New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-09-26
MORE RECORDS TO MICHAEL.
LEsNA NO MATCH FOR THE "hL'i
WONDER AT MANHATTAN BEACH

MILES AND BREAKS THE COMPETITION
nrcoen--uIs MANAGER REFUSES TO GIVE
HIM FASTER PACE 49, TIE BICYCLE
TRACK THRoNGED 49, sCHoFlEi'D
DAWSON AND HoFFsTETIER
WIN THE SHORT DIS
,.,o Michael. the Welsh midget 80
,o-e cvcng laurels TO his credlt a' va -
- Doacb track Yesterday afternoon
- ,oreata1 Tucien Lesna. the French o"' .,,,
n ,birtv-three-:nile race, and mace ~" ~. tn,s
oor,ne,,tion record. The limit o. 80 vs., 49,
wonderful little fellow has nor uee'i ' :, ..
w. ..od,c,od in these columns some uhe "so' - "
-, =. .here is q man In this country or POS9'-
49, ~ ,,o-ld who can live through the pace 'Ec
Uoisb-,an can follow at anything from Ter 10 MY
miles Iesna struggled eane.E q" ''1 W.
, but he e no match for the champion. and
,b,s fact became apparent TO every one ai,e' ~"
niles had been travelled. When Mlchaei was IN
a1road n the American public year ago by the
ON C,l,,b Wheelmen paced racing was pracucaHy
,rknoOD here Now ii IS one OF the most popular
q cycling sports. the attendance az sue" '"'''
shows -. ,o,5 o..
.ha start and he had no trouble in maintaining MS
,,.ar,aOa ~ the end In fact the further they
wen, the further the little fellow increased MS
lead At the end OF the thi-ty-th!rd mile Michaei
was nearly two miles In the lead. and' had MS
MANAGER permitted he could easily nave MADE the
gan wider He was. however. killing OF MS pace
makers at such rate that Shafer refused to nave
the mace made any faster. Michael covered the
hrtv-three miles in 1902 l. 49, the best competition
record made on either side Of the Atlantic. lie did
,ot defeat the worlds record OF 81 miles ara AN
wards against time made by Stocks. the English
man but there is a considerable difference between
a conlpctition and a time record. Michael yester-
day covered 81 miles and ? l-3 laps in the hour, a
wonderful record, considering the strong wind
which blew directly from tho south. That Michaei
could defeat Stocks's record on track shielded
from the wind seems assured.
CROWDS AT THE TRACK
Manhattan Beach away from the bicycle track
presented a dolefu aspect yesterday walled up as
{, was bv unsightly wooden barbados and planks.
All The butterflies Of fashion had flown away. car
rving their admirers with them. Even the statu-
esnue pcsers who have decorated the oathlhg
beach for the greater part of the summer mao gone
their way, to off the tan and amuse them
selves in other ways. The beach was deserted
and 80 were the verandas and pronenades. and
the music OF Sousas Band was hushed for the
season At the track, however. the scene was
most animated one. Special after special drew up
10 the station platform and dsgorged lis human
freight. There no eyes for the beach ou' as
soon as the trains slowed up there was Wild rush
for the bicycle track where seats were at pre-
MUM long before the tlNlc LOT inc HA'"N t"NN -
take place. As the clear and bracing weather
caused many hundreds TO ride their wheels to the
track there was in addition. steady stream oi
BICYCLES from Prospect Park 10 Manhattan Beach
from to O'Clock in the afternoon.
The overflow turred into the infeld, and the
attendance was between 500 and 1000 Every
seat in the two stands occupied and chairs
had been placed wherever place could be found
10 put them. Expecting crush the managers
had asked for extra police, and as result there
was none Of the overcrowding seen at the recent
race between Michael and Starbuck The police
kept the overflow In the infeld at the back OF the
ropes and while many Of the latecomers saw
little OF the race. the racing themselves were
not interfered with. and Lesna had no excuse for
his defeat other than that lie could not ride fast
enough
While Michael had the better pacemakers. Les
mas PAGERS were good. ard It not their fault
that Lesna was beaten. Several times his pace
makers attempted to squirt and recover some OF
their lost ground. but Lesna could not stand the
clip at which they wanted 10 go and feil BACK;
again eaten on behind. Michael. on the contrary
never lost inch in the whole thirty three mics
sger refused 10 give It TO him. asserting that any
faster pace would kill of all MS pacemakers. As
cramps in the race Considering that there were
fron. four six pacemakers on each OF tne pac.he
machines and as they changed on IN average alter
half "A mile mile. one can get some Idea OF Iae
wonderful endurance Of the little fellow wn0 tode
wa 3aced b, two sextupets four bankruptcies and
one duintupiet Lesna had five sextuplets and
Quadruplet for his pace
HOW THE RACE WAS RIDDEN.
The chief race Of the day not started until
shortly after o'clock Shafer won the toss for
Mace and for camp position. He chose the pole for
Michael and the lower into the homestre'ch
for his camp Lesna camp was on the top OF the
turn into tho backstretch Michael looked pale and
rather sleklv a. he faced the starters pistol and
had the appearance of boy Of sixteen Lesna was
fifty pounds heavier and his physical ceVeopietI,t
stood out in marked contrast with that OF his tiny
rival Those who had never seen the WELSH won.
der had only sympathy for the httle teilo"' ora
those who mad seen him in his former races Were
only calculating on the distance by which ne
A. the crack Of the pistol Michael of. and
catching his quad" twenty-five yards from the
SLOW 20 start and did not pick Up his pace In the
same scientific manner. At the end Of the hrsi
and riding with the remarkable which has char
acterized him In all OF his races here A. three
miles he had Increased his advantage 70 half lap.
and it was seen that barring accidents Lesna
would be badly beaten. At six ana one-halt miles
Lesnas pace Tor an instant At seven miles
Miehae passed Iesna a. ne Wai t saHd d sun
time In the seventeenth mile Michael passed
Lesna for the ;hird time. and the welshmsn had
creased his lead and the finish he led Lesna by
nearly two miles.
TINE OF THE MILES.
During the race Michael chewed complacenty on
Quill tooth-pick and he did not change his posi-
ZION. He rides remarkably erect. with his elbows
slightly crooked. He Is said to use the quill for
breathing purposes. The little fellow finished Ike
q wbirv-!nd doing the last mile In "a 10 In the
.btrtv,hree miles only single miles were done
in over two minutes. His fastest mile was the
sncorf witch was done IN las 20 Michaels time
seco Nv nile was as follows First mile. 1853 Us
second sbra I2 ebi Nv fG9G'h 1 ess hi f re-
"a az. tenth 1853: eleventh. $50 twelfth
III 10 thirteenth i5S ~; iog 5 sev a ny
iStS;. algh,eenth. Ia Is: nineteenth, l;5s 3-5
twentieth rs ws1yrs s l fonT Ten'y 4; t%eS
tvSsh jf5. twenty-sixth. LIS 25; twenty-seyen'h
is Is: twenty -eighth i52; twenty LOO -
thrt,eh 154 81 thrtyhrst, 1:'' ~ thr'!-Se'od'
la 4-5; thiriy-third. 10 10.