Waterbury evening Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1887-1895, 1894-02-19
THAT CLASS B SCHEME.
Bicyclist William F. Murphy Fa-
vors L. A. w. Professionals.
THE ALLEGED AMATEUR OFTODAY.

MIR. Murphy Believes That the L. \. w.
Should Make Glass Il an Out and Out
Professional Glass and Put All the Simon
Pure Amateurs In Glass A.
Public clamor seems to have at last driv-
en- the League of American Wheelmen to
compromise with professionalism. This
great organization, which has so long gov
erned amateur bicyclists, has finally decided
through it's racing board that professional
ism does exist in the ranks of it's alleged
amateurs, and that hereafter the wheelman
who rides for a manufacturer on salary and
sells secretly the prizes he wins should be
allowed to openly violate his amateur
status. The racing board will ask the dele
gates at the annual meeting of the l.. A. w,
soon to be held in Louisville, to sanction
the division of amateur bicyclists into two
classes, A and B. The riders in the A class
must be pure amateurs, must not receive
money for riding, sell their prizes or have
their expenses paid by an athletic or cycle
club and may only compete for trophies
valued at $50 or less.
This class is practically the amateur class
of today as it is supposed to exist, except
that the value of prizes is unlimited. l say
'suppOSed'' because every wheelman in the
country and every official in the l.. A. w.
knows upon information and belief, as the
lawyers say, that the amateur class of today
is densely populated with bicycists who are
paid for riding certain wheels, and who sell
most of the prizes they win, but believing
a thing and proving it are very different
matters. Is certain prominent amateur
riding one particular make of wheel for his
health solely? Not during the prescl fnan
cial stringency. Are Eek Windle, Coch>r#n,
Leeming and Stackpole training their cham
pions just to see the weeels go round? Not
unless the wheels are cart wheels" and "in-
variably in advance" Did our record break
ers and their small army of pacemakers and
trainers continue going against time until
the snowballs were ripe for glory only, and
are they eating those same snowballs this
winter? Not while canvasback duck and
terrapin may be procured in exchange for
coin of the realm.
In short, most of our prominent wheel
men the track today could be expelled
for professionalism if the prizes they have
sold and the salary they have received from
this or that manufacturer could stalk forth
like Banquo's ghost and accuse them. The
l.. a. W. officials are as certain of this as
any one, but they cannot prove it, and they
would undoubtedly dislike to do so if they
could for the reason that such famous rid
ers as Zimmerman, Windle, johnson, Ty Ter,
Sanger and dozen others are the drawing
cards at league meets and fill the Golfers of
the l.. A. w. with the much despised but
very necessary cash. A few years ago Will
lie Windle was charged with having re-
ceived 500 from Il prominent manufacturer
and was suspended. He admitted his guilt
and was reinstated because he was honest,
so it was said at the time. The fact that
Windle was then the most prominent
wheelman on the track and the leagues
best drawing card of course had nothing to
do with his reinstatement.
All last season the faint of professional
ism was so pronounced in the amateur
ranks and there was such a howl about it
that the racing board felt that something
should be done to place every rider under
his true colors. Even the mighty thinner
man did not escape, and the National Cy-
clists' union of Great Britain refused him Il
license to ride on the ground that he was
paid to pedal a certain wheel by its manu-
facturers. EXpelling such men as thinner
man was out of the question on this side,
and the racing board are attempting to
silence public clamor and solve the difficult
problem before them by the class A and
class b scheme
This plan, which will undoubtedly be
adopted at Louisville, is good 50 far as it
goes, but it should go further. The racing