CYCLING NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2649, 21 December 1904, Page 59

CYCLING NOTES.

Country children in Otago are often at a disadvantage in securing the educational advantages offered under our admirable system of ' education, and where it has been practicable the children from outlying districts have been conveyed daily from their settlements to a central school by means of a vehicle. This means of conveyance is not altogether successful, the i cost of such being more than the autho- ! rities anticipate, and often there are cases where children are forced to do without educational needs owing to the carrying price being too high. This point of conveyance of children has occupied the minds of the American education authorities, and as a result the Adelphi College, of Brooklyn believes it has solved the problem. Ssix automobile omnibuses, supplied with heating apparatus, two large steam gasolene cars, and three gasolene touring cars have Deen employed this year. The experiment was ! first attempted last winter with two cars, ' and proving such a success, was extended. i Whether this means of conveying i ohildren to and from school would be suitable for Otago is another question, but I what the Brooklyn people have done serves to show us that every effort is being' put forward to improve the minds of the chil1 dren, and that the potentialities of the automobile are not yet exhausted. The bicycle comes into daily use in carrying the worker to and from his work, and, it may not be generally known, also serves a purpose "in conveying children to ! school. .Regarding the latteT use, it may be interesting to my readers to know that in an inland district High School in Otago there are ' seven pupils who daily ride a distance of 14 miles, over hilly roads, to and from schcol for the greater part of the I year. These pupils use the cycle as a i means of reaching the nearest school where ! the higher branches of education are taught, i and though often travelling under adverse 1 circumstances, are loth to take ' the train, the other means of reaching school. Of this hardy band of cyclists one of the number is a girl, and the daily exercise on her bicycle does not seem to tire her in the least. The last scratch race in the first evening meeting of this year's Austral — the Commonwealth , Stakes — of four miles, was one in which lap prizes were offered, the ruling figure being 5s per lap, but the man leading at the end of the miles secured £3, £4, £5, and £6 respectively. It was a peculiar sort of race ; at about half way through, after several minor individual sprints, a strong quartet — Morgan, Farley, Walker, and Scheps — broke away, and were , never headed, leaving the foreigners out of the hunt entirely. Farley did the bulk of the paoing, and succumbed, but the remaining three finished in the order as above. The race was fairly fast, each mile averaging 2min 7sec. An application for postponement of the Sydney Thousand cycling dispute case, Corbett versus O'Brien, was before the New South Wales Court early this month. Owing to the plaintiff being under engagement to appear in Perth at an early date, and to the fact that important witnesses in Floyd Macfarland, W. Watts, H. Gordon, and G. Bearpark were in Melbourne in connection with the- Austral' Wheel Race-meeting, an adjournment of the case was asked ior until December 15. The application was referred to the Chief Justice. This case has now been hanging on for such a period that by the time it is decided one way or the other the Sydney lawyers will be the biggest winners over the Sydney Thousand Wheel Race decided last March. The Talbot Plate, a scratch race of three miles, run at the Austral meeting and won by T. Ellegaard, was one for progressive lap prizes. The first lap was worth ss, but the fifteenth and* last netted, the winner, £5 15s. F. H. Schepp was the man who scored the best in the lap prizes, annexing the ninth £2 7s), the eleventh £3 15s), and the thirteenth (£4 15s)— a total of £10 17s. R. H. Walne secured three laps eailier in the race, wnich stood him in £1 17s 6d. Neither the eighth, tenth, twelfth, nor fourteenth laps carried any prizes. The remaining four laps were secured by— Farley, two for £1 17s 6d ; and Rutt, two for 12s 6d. One of the principal attractions at the Sydney Cricket Group cK'ou a recent Saturday was the motor ear race for £100 between Mr Frank Albert's 14-16 horse- ' power Knowles Darracq and Mr W. E. Fisher's 14-16 horse-power Knowles oar. Those started on opposite sides of the track from a standing start, and were required to continue at their beet pace for a distance of two miles. Both cars got away well, oml ilio drivers proved themselves very expert with their motors, and there was very little between them. The cars also were more or less equal as to speed, but Mr Albert's car s<y*med to have the better of the race by a ew JSSUit^~ Time, 3min Up to August IST of this yoar 7193 automobiles were registered in London, but »v less tlian. two months later (October 7) t

the number had increased to 7669, an average of 68 per week. The victory of Leon Thery in the Gordon-Bennett Cup Race at Homburg last June gave to France the right to hold the 1905 contest in that country. The French Automobile Club has already been, moving in the matter, and, it is stated, the Government .has refused to allow "the race to take place, on French soil. Such an alarming statement- has, given rise to a great deal of ill-feeling, and, it is understood, the - French body has asked the German Minister of the Interior whether it would be possible to hold v the International Cup Race of 1905 on the Taunus track. The course at Homburg, where the event last took place, is admirably suited for such a race, and formd a very good test. Should the French Government adhere to its views it will largely affect the French automobile industry in many ways. There is plenty of time before next year's race comes round, and it is to be hopad the Frenoh body will be permitted to hold the race on its own soil, after fighting so hard for the honour. ] Eugene Bruni, the Frenoh cyclist, has established a new hour record. For nearly a year this was held by -"Tommy" Hall, with 4-5 miles 545 yds. Bruni beat Hall's record by 4.ooyds, covering 87 kilometres 618 metres in all. Continuing, he went for the 100-kilometre record, which he lowered in lhr Bmin - 44 • 2-s*ec. -■ Bruni was paced by a motor-cycle fitted with a wind shield, a device which has been discarded in all legitimate track-racing. Thanks to the untiring work of thei officials, the Touring Club de France, the most powerful organisation of the kind in ' the world, \s still gaining ground, the figures for the last financial year revealing tile interesting fact that over 91,000 names were ' registered on .the rolls. It is hoped that in the ensuing year the one hundred-thou- • sandth member will be recorded: In regard to numbers, the League of American Wheelmen, in ifcs best -days, when- it catered for the tourist as well as the. racer, topped the poll with 103J000 members - for one year. The Cyclists' Touring Club of England has reached a total of 60,000, but the French body is the strongest to-day, and has the most advantage's -to offer. The world's automobile track championship, over a distance -of 10 miles, was decided at New York last October, when M. Leon Thery; winner of the last GordonBennett Cup, was defeated by Barney Oldfield, the redoubtable Yankee motorist, in thei fast time of 9min 12 3-ssec. ' -The Automobile Club of America intend taking a very active part in next year's race for the Gordon-Bennett Cup. Last year America was not represented, their eliminating trials proving such a fiasco that it was deemed advisable not to send a representative to Homburg. A circular has been issued to those interested, setting forth the conditions which entries will be received. Each entrant must deposit £120, and before April 15, 1905, must file an affidavit, vouched by two responsible persons, containing the following statements: — 1. That the car has been completed for a period of over four week**; (2) that they have driven the car over 1000 miles on the road ; (3) that they have driven the car over 250 miles without stopping the engine ; (4) that they have driven the car more than .40 miles in leas than one hour on track* or road. Thery, last year's Gordon-Bennett Cup winner, is out with a challenge to the motoring world. He is desirous of meeting G. Heath (winner of tfie Ardennes circuit and "Vanderbilt Cup") and W. K. Vanderbilt, jun., holder of many records, in a series of matches on the Florida Beach. Thery is anxious to demonstrate what his 80 horse-power Richard Brazier car can do when pitted against the 90 horse-power Panhards and Mercedes racing monitors. London has long been promised a regular motor-omnibus service, between seyeral of the suburbs and the city proper, and last October saw it utilised. ' It is stated that they have. proved_ themselves to be capable of greater speed than their rivals, the electric trams, while they scored materially when, as all railroads are subject to, the electric service was blocked by the failure of a car or a stoppage of the current. The- break-down of one motor omnibus does not affect the rest ; a spare vehicle is always ready to replace it. There are 280 motor launches on the Thames this year, as against 46 in 1900. A prominent motorist, in discussing the matter of ignition, considers it would conduce to safety and comfort to have some device whereby the ignition gear would automatically adjust itself to its latent point as soon as the motor stopped ; it would then always be in the best position for starting up. An alternative method for arriving at the same result would be to have an interlocking apparatus to prevent the starting handle being applied till the , ignition is fully retarded. " <] Fanatical farmers in America are doing some "holding vp 5 ' of motorists on tour. Firearms are presented, and the Automobile Club of America are angry to such an extent that they are actively engaged in prosecuting the! said farmers. Training operations are in full swing on i the Outram cycling track at present, a la.rg3 number of riders taking advantage of every opportunity of getting into form in view of the Taieri Cycling Club's sports at Outrßm on Boxing day. Entries are coming to hand i freely, aucl as many of the intending competitors are showing very good promise some good finishes and fast times axe expected to be recorded. TAIERI CYCLING CLUB. The Taieri Cycling Club's opening race of the season took place on the Outrarn track on Safouctar evening last under vjhtj w

favourable circumstances. The rain in the early part of the day had left small pools of water, through which the competitors had to ride, with the result that three or four spilis were registered. As the ground on either side of the track was covered with long grass, however, those who fell did not sufier trom the effects, and most of them, rode on to the finish A large number of spectators assembled from the surrounding distuct to witness the event, and they eagerly discussed the probable result while the race was in progress. Of the 13 entries 10 faced the starter, and the race was run off in two heats. Punctually at 7 o'clock the competitors in the first heat got on their marks, and after a little deiay were sent off by the starter (.Mr J. Baird). T4ie following »re the results; — First Heat.— T. B. Christie, 130 yds, 1; A. P. Fleming, scratch, 2; W. Roxburgh, 280 yds, 3. Also started: T. Adams 35yds and J. M'Corkindale 165 yds. In the first mile the limit man rallied considerably on the scratch man. When a mile had been covered M'Corkindale had the misfortune to puncture his tyre, and had to retire, and shortly afterwards Adams, who had been riding well, also retired, not wishing to risk a fall. With two laps to go Christie was leading Roxburgh by about 20 yards, a similar distance separating the latter from Fleming. With a desperate effort Fleming passed Roxburgh in the last lap, 'but could not catch Christie, who won easily by about 60 yards. Second Heat.— H. Christie, 90vds, 1: G. Wilson, 50yds. 2.

From a good start the men got well away, but in the second lap King fell, and brought Nawdsley down with Mm. Both riders remounted, however, and continued the race. c In the fourth lap King again fell. H. Christie, who was riding strongly, caught all Kis men iv the fifth lap, and Wilson was comin<* up fast. In the seventh lap Kreft came down, amid roars of laughter from: the spectators, and Nawdsley retired, leaving only H. Christie and Wilson to fight out the finish. With two laps to go Wilson had assumed the lead, with Christie on his wheel, and they remained in that order till the bell rang, when both riders sprinted, and both got on even terms. Wilson's wheel skidded, however, and Christie was left to finish alone. Wilson remounted his machine and rode for second place. Final. H. Christie 1 T. B. Christie .. .'. 2 A. P. Fleming 3 Wilson got a very bad start, losing some 5 yards, and he retired after going a few ]ip«\ Fleming caught" the Christie brothers in the fourth lap, and the three rode together till the bell rang, when H. Christie, coming with a well-judged run, succeeded in winning, with. T. B. Christie on his wheel, and Fleming 20 yards away third. The points "for the ' medal now stand: H. Christie 3, T. *B. Christie 2, A. P. Fleming 1.