New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-04-18

.>.ocxrD DOWN AND HIS HEAD CRUSHED WHILE
RIDING HIS BIcYCLE-oNE OF THE BEST
KNOWN sPoRTsMEN IN AMERICA
ro,or, Contor one Of the best-known sports
mon in America was fatally injured about 3
o,clock last night by a collision with coal
naqon while riding his bicycle on the Boulevard
oor Seventv-second-st He survived his injuries
barely three hours, dying in Roosevelt Hospital.
. which he was removed Immediately after the
accident.
The accident occurred almost under the win
dow Of the Colonial Club and before the eyes
~ the president. ]. II. Punderford. and .haf
q dozen Of the members. to several or whom
Mr. Center was personally known. Ihe deao
clubman whose devotion 10 the wheel eX-
tends back to It's first introduction TO this
country. was keenly fond of an hours ride ana
was ENJOYING the exercise when the accldeht
bappened He had ridden from his apartments
., No 12s East Thirty-fourth-st.. over TO the
West Side. and was going swiftly downtown
on the western side of the Boulevard when at
Seventv-second-st. he passed alongside Oh
borsecar which was travelling in the same d-
sction At the same time a coal wagon. which
vros coming uptown along the track turned out
directly in his path to make way for the car
HOW THE ACCIDENT HAPPENED.
bandle-hars. and, not seeing the approaching
wagon. he ran directly intoit The bicycle crashed
into the fore part of the wagon. near the Wheel
before the driver had time to think Of pulling up
h,s borse and Mr. Center was thrown off into the
,att If the wheels The left front wheel ran over
his face crushing in the skull. and the hind wheel
passed over his chest
Car and wagon stopped simultaneously and }.
H. Punderford. president Of the COLONIAL Cluo' y
II Williamson ana Walter Gear members OF the
club who had been looking out OF the library WIN
dows ran out, and. with Hieronymus herman
who had been standing on the steps hastened 10
the injured mans side. At the same time gen
tleman who explained that ne was an army sur
geon and who rode past on his bicycle. jumped
off and helped 10 render assistance. Mr. center
was unconscious. He was carried to the rodas!de
and laid uDon the sidewalk. Mr.. Punderford and
one of the other members Of the Colonial Ciuo
uare ACQUAINTED with Mr.. Center but so fright
fully mangled was he that at first they ialled 10
recognize him. and it was not until the name
Robert Center, No. 126 East Thirty-four'h-st'
was seen by one Of them to be engraved on the
broken bicycle that they realized who the victim
of the accident was When they did, few MIN
utes afterward d passing cab was hailed ana he
was taken to Roosevelt Hospital
The surgeons there saw from the first that all
at,empts to save his life would be futile. lhey
did their utmost to restore him to consc!odheSs'
hut TO no effect. He died in the ward 10 Whch
he had been conveyed a few minutes tel"le
o'clock In the interval. the news Of the accl-
dent had spread rapidly among his friends MIS-
Henry Livingstone. Mir Center's sister, ana MS
intimate friend, Oliver H. Cromwell, proprietor
Of the Clarendon Hotel. with several other Trends
drove to. the hospital. and gathered around his
bedside. but Mr.. Center was unable 20 rec
ognize any II them.
SKETCH OF HIS LIFE.
The name Of Robert Center was known every
where In the best sporting circles in America
At the time of his death he was fifty-hve years
old and was connected in some way with every
branch of sport Mr.. Center was the son Of
wealthy cotton broker Xho died in 1863, leaving
him fortune Of s5O0O0C Robert was educated
In Geneva, Switzerland, and came home at the
age Of twenty-one to take the place which, with
his fortune he inherited as the eldest son Of one
Of the Oldest families in New-York. He did not
take any interest in business but from the first
associated himself with sportsmen and athletes.
He became a member of the old American Jockey
Club and was one Of its best riders. He won any
number Of silver cups. and then turned his at
tention 10 yachting He purchased the yacht
Medura which the flagship Of the Seawan-
haka Yacht Club. Of which he was vice-com-
modore, and afterward built the Vndex. the first
cutter yacht constructed In this country He
commanded these personally, and sailed them
himself in the races for which he entered. ard
usually with success His interest in dquatics,
however d!d not interfere with his interest in
manifold other branches Of sport. in which he
took active part. He brought TO this country
the first bicycle seen here, a wierd machine in
modern eyes. which he christened The Mchaux.
In other directions Mr.. Center was a hunting
man. being Of the first in the held with the
MeadowbrOOk Hunt Club. He had an eX-
ceent barytOne voice. and was the founder OF
the Orpheus Gee Club He was a Well-known
whip and a universally popular clubman.
AT the time Of his death he was member
Of the Knickerbocker Union and Downtown
Clubs and the Orpheus Glee Club. an ex-com-
modore of the Seawanhaka. Corinthian and
New-York Yacht Clubs. a member OF the
Meadowbrook Hunt, the League Of American
Wheelmen. the Coaching and the Riding and
Driving Clubs.
Mrs Henry Livingstone Center of No. "a East
He was uncle Of Henry Livingstone Center
and Edward Chester Center. and cousin of
Center Hitchcock. Another cousin is Durham
Withers. son of the late David ID. Wthers, of
Monmouth Park, " j. MI Centers mother Is
still living and at present is in Santa Barbara.
Cal, where the news Of her sons death reached
her by telegraph late last night
The driver Of the coal wagon which accident
ally killed Mr.. Center was arrested mmeTately
after the accident by Policeman Gillies, and was
locked up in the West Sixty-eighth-st. station
He Is Frederick Winkel. OF No 536 West Forty
seventh-st. He told the sergeant that the acci-
dent was utterly unavoidable on his part