The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-10-23
STRONG OPPOSITION.
Outsiders Organize to Fight
the Bicycle
Trust.

United opposition of some sort from
the bicycle concerns outside the Amer
lean Bicycle Company has been antici-
pated for weeks, and several times
there have been rumors of meetings in
various cities, Buffalo being the favor
lite point at which supposed conferences
have taken place.
Such a meeting did occur a few days
ago. and the details of it came to light
Saturday. Representatives of forty
companies interested in the making of
bicycles, parts, equipment and sun
dries met at Buffalo and formally or
ganized the Cycle Traders Protective
Association, the capital stock being
placed at 100000, fully paid in, which
sum- with as much more as may be
necessary, is to be used in protecting
the members against loss of any de-
scription resulting from the policy of
the A. B. c.
The opposition to the so-called trust
is not intended to be rival combina-
ton, but simply a union of those not
included in the A. B. c., which claims
to control all patent rights entering into
the construction of bicycles and their
parts. It's sponsors assert that mem
bership of more than one hundred is
assured.
Anticipating the plans of the A. B..
c., the independent makers have finally
banded together in order to be pre-
pared for any move which may ema-
nate from their imposing competitor
Singly, none of them could withstand
the efforts Of the trust in any patent
litigation, but combined, and with mon
ey appropriated for the purpose, they
consider themselves ready to meet any
emergency which may arise.
Stories have been in circulation to
the effect that some of the statesmen
of the A. B. C. have conveyed informa-
ton to dealers handling wheels not
made by trust factories that in the
event of patent prosecution not even
the retailers would be overlooked in
any legal steps which might be taken,
the idea being that it would be safer
for the dealer to sell wheels included
in the trust list. The A. B. c. people
deny this.
Definite information as to the num-
Der of machines made by makers out
side the trust is difficult to obtain, nor
is it possible to estimate the amount
of capital involved. A cycling jour
nal recently stated that it was erro-
neous to claim that go per cent of the
bicycle industry was involved in the
trust Twelve makers who attended
the Buffalo meeting produced 100000
wheels last season. In the trust there
about thirty-five makers, with more
than one hundred outside of it, who
turn out from 5000 to 10000 machines
each year.
Though it is not possible to obtain
an accurate list of the concerns which
participated in the Buffalo meeting, the
following are known to be interested
in the association: Waltham Manufac-
turing Company, Waltham, Mass; R..
H. Wolff & Co., New York; National
Sewing Machine Company, Belvidere
ILL.,; liver Johnson's Cycle and Arms
works, Fitchburg, Mass; julius An
drae & Sons, Milwaukee; Fowler cycle
works, Chicago; Overman Wheel Com
pany, Springfield, Mass; Heating Cycle
and Automobile Company, Middle
town, CT; Arnold, Schwinn & Co., Chi
cago Tube Company Chicago; Kelly
Handlebar Company, New York; Fair
banks Boston Rim Company, and other
makers of parts, besides lesser makers
of bicycles.