The San Francisco call., 1899-06-22
ALMOST A MILE
A MINUTE MADE
BY A CYCL|ST
Locomotive Sets the
Pace.
MARVELOUSLY FAST RIDE
DISTANCE COVERED IN sixty
FIVE SECONDS.
The Wheelman Shielded From the
Wind by Contrivance Built
Upon His Steam-Driven
Pacemaker.
Special Dispatch to The Call.

NEW YORK, June 21.-A man on a
| bicycle rode a mile to-day faster than
any one ever before travelled the same
distance by self-propulsion. The man
was Charles NJ. Murphy, and he rode
the mile in sixty-five seconds 1t was
done as honestly, cleanly and in as
sportsmanlike a manner as any bicycle
ever was ridden. His sole advantage
was a locomotive with one car at
tached, which set the pace and enabled
him to ride in a partial vacuum. No
straps or tow ropes or harness were
employed. He rode naturally, simply
keeping close to the car by rapid pedal
ing. 1t was a wonderful performance
and a spectacle of thrilling interest.
The scene of the ride was the central
branch of the Long Island Railroad,
five miles long, between Farmingdale
and Babylon.
At the rear of the car a box-like
structure had been built to shield the
rider from the wind. The sides eX-
tended straight out six feet and down.
ward to within two feet of the ground,
where they Slanted inward toward the
track at an angle of 40 degrees. The
bottoms of the wind-shielding exten-
sion Tapped over the inner sides of the
rails, setting close to them like flangeS
to exclude all the air and dust possible.
Within the shielding sides of this con-
trivance Murphy pedaled for more than
two miles, swerving only for few
inches and never losing his tremendous,
steam driven pacemaker He was bare
headed and wore no eyeglasses, nose or
mouth shield or any kind of appliance.
He rode a bicycle of the regular stock
aoir oh
pounds and geared to 112, with ordinary
wire toeclips
There were three-quarterS of a mile
to be Travelled before the real trial be-
gan, for the board track was more than
two miles long, and nearly half-mile
was left for slowing up. The cyclist
pedaled faster and faster, his wheel
never falling away an inch from its
position and swaying from side to side
only five inches. There were five
planks, each ten inches wide, compos-
ing the track. Murphy rode the entire
distance on the middle Cne and used
only half of that.
AS the starting line was crossed there
was a slight but perceptible increase in
the speed of the engine. Surely the
rider must be lost" thought the watch
erS; but Murphy, except for a slight
side swaying, did not change his posi-
ton. From start to finish the rate of
speed varied only Dy the ITdCllOnS Ol
d second in each quarter-mile.
Spectators had previously ridden over
the course in one minute and eight
seconds when the engineer was trying
himself and his engine. Then it seemed
like a flying leap from one end of the
board to the other, but now with a
cyclist riding there under their feet it
seemed like an hour.
The first quarter was travelled in
:16 2-5; the second in :16 3-5 and the
third in :16 15.
AS the last quarter was begun the
car bounded just little from some
unknown cause. The cyclist then fell
away for the only time in the ride.
He dropped back four or five inches and
every heart stood still, but a second
more and he was back again, his legs
moving like piston rods as before.
When the finish line was crossed the
rider threw up his head and flashed
a grinning countenance at the watch
erS.
The engineer as soon as the finishing
mark was crossed, opened the throttle
and the train bounded away at seventy
miles an hour, thereby leaving Murphy,
who, probably would have been unable
to slow away from the car had this not
been done.
Murphy is convinced he can ride
mile a minute, and so is every one who
witnessed the trial to-day. He will
make the attempt on June 30. at the
State League of American Wheelmen