New-York tribune., 1920-03-10
Brocco Team Upheld in Protest
On Lap Regained by 3 Teams
Italian Nearly Gains An
other Circuit in Night
Sprints; (; Egg Badly Hurt
By Fred Hawthorne


A "jam" second in intensity and
thrills only to the memorable one of
Monday night, in which Maurice Brocco
and Charles De Ruyter, the Italian
Belgian team, gained a lap on the
field, was started by Freddie Hill, a
veteran grinder" just after o'clock
yesterday afternoon, in the six-day
bicycle race at Madison Square Garden.
The sprinting lasted for twenty min
utes, and at the end Of that time Hill
and Kaiser, Goullet and Magin. and
Egg and Madden had gained lap on
the other riders and moved up even
with Brocco and De Rayter. But, with
the whole Garden in q ferment Of ex-
citement, De Ruyter and Brocco left
the track and made a wordy protest
TO the judges, claiming that one of the
riders had fallen during the sprinting
and that there had been faulty pick
ups. The judges agreed with them and
the lap was not allowed.
Hill had caught the field by surprise
and few away into a hundred-yard
lead. He rode until he had increased
the distance to a quarter of lap and
was then relieved by Harry Kaiser, his
mate, who took up the mad riding for
half dozen laps, with the field strag-
gHng all around the track in pursuit.
Favorites Set Pace
Goullet and Egg worked themselves
out Of the pack and clung to Kaiser's
wheel like grim death itself, each man
taking turn at making the pace, and
quickly the margin was increased to
half lap. then three-quarters. Magin
and Madden and Hill again went into
the furious mix-up Of sprinting, and
amid tumult of shrieks from the
spectators they Tapped the stragglers,
among whom were Brocco and De
Ruyter
The Bowker brothers had been Tapped
twice in the terrific "jam," it seemed,
and there was wild bedlam of shouts
and howls from the crowd. In the
middle Of the outburst De Ruyter and
Brocco left the track and made
vehement protest to the judges, threat
ening to withdraw from the race if the
lap was credited to Hill and Kaiser,
Goullet and Magin and Egg and Mad
den.
They based their protest on the fact
that Lester Bowker had fallen at the
Twenty sixth and Fourth Avenue turn
and that, according to the rules, this
automatically cancelled any lap steal
ing during the sprint. There also had
been some bad plck-ups made by the
thsee teams mentioned above. After
lap would not be allowed and that
Rrocco and De Ruyter were still one
lap TO the good. This restored the
Status quo" and things quieted down
.gain.
Rrocco Tries Again
Last night brought out some Of the
most stirring scenes in the long history
of the grind. Immc diately after the
finish OF the sixth official sprint, about
10 o'clock, Brocco started off on an
other wild jamboree Of speed and
opened up a full half lap between him
self and the field.
De Ruyter, his partner. picked him
up beautifully and added thirty yards
TO the lead before the pack got settled
into it's stride and began the stern
chase. After three miles of dizzy rid
ing. De Ruyter and Brocco were caught
by Goullet, Hill and Epeissens, pacing
in turn, but Arthur Spencer and Pete
Drohach and Tom Bello and Vincent
Madonna were Tapped, and are now two
laps behind Brocco and De Ruyter.
During this period of furious sprint
ing Oscar Egg, the most popular man
in We race, came close to having a
serious accident. AS he vas rounding
the steep turn opposite the press box
the front wheel Of his machine buckled
up and Egg was catapulted over the
handlebars, landing on his head.
The Swiss rider slid along for fifteen
feet and then rolled over on to the
fat just as half dozen other furi-
ously srrinting riders came around the
turn. Egg was completely "out" for
fifteen minutes, at the end of which
time he was carried to his quarters.
He was still in the care Of the Garden
surgeons near midnight.
The standing of the various teams In
total points scored since the start fol-
lows: Brocco and De Ruyter, 1875:
Goullet and Magin, 1870; Egg and Mad
den, III; Buysse and Speissens, 50;