Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1913-06-15
By Percy Fl. Whiting.

brute OF an Englishman-5 feet
10 tall. 40 pounds in weight,
twice as big around the chest as
around the waist-rolled into Atlanta.
With him came a crate of bicycles
and a retinue Of trainers. He hooked
with the bicycle brigade, then many
thousands strong in Atlanta.
Hill race any man ere 20 miles
for q hundred pun a SIDE" said ne.
Nobody was interested.
Hill race any four In relays-any
ten-any twenty"
Still nothing doing
"All right, Hill race 20 running
horses, in relays"
The horses having no say in the
matter, this was easily arranged up
to the point of selecting a place.
We've no track" they told him;
mo place but an old ball park, out on
Jackson Street"
That's all right the rider agreed.
But there's no track"
"All right, Hill build a track"
And so he did. circling the field
where the Jack Prince Motordrome
stands to-day, out at what became the
Show grounds" He raced 20 miles
against 20 thoroughbreds, running in
relay and beat them. A huge mob
saw the race and cheered madly for
the big, game, rollicking, goOd-na-
tured Englishman.
And that Englishman was Jack
Prince, back now after 20 years, as
the builder and part owner of the
Atlanta Motordrome-soon to be the
head Of the Southern circuit of mo-
tordromes, with tracks at Birming-
ham, Nashville and Memphis, as well
as at Atlanta
John SHInLINGTON PRINCE-do
} you get that SHILLINGTON?-
was born at Birmingham, England, in
1865 or thereabOuts. His father was
a celebrated musician, and from him
Jack Prince inherited a talent for
music-so much talent that he can
play any old piece on the piano by
ear and can gesticulate tune out of
an old English concertina that SQUADS
like something on an organ.
of Jacks early career nothing much
is known-until he took TO cricket.
This he did at the age OF II "A year
later he turned professional and in
good time bowled for the North Elev-
en- of All England against w. G.
Grace's famous South Eleven. This
doesn't mean anything to you, but to
him 1t was equivalent to pitching
against a picked team composed OF
Ty Cobb, Joe Jackson, Hans Wagner,
Iris Speaker, Napoleon Lajoie and
Eddie Collins.
To this good day Jacks hands are
bent and gnarled like those OF an old
time catcher, as a result OF his cricket
performances in the early days.
a ND now see how things work
L a 60.
cricket matches that Jack began to
ride a velocipede. He graduated nat
urally to the high bicycle. That led
10 the safety. To ride In races he
came to America. to Atlanta. The
bicycle was followed by the automo-
bile. After that came motorcycle
racing. And here is Jack with us
again at the head of the Southern
circuit of motorcycle tracks.
But getting back to the velocipede-
IL wasn't the sort of three-wheeled af-
fair that the kids ride nowadays, but
a two-wheeled grandfather of the
present day bicycle, made OF wood,
with wood frame, wood spokes in the
wheels and a direct drive from pedals
to front wheel.
on this freakish old contraption
Jack Prince did his first racing and
began the development Of that Won
QeEIul muscle ltlaI was 10 WIN the
championship Of the world. At one
time-back in 1888, that was 80 years
ago-he raced or a velocipede at As
ton Villa, the famous football town,
before 10000 people.
d ACK i'm the days when J. Prince
II was still a cricket player some
body discovered the old high wheel"
best known in America as the Co
lumbia," but called in England the
spider wheel bicycle. And naturally
Jack Prince bought one, not that he
was crazy to ride one, but because he
could use II TO go to cricket matches.
But having learned to ride the
Desky tricky thing V. ShillingtOn
naturally Joined the local bicycle club.
This club gave one great race a year,
from Red Cross Tavern to Beggars'
Bush and back again, and to the
winner went the honor of being cap
tain of the team for a year. Natural
ly Jack entered the first run against
a hundred or more competitors and
strangely enough he won.
Il remember It like II was yester-
day" says Jack. The ride out the
dropping Of a check at Beggars' Bush,
to show I'd been there; the grind
back. the crowds yelling 'Princey
wins. Princey wins!' All, Il was big
stuff"
Z IRED by ambition as a result Of
his first big victory, Jack took to
riding in amateur high bicycle meets.
In one season he won SO medals, 10
silver cups and more watches, and, as