behind him and could not go around him. Edwards won in 2:34, with Haley a
very close second.
In the second best the entries were
C. R. Coulter, O. C. W.;
C. L. Davis, G. C. C.; C. S. Wells, B. C. W.; and
Russell Cushing, G. C. C. Wells led with Coulter close at first and Davis ran off the
track on the first lap. Coulter got the lead in the fifth lap, then Wells
ran into his wheel. They recovered, however, but in the next lap Wells fell
and Cushing ran over him with no serious injury. Coulter won in 2:37. Davis
was fouled by Wells and consequently he was allowed to run in the final
without being obliged to finish.
The entries in the third heat were Walter F. Foster, O. C. W., Emil Ulbricht,
B. C. W., Henry Smith, G. C. C., and W. A. Terrill, B. C. W. Ulbricht and
Foster made a dead heat in 2:28, so both men were entitled to ride in the
final.
The entries in the fourth heat were Otto Ziegler Jr., S. J. R. C., Fritz G.
Lacey, L. A. A. C., and Oscar Osen. The latter made a sneak at first and got
ahead, with Lacey and Ziegler following. In the third lap Lacey ran into the
upper fence, leaving the two others to fight it out Osen kept setting
the pace, but Ziegler took the lead in the seventh lap and easily distanced
Osen. The "Little Demon" won in 2:24 3-5. There were loud cries of foul at
the close of the heat, as it was claimed that Ziegler touched Osen, but the
claim was not allowed.
 |
| SOME OF THE SCENES AT THE BICYCLE TOURNAMENT. |
Next came the final of the one-mile novice race, in which the contestants
were Frank Fuller, George Fuller. F. L. Day, E. W. Decker, and V. A. Benson.
Benson fell in the third lap and Frank Fuller gave up in the fifth,
while Decker crossed the line far ahead, with Day a quarter of a lap
behind and George Fuller distanced. Decker's time was 2:30 1-5.
Then came the big event of the evening, the ten-mile club race for a
$200 cup. The first prize as a $50 diamond scarf-pin and the
second a pair of $20 diamond cuff buttons. The cup is to be the property of the winning club.
The entries were
G. A. Nissen, B. C. W.;
A. N. Jones, G. C. C.; Emil Malgren, P. V. W.;
Frank M. Byrne, I. C. C. ;
Edward Chapman, O. C. W.:
M. F. Rose, A. C. W., and S. Thieson. C. C. C. After a false start Nissen
led the way and it looked like a hot fight between him, Jones and Chapman.
They were in this rotation at the end of the first mile. Nissen and
Jones fell in the last lap of the eighth mile, but the latter remounted after losing a lap. He fell again, however, soon
afterward and retired. Malgren also retired, leaving only four in the race. Byrne cut Rose out at the turn in the last of the
seventh and held the lead, doing some hot pacing. The excitement
was intense and the finish was an excellent one. Byrne won in 27:33 1-5,
which is 1:33 in excess of the world's record.
In the final heat of the one-mile invitation race there was considerable
dissatisfaction, as the contestants wished to run the mile in two
heats at an interval of forty-five minutes, and then run off the last
final. Happily this was not allowed, so the race commenced.
The starters were Coulter, Foster, Ulbricht, Davis and Ziegler. Foster led the way, but was caught by Ziegler, who, however, soon fell out of the in race. Then the wheels of
Ulbricht and Coulter were broken, which took them out of the race. Osen
won in 2:26, with Foster second. In this race it may be mentioned that
Edwards was not allowed to enter by his friends, as he is to run against
a world's record next week. The affair in was satisfactory in all
respects.
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