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Jrt-thethecmln-«ryI'heONLY ONE BICYCLE TRUSTWESTERN WHEEL WORKS RENFWS OPTIONOF PURCHASE TO ARNERICANUOMPAHt;b*Ionvi*\\nf afit-nr-od,Ehonit\nire►•a-IT1Ki«l\otnin*ftl.THE PRICES WILL NOT BE RAISED*iey.Innr*8II.iri**Thi* Fart* lt;* *•* \% lirH* Will *»e**mle Alike klcli »ti| M* *to RHrn.There were devel ipments Tue*d»yIn connection with the new comblm*-tlon of blcycl* manufacturer* andmakers of blcycl® parts, which Indicate that Instead of a conflict betweentwo rival combination*, there ore tob® consolidation and peace. From th®headquarter* of the gsn.WO.OOO American Bicycle company came the information, In a typewritten statement,that the Western Wheel Works, theone big concern which had withdrawnit* option of purchase originally givento A. O. flpaldlnf. had renewed the option and would i ’lit the trust Instead of fighting it another combination of makers. The statement went»n to say that with this option In handthe trust, or American Bicycle comparry, as It is named, will controlper cent, of the bicycle making Industry in this country and will have In It*combined plants facilities for turnln®out one complete bicycle every flv® seconds, working «* the rate of ten hour* a day. 306 days a year, or an output of 2,16lt;Mk0 wheels annually Inspite of the statement, which bear* evidence of careful preparation and the fact that It cam® from a sour* *very close to the fountain head, It was stated that A. O. Spvlding, the leaderIn the formation of the trust and the h ider of the «i»ti ?*.«. was not to he quoted as the author of it, and ipald-Ing had nothing to s *y, The opposition to the trust that was threatenedwas on the pari of the InterrmtlonalVehicle and Manufacuring company,which was organised recently with K. L *'olematt. president of th« Western Wheel Works, as it* reputed head. The papers called for a capital of 12,-000.000. with a privilege 0f increasing it to |fg),ooo,000. The scope of the company included the manufacture and sale of automobiles. This step was regarded as a sign that Coleman, with what other makers he could rally.would fight the trust The I V. M lt;’ was organised ,l#f r th** American was Incorporated. His original optioni »n the purchase f his plant, given t • A. 'S. Spalding, eapired the last of April, and hlt;* refused to renew It, Theimportance of the action of this sipgleconcern lies In the fact that It produce* loo.ooo bicycles a y**ar, and by making all It* own parts, Including even bevel gear* and tires. It waa practically independent. A New York rep ,rt**r saw Coleman Tuesday evening aftt-r he finished a conference withf .or other inakers, w ith whom he ha 1b**en all the aftern * »n. The followinginterview occurred:••Is it true. askedthate !the reporter, you have renewed your optionan*! will go into the trust?• There is only he man who cou. 1tell you authoritatively, was Cob -man's reply, and that la Mr. Spading. and I do n t think he has done so. A (i. Spalding, * 'h Aries Smith and it Philip Gormully arc the only men w . » know anything thou? it, and a* Ihave been with i» * of them this sf-jcrn »n I do not th:nk you got yourinformation from them, i really «»« 1say anything to-day In a day r twothere may be a lot to t»*U.The three men mentioned by Coleman are all members of the Spaldingtrust, although Smith has been e*n-sidered as a supporter# of the Indiana Bicycle company of Indianapoll*. and (hrmully is th** hea l of the GormullyA- Jeffery of Chi *»«•. both big pr **4ult; ‘T* )( cycle*. Th** lengthy eonfer-en* e with these in* n. admitted by C oleman, was further evidence »f s«»me unusual prlt;lt;lt; • In g-* and thlt;* re-p rter asked Coleman if he was going to attend the jnc-tlng of the American Bicycle company. 11*’ said:• I lt;io not kn w. I can’t say now. Ihardly think so. 1 have promised n dto gi vlt;» out anything and you will have to draw your own conclusion*.Coleman did not deny that hi* option had been renewed, and as a pacing question the r« p rter asked;I® there anything new in connectionwith your combinati *n the International Vehicle Manufacturing company V*«»h that is ad right, and will Klt;» ah* ul and take care f itself, wu» thereply.In the trade these statement* are t*k**n to mean that Coleman ha* beensatisfied as to terms and will no longerhlt;*i I out. With the Western WheelWork* in, the trust w ill ouslly controlthe product and sale of all kinds of! cycle*. Its plan include* also autJ-! mobile construed n and sate, and sev-1 end of the muk» rs in the Cycle Trust | are interested also in automobile bulld-| ln«. It is understood that the trustI will make a strong effort to control thefore xn market* in fav r of Americanj bicycle*. The wheels of this country! have been gaining Iyi favor abroad and j are now* strongly Intrenched In almost every civilised country. The various maker* operating Individually have accomplished this, fc5 »me of the latter are strong In one country and different ones in others. With their advantages pooled and their separate method* of success made the property »fall combined, It is believed that the J new trust will aoon control the cycle i Industry of the world. In its effect j upon rulers the trust 1* apt to be bene-| flciui Prices will n t be raised, and the makers will be able to economiseIn many ways, awl •ooaomy at UM j producing end mean* larger proilt* fir use In making improvements, adver-| Using and selling. One great advan-j tuge to rider and dealer that will re-I suit fnm this amalgamation I* the standardising of parts, mo that there I will be uniformity In those common tc all bicycles that will make them Interchangeable. The advantage of th!will be quickly recognized by rlden who have lost or broken a simple pari like a nut or bolt and belt; n unable to re place it because the factory where ii was made was far away and th* threads on the pat t w ere different from those on the same part In anj other cycle. Thus axle nuts, peda| shafts, head and seat post binders(poke nippies, chain bolt*, saddle clip;many other parts If made to otn lard would save u great tmnounuid-n—wii ■ wmmmmttof trouble. That thla will come a* anatural result of the Combine I* plain, because trt metal working the cost of production la chiefly a question ofquantity and making In quantity to astandard means a saving for themaker*. A great deni has alreadyhe»*n done In the direction of makingbicycle part* uniform by manufacturer*. but there l* much more that canhe done without robbing the different make* of wheels from their Individuality, The moat familiar Illustration In this relation is the tiro valve, which«. few years a* was a nuisance because the valve in different tire* required different connection*, but nmv they are mad® nearly all of them with a universal thread and one connectiontits any of them. With the standardizing of parts any wrench would do for any wheel, «nlt;i a loll nut could be r. placed by telling where it belonged without mentioning the make of the(iI'I«1wh^Li• I A* sold) K ill:»*» OF KLKPMAWT*.of Assefs of Mr, Cheek, Inri * TT iul _a fllam
Newspaper Details
Daily Times
Dubuque, Iowa, US
Sun, May 21, 1899
Page 10
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
WI, USA 11 Dec 2021
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