Waterbury evening Democrat., 1894-07-28

eye was glued to the little giant who was hanging to the rear wheel of the tandem as though held thcrc by invisible wines. Another shout arose as tho quarter was covered in 2S 1-5 seconds, and the rccOrd breaker kept on at undiminishcd speed. Nearing the one-third mile mark n second tandem got under headway and picked Bliss up in magnificent stylo us he ncgo- tiatcd the distance in 37 2-5 seconds
 On, on the little giant flew, his rcmark able speed and his clean, graceful riding evoking murmurs of admiration from the excited spectators. His body seemed as rigid us statue as it hsIggcd tho upper bar of the frame of his wheel but the 1.-the, muscular legs below wcrc working like pistons as the half mile was rcclcd of in 53 g. ! seconds. At the wO-thirds pole,
 which was reached in minute l5 l-5 sec onds. Bliss was picked up by the third
 tandem, which spurtCd like mad for home,
 with tho plucky little rccord breaker cling
 ing to 1t like n lCSch and pCtlaling for all
 he was worth. When the watches showed
 1 minute and 25 seconds for thrcc-quartCrs of a mile, the excitement became intense.
 Tells of encouragement filled the air. and as tho tandem came on toward the tapv at
 terrific speed, with Bliss hanging onto the rear wheel with the tcnacity and pluck
 of a bulldog, and finished the milo in the
 new world s rC'curd time of minute n 4-5
 seconds, the air was rcnt by enthusiastic
 cheers. Bliss had cut the rccurd by l-5
 seconds and had ridden the fastest rcgu-
 larly paced mile the world had ever seen.
 After n short rest Bliss went at the
 standing start mile rccord of minutes
 2-5 of q second made last October by liar
 ry c. Tyler at Springfield, Mass. Bliss
 was again paced in good style by two tan
 dems and lowered the record to an even ? minutes.
 Bliss Is one of the smallest riders on tho
 path today, but he seems able to go as fast
 as anything that paccs him. The mighty
 Zimmerman, who admirCs Bliss very
 much, says that if n locomotive went by
 tho Pocket Hercules Inc would simply
 tack on" to tho iron horsc and hang
 there, no matter how much steam were
 put on. Bliss is 22 years old and weighs
 about 125 pounds. He began attracting
 attention us n racing man in lS93 by rid Ing mile at Columbus, O., in . minutes l3 seconds, which was then rcmarkably
 fast time. He was also the sccOnd man to cut under Willie Whales worlds rc- ord mile of .: Ia, and last year he and his stable mate, NJ. F. Dirnbcrgcr, togrthcr broke about all rCcurJls against time from the short distances up to one mile, but the rccorJis wCre not allowed on account of
 tho fact that horses wcrc usCd in pacing. bAlsa Hls uNltsn ulillF uI Ilt Dt-t Tlu' CTS in America in hOtly contested races | and Is almost as successful in competition
 us he is when he goes against the watch. Last year he won prizes valued at $6, 800 and received liberal salary for riding a certain make of wheel. His rCcCnt records are wonderful exhibitions of speed. but they will without doubt bc broken before the snow flies.
 New tracks, new wheels, pneumatic tires and expert pacing have played havoc
 with Father Time during the past eight
 years, and in the gr-It struggle bicyClists
 have far outstrippCd tho truttCrs and pl-
 cers- In 1856 tho ordinary or high bicycle
 was still in its glory, and the best time on record for a mile was the 2:29 i-5 of Will | liam A. Rowe made at Springfield. Mass, Got g of that year. Among trOtgcrs gal lant old Maud 5 was still the queen, with | her worlds rccord mile in 2:OS9t, made | with running mate at Glcnvillc, O., the previous year.
 During the eight years since 1886 the trotters, represented by Sunol and Nancy Hanks and aided by the kite shaped track | and the pneumatic tired sulky, have sue cccdcd in chipping IA seconds from the | record and placing the worlds mark at | 2:0i. The bicyclists have done much bet | ter. In 1890 Willie windlc began his great record brcaking career by lowering | the mile ordinary to 2:25 3-5 at Peoria, Ills, Sept 15. About this time the safe | ty bicycle began to make its prcscncc felt,
 and tho same day F. I. Berlo rude n mile
 on safety in e:3O, the fastest on rccord | at the time.
 In 1891 windlc cut the ordinary rccoryi | to 2:a3 2 5 at Hartford, Sept. Q, in compc- tition, a far moro meritorious feat than previous attempts made against time
 windle also went against the safety rccor,l
 at Springfield, Mass. Oct. l7, and aston
 ished tho world by negotiating n milo in
 2:l5. It was then predicted that some
 swift wheelman would soon got dangcr-
 ously near the 2:0S1 of Maud :. but no ono drcamsd that her mark would bo so far exceeded as 1t has since been.
 Tho ordinary wheel now fell into dls- use, and the safety became the popular bi | cycle. In 1899 the rccord dropped again
 and again. George F. Taylor began the
 ball Aug. 6 at Springfield by cutting Win dle's record to a:ll, and thc3Lt crcatcd great sensation. On Sept. D A. A. Zim-
 merman lowered Taylor's rccurd to 2:O6 {-5, and the same day Taylor negotiated a flying mile in 2:OS 1-5. Then H. c. Tyler took a hand and rode n mile from stand ing start at Springfield, Sept. I6. in 2:Os &-b, tho fastest mile from standing start over riden up to that time.
 On Sept ga an event occurred that threw the wheeling world into a fcrment. John s. Johnson of Minneapolis, paced by horse, protected by wind shield and riding an elliptic sprocket wheel, rodo a flying mile on the kite shaped track at In- dependence, la, in the wonderful time of 1 minute b6 s-5 seconds Johnson also made new standing start reoord of aioS sS about sas sssns time He vas oom.