The record-union., 1899-01-07
of the exposition will be given to the
poor of the city.

of the exposition will be given to the
poor Of the city.
The number of accidents that are d.
rectly traceable to the absence of
brakes, and particularly of good brakes,
shows no signs of abatement. In one
week there were five fatal accidents in
England, four of them due to the
brakeless condition of the machine rid
den, and in France the number of Sc
rious accidents due to the same cause
is extremely large. In this country in
stances where accidents terminate ia
tally are much more rare but every
week there is a sufficient number of
mishaps. great and small, to cause Sc
riouS concern. In a very large major
ity of cases they could have been
avoided had the rider been able to
hold his machine in check with a good
brake.
The gear case, which last spring was
thought by many to be absolutely nee
essary to make a machine complete,
seems to have been forgotten entirely
A dealer, in speaking Of the matter, said
that the riders became interested in
gear cases when the chainless wheel
made its appearance, but because none
of these cases that were placed on the
market were sufficiently light, and be-
cause they detracted from the appear
ance of the machine, there was no de-
mand for them. He said, however,
that the gear case will be introduced at
the cycle show in a better form, and
that next season majority of the
chain wheels will have them attached.
In England very few bicycles are rid
den without a chain guard
r
The success of George Banker, the
American cyclist, in Europe during the
past season, has induced him to re-
main abroad another season. He is
reported to have made more money
than other sprint racer in America dur
ing the past season. Banker was
good attraction in Europe because of
the superiority he showed over the best
foreign riders. Banker will have a
strong rival, however, Eddie Bald hay
ing completed plans to race abroad this
year. Bald is a faster rider than
Banker at some distances, and the
struggle between these two men for the
big end of the purses will interest the
devotees Of cycle racing abroad
Professional racing has secured a
firm hold in Europe. Until last season
the racing center was Paris. but it has
moved to Berlin, where the principal
events were decided last season. Ber-
lin had races on forty-two days, 179
separate events being decided More
than $500 amateur prizes were award
ed, and the money prizes awarded to
professionals is said to have aggregat-
ed 100000. This is an increase of SIS.
COO over last years figures.
Two enterprising Englishmen have in
vented a back-pedaling brake that has
been Endorsed by several well-known
bicycle designers. The invention re-
lates to an improved combination for
braking velocipedes, the brake being
applied by back pedaling or resisting
the rotation of the crank-shaft. and be-
ing withdrawn when the pedals are
worked in. the forward direction. the
force of the braking action varying
with the amount of resistance in back
pedaling The invention is carried out
by securing a disk-plate faced with
leather or similar suitable material to
the frame of the bicycle, this disk be-
ing stationary and concentric with the
crank shaft, and the plane or face of
1t is at right angle to the axis of
the crank-shaft- The sprocket wheel