Evening star., 1896-12-28

well seasoned and colored. being built Of
plain planed ncor1ng. with the boards rum
ming NngthWise, while at the turns the
new work Is clearly distinguished by the
difference in color Of the wood. The bank
ing Ia pretty high, and will be conducive to
fast riding. The width of the track H. one
Dig curve. with the stretches on the long
side of the skating pond. At the turns the
track Is raised eight feet four inches. bring
ing the upper end of the track far above
the railing. which marks the bounds Of the
the rise is about three feet even from the
Ice surface, which appears to be rather
steep. considering the fact that the width
OF the track is only sixteen feet.
Space for Spectators.
The space for the spectators il on the
sides Of the track and the large balcony
directly overhead at the entrance The
rear Of the hall has been. fitted up with a
platform upon a stage, which will be used
for the reporters and the officials of the
race exclusively. A high bridge at the north
emu gives the skaters access to the ice,
without interfering in anywtse with the
riders beneath. At the south end of the
nan a similar bridge will be erected, lead
Ing to the officials stand. Thus the amuse-
ments Will not conflict, and If the audience
tires of watching the bicycle riders it can
turn attention to the skaters.
The mere fact of the riders whirling
around the inclined track is ant to keen
the spectators interested all of the time
and there will be some who will be con-
stantly looking for fall. In this they are
likely to be much mistaken. as the contest
ants are all experienced riders, and know
all about what they have to do The only
danger Is that Of running off of the upper
end of the track, the side nearest the spec
tators, but even il any of the riders should be
unlucky enough to have this mishap he will
not be likely to hurt himself Another
thing which is apt to cause interest among
the spectators is the -creaking sound pro-
duced by the tires as the curves are made.
The steep sides of the track are well ros-
ined. and the tires in passing over the sur
face will partly slip, and produce a sound
similar to that produced by drawing a bow
across an old fiddle, only the surface of
friction. being greater, the sound will be
magnif1ed.
An attempt will be made to have the tenn
perature of the place increased and main
tanned at sixty degrees. The riders have
prepared for the worst, and have suits
which will keep them warm enough while
riding. II they used the regular racing CO.'S
tune, while there would be very little pos
sibility Of their catching cold. the cool
atmosphere of the place would have a
cramping effect on the muscles.
The 'sTerrible Swede."
One of the new entries to the race is John
A. Lawson. who is, perhaps. better known
as the terrible Swede." or as the other
riders term him, facetiously, the horrible
Swede," who gets his name on account Of
the manner in which he rides in a race in
passing others He is only twenty-three
years of age, and a native of Norrkoping,
Sweden. He won his novice race in 1887 in
his native country, riding a mile in 3.52
upon an ordinary. The fastest mile he ever
rode in his own country was 2.O7 made in
1892. He achieved distinction in the race
around Malarin lake, great event in
Sweden. the circumference of which is
thirty-six Swedish miles, one of which is
equivalent to nearly seven of our miles.
His time was 15.110o. and he rode a forty
pound machine, geared to fifty-six. This
was in 1892 and in the same year he rode
from Rushland to Germany. the end to end
of Sweden. distance of 1892 miles. Eng
lish. in fourteen days and twelve hours. In
1894 he went over the same course on a
better machine, one geared to sixty, and
covered it in eight days and thirteen hours
which is still a record. From 1887 to 1894
he won total of 112 prizes for bicycling
skating and running, there being thirty-six
medals in the lot