Evening star., 1896-12-31
Dissatisfaction Among Riders in the
Bicycle Race.
IT WAS CORRECTED BY THE REFEREE
Men Are All in Good Condition,
With Hearty Appetites.
seen ES IN THE HALL

erSy tnaH ever De1Ore. Inc men appeared
to be in good condition. and the opening
| was marked by brisk riding.
Ed Plummer is delighted with the appe-
| tites of his two men. Up to last evening
| they had consumed about five pounds of
rice and four pounds of oatmeal. besides a
| qrantity of chicken broth beef tea, coffee
ard tea. The American riders have equal
| ly good appetites.
AS the men appeared for the race this af-
ternoon they were dressed slightly lighter
than yesterday, but they wore paper tucked
beneath the racing shirt.
Shortly before o'clock the referee for
the day, Mr.. W. T. Robertson. called the
men together and mistake in the score
of several laps, over which there was con-
siderable dissatisfaction, was considered
and rectified.
The Start.
The racing was started later than at any
other time since the opening. Chapple was
dissatisfied at the action of the referee and
| officials who refused to allow him two laps
| that he claimed.
The start was made at 2:31 and the men
struck up heavy pace. Lawson was
| forced to change wheels few miles after
| the start and lost six laps.
4 Battle of the Giants.
| It is now battle of the giants, and, bar
| ring accidents, there is not man in the
bunch who is not confident of getting
place in the wind-up. Two men are very
apt to be mistaken. but who they are will
| hardly be known for some time at least
All day yesterday the riders swept around
| the arena with steady pace and apparently
unwearied muscles. They all sat IN the
saddles as solidly and as firmly as at the
opening day, and the only trouble seems
| to be from sources not directly traceable to
sitting in the saddle. The eyes of all of the
hn nf he
Swede, the terrible rider. who sits in his
saddle just easily and pedals as nicely
as though he were on pleasure jarnt, in
| stead of being in contest. have suf-
| fered. The bending over position for
| eight consecutive hours, the glare cf the
| electric lights. the reflection on the ice
the moving crowd of spectators on the in
| field and. last but not least, the somewhat
cold temperature to the riders. all combine
! to irri'ate the eyes, and make them blood
| shot and sore-lookinR. This is something
| Wnich VIII nave % be attended to- and If
| the rider is not careful his peeps so
| the trainers speak of the eyes. are apt to
| swell up to such a size 20 prevent see
| ing.
| The racing was remarkable in more WAYS
| than one. 1t was remarkable because it
| showed at the en1 that almost as many
| miles had been covered as on any previous
| day. Another notable thing was the size
| OF the audience which was the largest of
| any night, showing that the interest i'm
the event is increasing.
The contestants when they left the track
| last evening appeared to be much fresher
| than on any of the previous evenings
| There was hardly man in the lot who
| could not have sat on the saddle some
| time longer, if necessary. and as soon as
| the riders dismountad they shook them
| selves, something after the fashion of a
| dog tc take away the cramp caused by The
| riding in one position for so long. After
| this they walked from the track, unaided
| and started for their boarding places
| where. under the hands of their trainers
| they were treated III such manner as to
| ut them for good rest and take away the
| st1nness: AS soon as the ride was over
| Waller donned a pair of pantaoons and q
| coat on the track, went over and kissed
| his wife, who was in the audience near the.
| finishing point, and, in her company. left
| the place.
The Probable Record
Just one-half of the weeks work is done
for the riders, and if the same speed is
| kept up as last evening the winning man
| will in all probability have about S75 miles
and few laps to his credit, possibly more:
| but 1t seems though the 9OO-mile mark
| will not be reached. The record of Charlie
Ashinger. made in 1891. is clearly smashed
| and Ashinger himself is keeping we'll up in
| the front In the rocord-smashing business
| His record for the third days ride in that
attempt on an old ordinary, was 12S 1-15
| miles, and every rider yesterday went eigh
teen miles over that score.
| 1t rs remarkable to see how close the
| men stick by each other. With all of the
| hard riding yesterday, only two or three
| laps were gained III all. Soon after the
| start the entire bunch, through squirt by
| Maddox and Waller, tapped Forster. Many
| other attempts at tapping were made. bur
| failed Late in the evening a plan was ar
| ranged between the two leaders, and they
| spurted with such success that they gained
| their only lap of the day on the whole
| bunch. Emboldened with the success of
4 friN
| failed
Just before the close another great squirt
| was made. but all of the bunch with one
exception followed. and Chapple, the
who was Tapped. This lap placed him and
| Forster in exactly the same position they
were at the beginning of the day, and the
| jcvial German was happy over the result.
Effect of Pacing.
| The totals of yesterday were much larger
| than for the second days riding, and near
| ly equaled that of the first day for the
| leaders. This increase was due to pacing
which was put in. In the afternoon Eddie
Bald went on the track, and carried the
men around at record-bresk king pace, he
staying on the track for nearly half ain
hour
In the evening George 8. Ball went in
and paced the men, carrying them around
at lively rate He was followed by Frank
Albert as PAGER, and the bunch was still
kept on the jump. At o'clock Tom Lin
ton took the pace, and kept the men going
at steady gait for nearly an hour. The
prettiest riding of the day happened just
before the close, and the bursts of speed
were numerous Nothing was gained by
| this, however. though the audience cheered
| long and frequently.
There were frequent calls for the Swede
! to take the lead and give exhibition of
| his sprinting abilities, but he kept in the
ranks until a few minutes before the end,
when he made a magnificent sprint that
| took the house by surprise, and main
| tanned the lead until the finish. He did this
| to keep from being counted out of a lap
when the ride ended.
FOrster's Good Showing.
Forster who at present is the end man
| in the procession. is perhaps making the
best showing of any of the riders. taking
| all things into consideration. He Is of
| slim build. but apparently all sinews. and
| De dals around, moving most of his body
| He was in the recent Madison Square con-
| test, and rode over 1.S00 miles in the six
days, much greater distance than any of
| the other contestants in the present race
| He is still sore from the results of that
ride, but last night he was happy. stating
| that he was just feeling his old self again,
| and that before the end of the week his