New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-03-19
.ECLINCTON and
CI0NI WIN The "A
HOUR ROLLER RACE
Beat Martin and Bacon in
Final Dash for Gold
and Glory.
CROWD FILLS GARDEN
AT FINISH OF GRIND
Worlds Record Broken-Sprints
for Prizes Bring Protest
from Contestants.

Roland Cioni and Arthur lexington
won the twenty-four-hour roller skat-
ing race at Madison Square Garden
last night. Cioni is the sprinting cham
pion OF the world on rollers, and it was
his ability TO give of his best in the
sprint down the stretch that won him
the race and the purse that goes
with it.
Martin and Bacon finished second.
Laurey and Mclean third, Keys and
Yale fourth, and Kirkbride and Tinney
fifth.
The five teams were tied At five min
utes before midnight, with 304 miles
and 5 laps, nine miles and two laps
ahead of the worlds record, set by
Martin and Bacon last year.
Four other teams trailed laps behind,
and these were sent of the track to
make way for the sprinters in the last
dash around and TO the tape. The men
left that faced the starter were Ro-
land Cioni, Freddie Martin, Joe
Laurey, Stanley Keys and John Kirk
bride.
At the crack OF the gun they got off
we'll punched, with Martin cutting out
the running. Martin is the long dis
tance champion, but Cioni holds the
sprint title.
For the first few laps Martin drew
out from his field. Then Cioni sprint
ed. Martin sprinted. too, and the
crowd hOwled approval. II was a bat
tie Of champions down the stretch.
Cioni's sprinting ability stood him in
good stead, and he won by a scant
two feet. The others finished well
punched.
A big crowd, augmented by those
who dropped in after the theatres to
see the finish, cheered and howled its
applause as the leaders struggled for
the mastery at the end Of the long
grind.
All the skaters arrayed themselves
in new sweaters, had their faces
scrubbed and their hair neatly combed
Just before II o'clock. From then until
1880 o'clock, when all but those tied
for the lead were ordered from the
track. series of wild sprints wrought
the spectators up TO n fever of excite
ment. Those lap or more behind the
leaders were making their last des-
perate efforts to put themselves on
equal terms, and those who held the
hard-won advantage were just as de
termined 10 remain in front.
Promptly at the appointed hour
Jimmy Johnston, the official referee,
Signalled the trailers TO retire from
the track. The leaders were then called
10 the starting line, and as Willie
Richie, the California lightweight,
fired the gun that sent them OF, they
dashed down the stretch, and the strug-
gle for the final honors was on.
Only eleven teams were left IN the
race at 3 O'Clock yesterday afternoon,
the others having succumbed to the
terrific pace set by those who were
anxious to gain the many primes
offered by the management and spec
tators for ten lap sprints.
Al the end of the sixteenth hour the
leading teams had rolled 209 miles and
> laps, which was > miles and | lap
ahead of the worlds record set up last
November. by Freddie Martin and
Frank Bacon. the champions. Cioni.
the feet Italian, was leading the field
when the record was broken.
Jackson, Clarke. the metropolitan
champion, after setting killing sprint
for twenty minutes shortly after .
o'clock in the morning in vain effort
10 gain lap. was so exhausted by his
work that he quit the race few min
utes later. About the same time Steve
Shipley. the lanky English partner Of
popular Billy Yale, of New Haven, also
left the grind, and Yale and Billy Keys,
Clarke's terminate, doubled up, with
the penalty of one lap.
Max Hess. known as the "One-armed
wonder from Scranton" with julius
Jacoby, his partner, lost two laps as
the result of the mad pace set by the
leaders For hours afterward Hess
tried desperately to regain the lost
ground, but the field chung to him
teHaciously.
Hess, because Of the fact that he has
only his left arm, won the sympathy
Of the crowd, and every time he APP
peared on the track he was accorded
an ovation. One of the laps lost by his
team was the work of Clarke, who had
gained a lap all but fifteen yards in
his early morning sprint before he was
caught by Laurey and Cioni and
brought back with the others.
The primes" came so frequently
during the afternoon that the strain
of trying to keep up the pace told
severely on the men, and for time
il seemed the race would be stopped
by all the racers going on strike. They
protested against the oherlng OF so
many sprint prizes and told the man
agement they would all quit the con
test unless the primes" came at
greater intervals.
Cioni. who acted as spokesman for
the skaters, said thai as far as he was
concerned the prize sprints could not
come too frequently for him and Ar
thur Eglington, his partner, who had
won their full share of the bonuses.
Alter Cioni had conferred with the
management the sprints were less fire.