New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-02-24

INTERESTING CHATS WITH 4'-''''''>"
NANUFACTUKERS.
..,,,. r,oy,.l.r FOLLOW TIE Cor"sH OF TIE
w.Trn aXp SEWING MACHINE N"''''''
r,r AHEAD OF rxGLANr-wlNr MEFShS'
GERMAN. MASON ANp srhih


49,. NAVE 70 SAY. :
,r,.roe. in cycling has crown 20 '''e, 80
,o-,iore The wheel has certainly "o,he" rs
1f'io'"o,' 80. ,,,L in the sporting world Tho /
""' " .cle racjng in this country DO not as
.,ro ont f., as large NUMBERS aS ''eF wv ~ /
r,scha1 games and as they raw U0.'. 80 '', , .,
=, horse racing. but the a''''''''O' q" w "''--
-. = Growing steadily. ana the tine may come
meets ! S'o hen q wheel meet will attract the /
AMI come soon. whe'' w
Banner crowd o. the year
Al .ben the whsC, is rot only popular - th's
.,,.rv hut has its votaries all over the cV'iized
,,ho The nobility has bowed 10 the new order OF
.,rs and the members of the best society In this
,,,,.. are row enthusiastic votarles Of the sport.
>. los not have to depend upon it's purely exhibit
,,on and amusing features. for thousands Of riders
.,rc nothing for for race meets. and they
,ake TO the wheel simply for its relaxations. pleas
ures and the excellent exercise which the riding OF
,he wheel entails. One is never too young 10 ride
beol and old age does not dim the enthusiasm.
child can learn 10 ride after 1t learns 10 walk
and has left its swadd,ing clothes. man or woman
can ride wheel long as he or she can walk
Tic benefits of sensible road riding are stupcn-
dors how stupendous the layman broken "o""
Tough mental and physical labors cannot eve"
L lecture The wheel is a tonic to mind ana pod!'
and IL is one Of the best medicines yet discovered
10 resist the ravages Of the years. "heei','s'
course is like any other exercise. one shou'u "o
no too violent too ambitious at the start par'c"
,,a,v vears before he takes to the wheel y -" /
miles will do as as he has mastered "'S s,.
stced and he can increase the uose ' " ff
for physical exercise develops
4 GREAT INDUSTRY NOW
rho making of bicycles has become business III
itself and the capital invested IN IL Is enormous.
.r,osn interested in home productions Will be glad
- kroU that the American manufacturer of wheels
easily leads the world. II is not so many years ago
that the English manufacturers controlled the trace
Of the world and when the expert rider woId as
dsin TO ride anything but English make Of wheel.
Now the eXrNrtation Of wheels from TINS country
has become an important item Of commerce. Only
Yesterday one local firm shipped over lW hgh-SIade
wheels 10 France. Then the American racers VINO
have invaded Europe in the last year or two nave
made such short work Of foreign riders that 'ne
attention Of the cycling world has been attracted
20 .he American whee,. The English. French. tai
ian and Spanish slow 20 acknowledge the SUI
psriori,y of American muscle and sinow and prefer
10 believe that the Zimmermans. Wheeiers ana
Bankers are assisted materially by the wheels that
they ride
Now that cycling mas become universally popu-
lar it i only natural that considerable attention
should be directed TO the cost of the wheel Dealers
ale combining to keep up prices. while the general
rider is beginning 10 realize that II costs quite
sum OF money to purchase really first-class wheel
and d sneaking idea creeps into his thinking TANK
that when he purchases a wheel he Is paying
all that the wheel is worth and probably good deal
more than ii is worth.
\ Iayman will In all probability compute his Vaiua-
,i.,. upon the weight system. Others compare the
evolution of the bicycle to that OF the watch ana The
sewing machine. They remember when hrs'-ciasS
loving machine could not be bought In this country
for less than 800. and the same machine al tna'
,.,,a was selling in England for from $50 to $40.
Now machines. frst-class ones. can be bought here
ro- S35. and really good sewing machine Tor even
less As soon perfected machinery could be maze
re various parts Of the machine were turned out IN
abundance.
MANY man who a few years purchased
,qnasome gold watch hlames his stupidity for not
waiting unit: the present time 10 make his purchase
Machinery has played important part In the eVo
luton Of the watch. and the average tlme-pece TO-
day l. worth few dollars over and above the ca'h
value OF gold and silver contained IN the ease.
PRICES or WHEELS.
few year, ago the Old ordinary winch viii soon
ho a rclic-co.t the enthusiastic pedaieF. according
10 the size Of tho Nhee,. al the way from N@' 10
$50 IN 1855 hlsi safety bicycle was Dmi' III
America ana a. soon ;he new machine came INTO
,opu.ar favor the star Of the ordinary began TO
Nanc until at the present time no dealer would ASK
more than s. or so at the most for one OF me o'u-
A.yie wheels. When the safety first came IN Inc
,nufacturers declared tina; the new machines cost
nuch more 10 manufacture than the ordinary, ana
made this an excuse for raising the standard price
TO sl35 OF course the riders objected but there
were 50 few manufacturers in the country mat there
WAS no difficulty in maintaining the price ana idlef
when the pneumatic tire came mo use III 'd's'"s
Ire price $50
Lurei by the stories Of the immense profits there
were IN manufacturing wheels. men started new fac-
tories and competition soon became 80 active mat
iac Cd concerns IN order TO maintain their su-
plcInacy announced in the spring OF 1884 cat III
price TO Sl25 which the standard list price Of
all the leading makes last season Even this reduc-
ton did check the rapid multiplication OF lac
tories. and the increased competition forced the
price further down. until the list price o.
the hgh-grade wheel is 800 Many people predict
that before the close of 1886 higngrade wheels VIII
he selling for a good deal less than 800.
In speaking about this the other day well-known
rider said:
When II is considered that thu actual cost to ne
maker Of all the materials which enter into TN the
enamellng. and nickel-platrg. Is less than 81 and
that so per wheel Is an extremely liberal estmate
Il VII be seen that EN- maker building say 1899 fas
ea.h for $, aps ss and viii have no trouble in doing
50 4 he goes to e 9 bS as sT Se
unlimited. and they in their turn are easily content
Being Done now on limited sese Is what viii
he done large scale before the end OF the sea
Of 9 s e" the buyer a' Of Bcyce viii And no other place
IN which to buy his mount tnan IN on o, ,nese aise
manufacturer.
WHAT THE MANUFACTURERS SAY.
The writer determined to see first what the leading
manufacturers thought about the prospects Tor
cheaper Wheels and a visit made TO the houses
81 the Overman Company, a. @ Spalding x
Brothers and the Pope Manufacturing Company
The three largest bicycle making firms In the coun-
Try
William g. Overman when seen. treated the VS.
itor in the most courteous manner. although the
question about cheaper bicycles was one winch
might make the average manufacturer close up Ike
trap Mr. Overman. however, Is clcar-headed
young business man. and he is entirely too diplo-
matte to pursue any such course Mr.. Overman
showed his good common sense when he regulated
any connection with the recent alleged American
Baseball Association bubble He said:
Under present conditions cannot sec any chance