San Francisco Call, Volume 78, Number 153, 31 October 1895 — EASTERN RACERS HERE [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

EASTERN RACERS HERE

Arrival of Six Cycling Celebrities With Their Trainers. WILL WINTER IN CALIFORNIA. Bald, Cooper, Murphy, Riser. Wells and Terrill Are the Names of the Flyers.

There arrived in this City yesterday morning a party of the most prominent wheelmen in the United States, racing men and trainers who are known from one end of the country to the other, the riders being the speediest class B men known .to the sport. They have been expected for some time, and as they will winter on the coast and be continually competing with the local cracks more than ordinary interest attaches to them. The party which arrived yesterday included E. C. Bald of the Columbia team, with his celebrated trainer, Asa Windle, both of whom were here last spring; Tom W. Cooper and trainer, James Temple, of the Monarch team; Charles If. Murphy and Trainer. W. B. Young, of the Humber team ; K. £. Riser and trainer, H. B. on, of the Steams team; Charles S. Welis and W. A. Terrill, the "California piants" of the Syracuse team, and F. Ed Spooner, accompanied by his wife and

; friendly greetings were in order. The I Bay City boys fairly smothered their club- : mates, Wells and 'Terrill, in the general. I rush for a handshake and bewildered them with a continuous flow of questions. To The Call representative Mr. Bald said he was glad to get back to California, : as lie had made many friends upon liis ! first visit here. Murphy, Cooper and Kiser were very anxious to get a first glimpse of San Francisco, which they secured at Point Pinole. "Look at the hills," cried Murphy. "Do you ride wheels up those grades?" He was assured that every local rider was an expert hill-climber. ! Terrill said that to him the following of the National circuit had been one continual holiday. New sights, new scenes all the time, splendid company and good sport all tended to make the trip most j enjoyable. Wells also had a jolly time, though he said he baa hoped to be more ; successful. This was his natural modesty ; showing up, however, as his riding has been considered particularly brilliant. Arriving in this City the entire party were driven to the Baldwin Hotel and after lunch they divided up into smaller groups and were shown about the City by ; the members of the Bay City Wheelmen. Last night a reception was held at the : clubhouse, after which a visit to Ciiinatown was made. The club will hold a smoker Saturday r:ight, at which the ; visitors will be the special guests of honor. As to their immediate movements the ; racing men are a trifle undecided. They will go to San Jose not later than next Monday, however, and train there for the two days' National circuit meet to be Held on November 8 and It. After that they will race in Southern California until the end • of November. Owing to the scarcity of tracks in this part of the State, the south i will see more of the riding of these men than the devotees of the sport in Northern ! California. E. C. Bald of the Press Cycling Club, I Buffalo, N. V., has been the most successful class B rider this season. Up to Octo- ■ ber 23 he had won fifty-two first prizes, ! forty-two of them on the National circuit. As the value of most first prizes in class B is $150, and the prize is generally an unset

quired the trick the last time he rode at Napa. When the entire complement of Eastern racing men is here, the entry lists in class B races will include all the fastest men in that class in the United Stales. Surely cycling racing in this State is about to experience a wonderful boom. The members of the California Cycling Club are training diligently for their fivemile handicap road race, to be held next Sunday from San Leandro to Haywards. Those who will contest are : Messrs. Alexander, Birdsall, Egeberg, Mayo, Sternberg, Pteid, Strahle, Struven, Tuttie, Joost, 01---sen, Coulter, Stewart, Snedeker, The i sen, Beob, Cook, Johnson, Gaughran, Norton,

child, who is the cycling correspondent on the National racing circuit for a large number of Eastern daily and weekly papers. Last spring E. C. Bald, Ray Macdonald and Trainer W indie of the Columbia team visited this coast. The men competed successfully with the local riders, and owing to the mild climate were able to get into racing trim earlier by a couple of months than the Eastern riders. As a result when they returned home they were in winning form and carried everything before them. They spoke in such favorable terms of our climate and hospitality that the other prominent Eastern racers decided to come here. Yesterday's arrivals are but a few of the crackerjacks who will be with us ere long. John S. Johnson, the record-breaker, Cabanne, Ziegler, Sims, Coulter and Titus, all of whom have world-wide reputations for speed, will winter in California, probably at San Jose, and races will be held there frequently. If arrangements can be made a meet will also be held at the Oakland Trotting Park. As there is no track in this City they cannot ride here. Each year the racing board of the League of American Wheelmen arranges what is called the National racine circuit. The class B men belonging to the various racing teams travel from town to town where meets are held. Up to last year this circuit never extended further west than Salt Lake City, and the racing season closed about October 1. This year it opened in May, and as the circuit has been extended to California it will not close until December 1. After that most of the men will go to San Jose and try for records. A large party of local enthusiasts, principally members of the Bay City Wheelmen, toot an early train for Vallejo Junction yesterday morning and boarded the overland train bearing the Easterners. This reception committee included Judge F. H. Kerrigan, Wilbur F. Knapp, K. C. Lennie, Will Knippenberg, S. H. Knapp

diamond, it will readily be seen that his journeying all over the United ,States and riding bicycle races has been most profitable. Bald is a handsome, good-natured young man of about 23 years, and is very popular with his competitors. Torn W. Cooper hails from Detroit, though he is now racing under the colors of the Bay City Wheelmen of this City, lie is a new star in the racing world, wno has won a National reputation in a little over two months. By defeating Bald and Murphy several times his name was made, and there is never a finish of a race now

Jr., Sanford Plummer, W. D. Sheldon, T. 6. Hall, W. H. Toepke, George L. Hall, Fred Russ Cook, David McT. Marshall, H. T. Emery, H. A. Goddard. Theo C. Dodge, B. B. Vincent, H. 0. Johnson, Captain George H. Strong, John F. Burns, C. N. Ravlin, R. a. Smyth and H. W. Spalding. Coming upon the tourists, as they did, so early and so unexpectedly, and in such overwhelming numbers, the surprise was complete; but everybody found room in the Pul^m|n, and introduction^ Q^X

but what he is one of the first three. Cooper is fine looking, of a jovial disposition and makes friends so readily he will become very popular here. E. S. Kiser is another product of the season of 1895. He is short and stockily built, like Ray Macdonald or Otto Zies'ler. His riding is similar to theirs, and°the frequency with which his name appears in the racing summaries in one of the front positions shows that he is not out of his class. Charles M. Murphy of New York, who will also carry the Bay City colors, has been on the path for many years. That this has not detracted from his speed a particle may be judged by his recent performance at Denver when he rode a dead heat with Bald in the mile open in the remarkable time of 1:56 1-5, a world's record. At the same place he also rode a half mile competition in 58 1-5 seconds, and at Chicago last July rode two miles in competition in 4:14, two more world's records Charles S. Wells and W. A. Terrill are both well known on this coast, having made their reputations racing here the past three years. In the past they have been quite successful, particularly in handicap events, though Wells beat both Bald and Murphy at a third of a mile scratch in Denver.

Every man in this aggregation has his special trainer, and the ndors are consequently always in the pink of condition. The aspirants for racing honors on the coast will profit considerably by having the opportunity to compete with the Easterners, and the results of the various contests will be watched with interest. It is said the Eastern riders have a knack of jumping their wheels about ten yards from the tape, which wins for them many a race. This the Cahfornians have never got on to, tuouga ft. L. Long seemed to have ac-

Thomas, Green, Boyd, Zaches, Cardinel and Williams. At the regular weekly meeting of the California Cycling Club* Monday evening, the following nominations were made for officers for the ensuing year: President, J. \Y. Harvey; vice-president-John Burke, G. W. Burnett, Thomas Wall; recording secretary, H. P. Wynne; financial 6ecretury, W.O.Johnson; treasurer— T. H. Boyd, R. 8. Allen, A. Karl, F. G. Nason, F. N. lient, J Kobbins, W. K. Brunt, R. S. Boyd: sergeant-at-arms—W. Reid, If. Hanson, J. J. B. Argenti, F. Musser; house committee— F. N. Bent, E. Wilburg, F. Burnett, C. A. Brady, John Burse, A. Ehmann, E. M. Boyle, R. S.Allen, W. N. Brunt; cuptain, H. L. Mayo; lirst lieutenant— P. G. Alexander, 11. Kgeberg, T. Boyd, William Reid, A. Ehmann; second lieutenant— E. M. Boyle, F. Struven, William Reid, P. Robbins; color-bearer, P. N. Kent; bugler— E. Erbe, E. Wilberg. At the meeting it was announced that the club would be tendered a reception by the Alpha (ladies) Cycling Cub on Wednesday evening, November <>. F. J. Caldwell, H. F. Neunaber, J. L. Fry ana J. Madden were elected to membership. The Camera Club Cyclists will hold a "Hallowe'en high jinks" at the clubrooms, Academy of Sciences building, this evening, commencing at 8 o'clock sharp. Members of the California Camera Club are invited. The Bay City Wheelmen will hold one of their famous smokers next Saturday night at the clubrooms, 441 Golden Gate avenue, in honor of the Eastern racing men and their own two fellow-members who will arrive to-day from the East. Next Sunday Captain'Plumuier will lead a run to the park, which, it is safe to say, will be poorly attended if the smoker the night before is what is usually termed a success. The club is fast completing arrangements for its entertainment at Odd Fellows' Hall on Monday evening, November 11, and has secured an exceptionally ! fine list of talent. All the local clubs will i attend en masse.

E. C. Bald, tresß Cycling- Club of Buffalo.

Charles M. Murphy, Manhattan Athletic Club, New York.

TOM M. COOPER OF DETHOIT, NOW OF THE BAY CITY WHEELMEN.

E. S. Kiser.