The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-11-20
CYCLONE GETS HOME
Major Taylor, the
Wonder, Is Now
Back in Worcester.
TELLS OF HIS ACHIEVEMENTS.
Satisfied With His Work
and Retires For
Season.
TELLS OF HIS ACHIEVEMENTS.

Major Taylor the cycling whirlwind,
: the only rider that ever turned BIZ
= cycle track in less than I'm. 20s., came
home to Worcester yesterday unex-
, pectedly One of the first to bid him
welcome home was The Spy man. The
sturdy young man who has made the
Sager gear the talk of racing circles the
country over, appears trtf1e thinner in
the face than before he left this city
several weeks ago for the record trials,
but it is in appearance only, Tor ne is
several pounds heavier than he was
during the summer.
With his usual modesty and disin-
clination to talk of his glorious achieve
ment, he tried at first to dismiss the
! subject of his recent remarkable per-
formances lightly but was drawn into
a conversation regarding his racing,
and talked interestingly on how he
came to make the record.
/ Taylor was one of the very few blcy-
Gle riders of the country who were un-
der engagement with any firm. He
was under contract with the manufac-
turers of the Sager gear all season, and
rode it in all his races, demonstrating
beyond a doubt that under his limbs
it is faster than any other style of pro-
| pulsion.
1t was fortunate for Taylor that he
| was under contract, otherwise he would
have been compelled to give up riding
| last seasol, as many other. racers were
! forced to. Good prizes We're offered,
| but sometimes the management of the
meets contented themselves with the
| offer. They considered they had done
their duty when they made the offer.
| They didn't trouble about paying the
| prizes.
Major Taylor lacked but one thing
to complete his outfit last season, and
that was a necessary adjunct. He
should have had competent bill col
lector in his retinue; one of the kind
that brings around his cot and camps
| against the front door if the ''neces-
| sary" isn't Forthcoming. Taylor won
| 1880 the past season which he didn't
| get. He won prizes aggregating that
| amount which the management of va
rious tracks forgot to pay him. There
| was no redress. The management can
easily protect against itself from le-
gal process, but the riders have been
safe up to this year, as the league COM
PEELED payment or prevented any more
meets on the track. Last season the
league was powerless, for the race pro-
moters, after running race under
league auspices, neglected to settle and
then joined the N. c. A.
! 70 the $3.50 several hundred dollars
| must De dQOeQ lOI lIe tApclISSo VI
maintenance before and during the
meets, which failed to settle, In the
| last races at Peoria, Taylor won three
firsts aggregating $3.50. He didn't get
a cent His expenses for that meet
were $3.50 or, as the great rider face
tiously put it, ut cost me $3.50 to lose
$780,
He is happy when he thinks of the
i magnificent performances at Chicago,
however He ought to be. He holds
all records up to the mile, which sat-
isfies not only the rider himself. but his
employers also. When the plucky rider
was thoroughly warmed up to a general
talk on bicycling, he told of his work
in Chicago last week.
He said: when left Worcester sew
eral weeks ago to take part in the race
meet at Peoria, there was no intention
of sending me after records. [ stopped
off at Rochester and had a talk with
the manufacturers of the Sager gear,
for whom 1 have been riding. They said
my records of last year would not be
broken and they didn't want to IN
dertake the expenses necessary for
trials at the records unless some other
rider threatened them. I told them
McDuffee or Elkes would probably try.
when I left them it was with the
understanding that 1 would not train
for any trials l raced in Peoria and
was about to return to Worcester, when
/ received word to begin training for
record trials. McDuffee had made a
mark of I'm. 21s. in Brockton. 1 did
not receive the notice until several
days had elapsed, so that ] was eight
pounds overweight when / got it. I
went to Indianapolis McDuffee went
to Chicago on the quiet to make the
records. He understood I was not to
make any trials, as had made no Sc
cret of the decision of the Sager com
4 pany.
"The very first question McDuffee
asked on Garfield park track was
whether 1 had come or was coming.
He felt elated when he learned 1 had
not and was not expected, for we kept
our intentions quiet then. I was at In
| dianapolis, where l had intended MAX
ing the trials. until l learned McDuf-
fee was at Chicago. We decided to go
there to do the trick while he was
trying for it.
''McDuffee tried by every means in
his power to keep us off the track.
| Failing in that. he endeaVored to pre-
vent me trying, except at his conven-
fence. He urged on the management of
the track the danger of having two
speedy motorcycles on the track at the
same time. We mentioned to the man
agement that half dozen motorcycles
have been on the third-mile track at
u
/ danger with us starting from opposite
sides of the track, and the manage
ment rightly came to that conclusion.
/ II knew McDuffee had lost his nerve
by the objections he tried to raise to
my riding. l felt sure of the record
then. He was using wind shields when
we got there. I rode without them at
first To show you the difference in our
riding the mile we did without wind
shields, is as good an illustration as
the record. The fastest he could go
without wind shields was I'm. 2Ss.,
while l went in I'm. 24s.'
4 But you went in I'm. % 2-5s. with
out wind shields last summer, didn't
your" asked The Spy man.
Yes, but riding in the summer when
there is no wind, and riding at this
time of the year, are two entirely DIFF
ferent propositions. There is a handi-
cap of several seconds in riding at this
season Of the year. But as l was say
ing, McDuffee tried devices for pro-
lection from the wind. He put two
tanks something like soda tanks, on
his motorcycle They were uncovered
on the hind end their purpose being
j to create a vacuum. His crew kicked
/; strenuously at using them and so did
his manager, for the Chicago papers
i, and public showed opposition to the
, use of any form of protection. McDuf-
fee tried to ride without shields but
Il couldn't get up any speed, and put
them on his machine. / had never seen
:, any wind shields up to that time NV