The sun., 1899-06-22
MURPHl'S & R REAT RIDE.
HE 7R.iTELS 4 NILE ON a BiCrCLE IN
SIxTr-IICE SECONDS.


Shield at Rear of Car the only Artificial
Aid Training to Try for the Even Minute.
man on bicvce rode a mile yesterday
faster than any living creature that moves
on the ground. horse, greyhound or ostrich
ever before travelled the same distance by
self-propusion. The man was Charles NJ
Murphy, and he rode the mile in sixty-ive
seconds. 1t was done as honestly. ceanly
and in as sportsmanike a manner as any
bicycle ever was ridden. His sole advantage
was locomotive with one car atteche d,
which set the pace and enabled him to ride in
partial vacuum. No straps or tow ropes or
harness was employed. He rode naturally.
simply keeping close to tho car by rapid pedal
ling. stout heartedncss and strength OF mind
and body 1t was a wonderful performance
and spectacle of thrilling interest.
The scene OF the ride was on the central
BRANCH OF the Long Island Railroad. strip Ave
miles ropg, running southeast and north
west. between Farmingdale and Babylon.
Tho board track between the rails was
at haywood three miles northwest of
Babylon. the starting point being about
haif mile from the little haywood station.
The country there is in the heart OF the scrub
plains hardly u house or a tree being visible in
miles OF travel. the landscape being an un-
broken stretch OF scrub oak. cedar and buckle
berry bushes. There Is. however. stretch OF
railroad as level as engineering skill could
make it.
At the rear Of the railroad car q box like
structure had been built to shield the rider
from the wind The sides OF it extended
straight out about six feet and downward to
within two feet OF the ground. where they
santed inward toward the track at
an angle of about forty degrees. The
bottoms of the wind-sheldng extension
Tapped over the inner sides OF the rails. setting
close to them ike tianges. so as to exclude all
the air and dust possible. The front end OF
the box. underneath the platform OF the car
soped forward to point like the prov OF a
fiat cludely built skih. The whole affair had
an archng roof that was continuous with
the roof Of the car. In side view it looked
like the top part Of a cab. built sodly OF
boards. that had been tackled onto the car.
fender made of steel and shaped like huge
rectangular handle was affixed to the
rear Of the car. the long bar stand
ing out horizontally. SO as to prevent
the rider from colliding with the car. This
bar was covered with rubber and so set that il
the cyclist ran up too far the head OF his ma
chine would strike it. His front wheel would
barely pass unierIt
Within the shielding sides OF this cont ntrivance
Murphy pedaled for more than two miles,
swerving only for a few inches and never losing
the tremendous speed of his steam driven pace
maker Murphy rode in an ordinary racing
suit OF black tights. full length, black
racing shoes and Jersey OF pale blue. on the
back OF which one OF his friends had pinned
rabbits foot. He was bareheaded and wore no
eyeglasses. nose or mouth shield any kind
OF appliance He did not even have a tooth
pick in his mouth. He rode bicycle Of regular
stock racing model weighing twentv-one
pounds and geared to H.. with ordinary wire
toe clips.
Murphys right hand rested on the horizon
tai bar Of the rubber covered fender
with score OF anxious eyes 1xed upon
him from the car above. when the word
was given to start. II was simply Ready"
called to the engineer Slowly the train
started and began to gather headway. As
soon as he was moving Mt about ten or twelve
miles an hour Murphy let 60 and began to
pedal with his handlebars grrped tightly. his
head down and his front wheel about one
third under the iron bar or fender The
train gathered speed rapidly There was
three.duarters Of a mile to be travelled
before the real trial began for the board track
was more than two miles long and nearly half
the train shut out every possibility OF
speech or call The spectators on the
est redaed faster sF and faster his wheel
never ling. away an inch from its position
una SWhylnR from Slde 10 Slue only nve Inches.
There were five planks, each ten inches wide.
Gomnosing the track, Murphy rode the entire
distance on the miedle one. and he used only
\, As the train increased ts speed it seemed to
tie watchers tha. the rider never could hold
iWnrd-iar,sd ward @ lace meyer % %s6anssd; HIS isa;;
%' tss INV ay who IL Was tTsf yns
down on the platform. intently watching the
rider, There were Tags at the side OF the trnpk
marking the start Of the mile. the finish and
and d s bbs sGds s at
As the starting line was crossed there was a
siicht but pe,ceptb!e increase in the speed
be lost" thought the watchers: but Muir
phy bSscers 6r for svsr slight siae swayns m
the s.art,t the finish the rate Of speed varied
mile, Yet to the watchers it seemed as i the
legs m0Sdd faster s9d faster Eve5s f
To them i I. seemed as / the ride. must
tragedy, The seconds dragged by like min
1tes The spectators had pTsyousy ridden
Thsa seemed See So,rdi J@E lea sso ot5o Fom R
now with the cyclst riding there, under their
feet i seemed Ike an hour thHt the yellow
the quarter, miles were a long time appear
ing, and they seemed to recede slow
". as "a glimpse OF them was caught
from the tail OF the eye All the
or, but he never Tell away from tho relative
position in which he started Always his wheel
was lust so far under that iron bar and always
he was on that central plank ten inches wide.
ed i'm H' v5sa seconds on H and S tee
third in l6 Is seconds. As the the last @ quarter ge
some unknown cause. The cyclIst then fell
away for the. only time in hls 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, Fullerton waved his cap between the
ds bnot f the s6sd wha @
they had been fixed. Immedatsly the rider
eountenance at the watchers.
II was seen opy for an instant; for ths
the, rider ,feceded from within, the side walls
and quickly became a speck IN the dis
but he tdld notI remain in sight long enough