New-York tribune., 1899-06-22
did not. His wheel seemed to right itself the
car did. and the remainder OF the tourney was

car dlo, ana the remainder OF the journey was
made without wabble, until he attempted TO
sacken speed at the end Of the mile.
Those who saw the trial from the ground de-
scribed the spectacle as one of the most pecul-
lar that they had ever The engine and
car rushed past like a tornado, and the wheel
man behind seemed to be part Of the whole. He
was so close to the rear of the coach that he
seefned 10 be fastened there. As one spectator
expressed it, I'VE simply the engine and
car rush by with little blue streak in the rear.
Then II was out OF sight"
Al the finish the engineer blew a blast from
the whistle, but the rush and
deafening that neither Murphy nor those on the
rear platform Of the coach heard 1t. Fullerton
however. had prepared for this and, lying fiat
on his face, he waved his cap across the white
line. and Murphy realized that II time for
him to try to slacken his speed. That Is where
MS real troubles began. After blowing the
whistle the engineer threw the lever wide open
with the idea OF getting away from the rider
behind. and at the same time Murphy began to
back pedal to get out of the suction The train
sped on and In an instant Murphy was hun
dred yards up the track. While he had been as
steady as a piece of statuary during his ride
behind the coach. now he began to wabble bad
ly. The rush OF air instead OF retardng his
speed seemed to unbalance him completely. He
wabbled as If he would fall from his wheel
His coolness and strength alone saved him. He
finally managed to straighten his wheel. but
he had not stopped the bicycle entirely when
he reached the end OF the plank track and as
his wheel went off the pankng he jumped off
barely saving himself from falling
The first quarter was made in III % seconds.
~ 10 seconds, and the mile in 800 fiat. The
quarters were made in 16 % Ii Sd. 1GiI, and
IL 10 seconds To those on the train Murphy
seemed to be Increasing his speed with each
quarter.
There are few riders in the country capable
OF duplicating this performance for the rea-
son that few Of them possess the physical re-
quirements to face such an ordeal. Murphy is
a good all-around athlete. and he strips more
IKE boxer than bicycle rider. He has an eX
cellent development across the shoulders with
he had the strength to steady his machine after
the coach drew away at the finish.
When he was examined after his ride Muir
phys pulse was found to be 30. He said in
speaking OF his ride: Il simply set my teeth
and was determined to keep next to that
bumper. l felt no unpleasant sensation other
than one would feel when riding a home trainer.
experienced no Ill effect until near the finish,
when my eyes became set and slightly crossed.
or course could not have stayed there much
longer. My real troubles began when tried TO
pull up. My wheel quivered and shook and
jumped around like bucking bronco. For an
instant l thought that l was goner. but
finally managed to straighten II out, and knew
that / all right. l imagined that l was
going at about q 20 clip. With this trial to-
day | am convinced that / will be able TO ride
inside Of minute on the Both. have always
thought / could do ii. and I believe that
my ambition will be gratfed. / shall wear
goggles and a mouth shield in the race against
the minute. and shall probeb bly, also attach
brake to my wheel AS compute II, my wheel
made lS00T revolutions in the mile. 2.1I
revolutions Of the pedals a second. l can go
faster than that; in fact. l have done so on a
home trainer / was perfectly protected from
cinders, but the dust bothered me little"
One of the party pinned silver mounted rab-
bits foot to Murphy's shirt Just before the
start. He requested the use OF the same rab-
bits foot in his race later on. The arrange
ments were excellent throughout. Murphys
real race will b. in connection with the State
meet of the New-York Division Of the League
Of American Wheelmen which will be held at
Patchogue June 20 80 and July |. 1t is ex-
pected that thousands will line the course on
the day of the race to annihate Father Time.
The bicycle seems to be now monarch OF all in
roint Of speed except steam electricity and
compressed air