The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1894-04-14
THE PASSING OF Jimmy.
30 Fulatls His Promise OF Desert.
ing tho Amateur Ranks.
THE SHIP he HAS N FRANCE
Would Tempt Any Man-Tho Ell.
Amateur Says Something As to HIS
Reasons for This Action-Afraid OF
Fast Amateurs and Took a surc
Thing-poInts About the Road
Race.

Race.
The return Of Troy, Arthur thinner.
mans hacker, from France With his re.
port, was anxiously watched. and now
the ncwS has boon flashed all over the
country that the great amateur champ.
ion has gone over 10 the professionals
body and soul. There were thousands
Of the champions admirers who 10 the
last refused to believe that their idol
would descend from the prord emiuence
amateur champion OF the world-to
the sloushs Of Professionalism, which
in America At least has in near
ly every instance been closely allied
With the hippodrome. But i. Is true;
Jimmy" tho Jersey lad who has turn.
ed the cranka on two continents 10 the
refrain OF Yankee Doodle" and "IEail
Colombia" victorious evory time, has
bartered his amateur status for paltry
French gold.
In, an i~n,ervisw, Zimmerman talks OF
his reasons for the step hc has taken:
.'The only thing against a professional
Is the reputation which clings to hi,u,
thanks TO tho fGkirs OF former years,
whose ~hippodromes are go familiar to
Us. lclaim q man car bo n gentleman,
professional or amateur, and wher you
consider the fact tim. ! have won as an
amateur everything that could be gath
cred In diamonds, horses, carriages,
clothes. furniture. medals, and bric.a-
brac. what have to gain By remaining
an amateur and refusing this otter,
which may be the chance OF a lifetime?
! have provcn conclusivcly, l think.
that | 4 am the amateur champion, and
as such | hope ! shall always be remem-
bered. There are faster men in the
amateur ranks than are 10 be found
among the professionals, and surely il
l cGu defeat the former, l should have
it easier as q professional. Each Ma
poleon must meet his Waterloo, sooner
or later. and while l have never eY-
perienced any trouble in winning in the
past, who 4 tell when my master may
appear and | shall have lost my pres
tige? do not claim to be inyincible,
and am perfectly content to rest right
now on my ~laurels, 60 to speak, won by
me as an amateur. Should l be beaten
continually as 4 professional, ! shall al.
ways remember that l quit as an ANA
teur when my reputation was the best"
The passing OF Zimmerman has
caused unqualified delight among the
men who had feared the champion in
the races scheduled to take place on the
national circuit. Now the question is:
Who is the fastest OF the amateurs and
non-protcasionals? and it will receive
even more attention than il the Jersey
man had remained an amateur. The
competition between Johnson, Dirnbir-
ger, Bliss, Bald aud Others will be
fought out with the warmes. kind OF RI
vairy.
johnson gems to have the best
chance, and will be the f~ayorite at the
start, although II he does not chow up
better in his pirate competition, he
stands a chance oil giving way 20 one OF
the remaining men Will Zimmerman
better himself is a question interesting
to his friends. For Geveral years he has
made ~hislirelihood from the bicycle bu.
siness, and, judging from the outlook
for cycling in this country aud on the
other side OF the Atlantic, he stands an
excellent chance OF making annually
the salary OF C bank president.
TIE bicycle riders OF the city areltali.
ing an active interest in the coming In
%telligencer Decoration Day road race,
! and already 4 number of the boys arc
taking long daily cpirs in efforts to get
themselves in perfect physical condi.
tion by tho time tho race comes. A
largo number of entrles are assured.
Will Greer, the professional bicycle
racer, announcer that he intends
to start witt tho scratch men and
endeavor to defeat the winner OF the
race. Greer has . knacS Of doing up re.
lay riders, % war irstaaced last fall in
the 1ntelligenceI rslcy race from Pitts
burgh to Wheeling, and 10 may succeed
in this attempt, but the general opinion
is that there are several among the anna.
tours who can go him one better.
Grecr's attempt will be watched with
interest.
There is considerable interest mani
tested in century road runa this spring,
and it ia probable that tho Century
Road Club OF America will receive ad-
ditions to its membership from Wheel.
ing in a shcrt tine. For membership
it is required that & atraight-aaay road
run OF one hundred milea within sixteen
hours be made. Several OF the hard
riding contingent have made the run,
one being Charley Stroebel, who rolled
it OF late last fall. Riders who would
like to make the attempt, from Wheel
ing 10 Centreville, Pa, and return next
Friday should sec Mr.. Sl5oebel, who
will make the arrangements.
Tho Y. NJ. G. A. Cycle Club, purely a
road organization which was recently
organized, 10 rapidly growing in mem
bership. The boya indulge in evening
runs almost daily, and are becoming
hard road riders.
John Coleman, the South Chapline
street druggist has contributed q fine
smokers set, in horn, as one Of the
prizes for the road race. Mr.. Coleman
is a new rider. and as an enthusiast
ranks at the top.
And still the craze for ieatherweight