The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-08-15
MORGAN WON THE HANDICAP.
FIVE THOUSAND PEOPLE SAW THE
OGEECHEE RACE.


merry In - Minutes and Il seconds
lIorEan's Time = Minutes aud 20
seeonds-Thirty-six Riders Started
and All But one FInishcd-The
Race the BiEEest Cycling Event
Savannah Has Ever known
The Ogeechee road race. which was nun
yesterday afternoon. was the greatest
event in cycling Savannah has ever
known. II was a success in every way
and quite beyond the expectation. of It's
promoters
There vas not q mitch or even bit %
disag reesbIeness TO mar the afternoon
sport. Everything moved as ricely as
could have been possible, and the sue
eessful running OF the race was the topic
everywhere.
The race was ten miles, starting from
the emile post 20 the 7-mile post and re
turn, and Il was won by Theodore Nor
gan. one Of Ssvannah's young but fast
riders. Morgan had a SIX minute handi-
cap. and rode in the fast time OF $50. lie
made a beautiful run and was compliment
ed on all sides.
John Bel, with seven minutes handi-
cap. was close behind Morgan. and got
second prize, with G. A. Whitehead, Jr-.
third. The three came all the way from
the turn together and paced each other
alternately. but Morgan won on the squirt.
The time prize was won by W. n. Con-
merry. the fastest rider in Savannah.
though one Of the youngest. Connery
won several prizes last spring and showed
himself then TO be a fast man The
scratch men rode all the way together.
pacing each other, and finished wheels
apart. They made a beautiful finish and
were cheered when they came in. Con-
nerys time. 27.iS. is remarkably good and
the winner may well feel proud Of IL.
Connerat was second behind Connery.
and Crane a second behind Conenrat.
II was an ideal day for the race. About
an hour before the starting time the sun
sank behind some friendly clouds and was
lost for the rest Of the afternoon. AT first
the cyclists became alarmed. fearing IL
would rain. but old Jupiter was kind
enough TO withhold his torrents. The fact
Of there being no sun was great advan.-
age TO the riders. Had they been com
PEELED 10 ride ten miles in a scorchings sun
there would not have been such good time
made and some OF them would possibly !
have been unable TO finish. The road. /
which Is one OF the finest in the south /
over shell and ebert, was in splendid con.
NillQn- IL was expected tudL a crown
would witness the race. but nothing like
the crowd that did. The people began TO
so out as early as O'Clock, and by the
time the race started there were lined up /
along the road for mile or more about
900 people.
Old men were there with gray boards. !
and old ladies. too. Pretty girls We're
there in profusion. and they added a tone
10 the event Nearly every man and boy
in Savannah who owned a wheel was out
The ice cream men with their hockey
pOkies" we're along, and even the colored |
drivers Of delivery wagons, supposed 10
be on messages for their employers, stole |
out 10 see the burners" II was the
most cosmopolitan crowd ever seen at a
cycling event and was the first thing Of
its kind ever seen by many of them.
It was a pretty and anything but an
ordinary sight to look down the road about
the time the race started. As far as the
eye could see both sides Of the road were
a mass OF human beings eager to catch
a glimpse Of the riders as they spun by
on their hot run. A squad Of policemen
was on hand and aided by the officers
of the course, kept the crowd back in
good order
The judges and timers had a hard time
getting the numbers OF the riders and
their time as they came in, especially
when they came all in bunch and
close up, but the gentlemen who ofici-
ated knew their business and acquitted
themselves we'll Messrs. George l.. Cope.
George Van Horne, Alvin NJ Bell and
l. y y
Timers Joseph w Heffernan and w. G.
Sutlive and Starter Charles SaNssy were
at the start and got the riders OF and
checked them as they came in. Msssrs.
intyre and DR.. ". F. Drummer, of the
judges, were at the turn and checked
the numbers Of the riders as they turned
the point
The race started on the second Of
O'Clock. Before that time the riders had
been given their numbers and were got
in position.
Al G O'Clock the ten-minute men were
pushed Off and went away at a killing
clip. All the limit men moved of well,
with the exception of BrinsOn, of the
four-minute class. He was delayed about
half a minute by some accident OF his
own. but this did not affect him. and he
remarked as he pushed off: That's all
right; III catch them"
There were two changes in the time al
loWances as announced by the handicap
per and the way the men started. Wenzel
was allowed six minutes, but thought that
was too much for him and he went back TO
the four minute class. Crane was down to
start at one minute, but went back TO
scratch and started with the other MEM
bers OF his team, COnnery and Connerat.
The start OF the scratch men was very
pretty. They all wore yellow suits to
match the color of their mounts. When
the word go was given they were of like
the wind with COnnerat making the pace,
and they went down the road like hades
~
There was an understanding that all
trains would be tagged but by some mis-
understanding, as several of the riders
were nearing the Savannah, Florida and
Western railway crossing, on the return
trip, they were tagged instead OF a pass
ing train, and were delayed for a short
time.
There were only two accidents and
neither of them were serious. James KEEL
~ was run into by another rider, and
thrown from his wheel but he would not
give up and mounting again finished all
right. Harry Raskin collided with col
ored boy, and took tumble into a ditch
which prevented him from finishing.
The only rider who started and did not
finish was Charlie Gradet, who succumbed
TO tired feeling just at the railroad cross
ing and stopped for refreshments al "Cy-
clers Retreat"
Swan Sullivan punctured his tire just
ct the turn, and rode the last five miles
on his rim, finishing well.
The following table gives the names of
the riders as they finished, their handicaps
and their actual time:
Time Actual
Time. Allowance. Time.
MS. NJ. MS.