Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-12-18
cold. The raceJecetpts did not pay the
railroad expenses of any of the men from

cold The raceJecetpts did not pay the
railroad expenses of any of the men from
outside cities IS, 81 Q -
Speaking of six,day racing brings to mind
the fact that considerable agitation has
been occasioned Against such events, grow
ing out Of the entniMadison Square race.
that the dominion c4binet will consider a
proposal to AMEND the criminal code 50
as to prohibit continuous bicycle races.
The New York race was the cause Of the
opposition to sufh tents in Canada. From
other sections Of tl,is. country reports have
been received denouhcng such a style of
racing. 1t seems as though a preconcerted
action has been taken against the matter.
Perhaps the action may be spontaneous.
but at all events the past six-day race in
New York was not as cruel or as hard on
the men as the face held at the same place
last year. All of the riders this year, &c
cording to all reports, finished in rather
good condition. Last year was not the
case. and Rice. one of the contestants. was
an inmate of Pennsylvania asylum for
some weeks after the event. The wind Gp
of the big event this year was not attend
ed by any such incidents. 1t seems strange
that the kick should be made just at pres
ent when in fact. it is year behind
tine.
So far as any laws on the subject are
concerned, majority of wheelmen do not
think it is necessary. A man is endowed
with sense anG knows what to expect if he
cile-S SuCu Contest. II the pubic SO
seriously objects to such racing why does
it patrOniZe the events so literally? So
long as there is any money in it men will
lace, and even if a law was enacted against
continuous racing, there would be some
loophole of escape. A race Of twenty-three
hours and fifty-nine minutes a day, with a
rest OF one minute, could not be called a
continuous event from q legal standpoint,
so it is stated, but to all intentS and pur-
poses it would be a continuous race.
The question of brakes is being agitated
in England, and the Cyclist, one of the
leading trade papers, has this to say on
the subject:
I'VE believe that it is only a question
of time before it will become a recog-
nized feature of every high-class bicycle
for road work to be fitted with some ar
rangement that will admit of free pedals
for hill descending, and an instantly APP
plicable back-pedaling brake, the latter
in addition to the usual spoon Several
very ingenious IDEAS with these ends in
view have been already devised, and in
all probability twelve months or so hence
we shall have some really valuable and
practical experience to work on. The idea
is particularly suitable for ladies' ma
chimes, very few of the fair sex care
about descending hills with their feet on
the rests, and at the same time it is per-
fectly certain that the majority of girls
get very little fun out of riding down hill,
as, with their low gears, pedaling soon
becomes laborious At the same time it
is essential that any arrangement which
allows free pedals should be absolutely
definite and simple in the working of the
brake, so that it would be impossible for
a novice to get run away with, through
even a momentary failure of the apparatus
to work"
A company has been organized at
Springfield. ILL.,, for the manufacture of an
airless tire lately invented. The new COM
pany claims t. have what the bicycling
world has wait :or for ten years, an air
less tire. 1t is made exactly the same
as Single-tube tires. and has but one diff
ference that being the composition which
takes the place of air. The tires will not
collapse when punctured and an ordinary
tack or nail has no effect on the contents
of the tube. The invention is the result
of six months labor and four months
practical test on an ordinary wheel. The
tire is plable and resilient and weighs but
SIX ounces more than an ordinary pneu-
matte. II