1899 - Times Trophy Race Part 2

In the aftermath of the Barnes disqualification, the Times was besieged by questions as to whether the disqualification decision was appropriate and what was going to happen as to a declaration as to the Trophy Race winner :

“The Times’ office received numerous enquiries about race ending – says race run under rules of Canadian Road Club, Times has no say in decisions of referees. Times says Broomfield’s decision is final.”³

The man in the hot seat was the referee of the race was Mr. R.A, Broomfield, the District Chairman of the Canadian Wheelman’s Association. His stayed with his disqualification ruling but other ramifications of that decision took some time to work out :

““Mr. R.A. Broomfield, District Chairman of the C.W.A., Brantford, came to the city last evening, and met the members of the committee which had charge of the race for the Times Team Trophy on Aug. 19^th. The meeting was held in a parlor in the New Royal Hotel, and each club had an extra representative present.

“Mr. Broomfield was given further evidence in connection with the race.

“An affidavit was filed by the Crescent Club. In it admissions were made which surprised Mr. Broomfield. The club admitted that it was arranged that Barnes was not to finish first or second’ that McKeand and Dalton were to ‘jump ahead’ on the second round on the track, and the other four members of the team were to line up across the track to give the two riders mentioned a ‘good lead’ on the other contestants.

“It was admitted verbally that the Crescent riders who won place prizes were not to get them, but that they would have to race over for them.

“It was stated at the meeting that Barnes had placed $100 in the hands of a man to bet that he (Barnes) would not be one of the first five in the race.

“Mr. Broomfield reviewed the race briefly and said it was to be regretted that such disgraceful riding had taken place, and ordered the race to be run over a week from next Saturday. He advised that more patrol judges be appointed.”⁴

⁴ “They Must Ride Again : The Race for the Times Trophy Thrown Out : Referee Broomfield’s Action”

Hamilton Times.  September 13, 1899.

Almost immediately after the meeting at which Broomfield’s decision was announced, work began to organize a second running of the 1899 Times Trophy Race.

Generally, the Broomfield ruling was applauded, with the exception of the Crescent team members, notably Barnes himself:

 “The general opinion is that the decision of Mr. R.A. Broomfield, Brantford, in ordering the race for the Times Team Trophy to be run over did the right thing. Of course, some of the Crescents are displeased.

“The Herald said editorially last night:

‘Referee Broomfield, in deciding that the Times trophy race had not been truly run, did the only thing that could well be done under the circumstances. No one can possibly blame the Crescent Club, as an organization, for the fiasco of three weeks ago, but the evidence of unfairness against one of its riders was so conclusive that no fair-minded referee could well afford to ignore it.’

“From the Spectator the following was taken:

‘In ordering the race to be run over again, the referee did the best thing possible under the circumstances. There is no doubt that there was a great deal of jockeying and foul riding, and in view of the many rumors, it would not have been in the interests of the sport to have allowed the race to stand. Had the Crescents been disqualified and the race awarded to the next team, it would have caused a great deal of kicking.’ ”⁵

⁵“Times Trophy Race : General Opinion is Referee Broomfield Did Right”

Hamilton Times.  September 14, 1899.

Saturday, September 23, 1899 was the date chosen for the second running of the Times Trophy Race of 1899 :

“After a delay of five weeks, which time it took to make an investigation of the riding of the Times Trophy Race of August 19^th, and to prepare for the re-running, the race came off on Saturday afternoon over the regular course of 15 miles, of which the first 4 ¾ miles or thereabouts and the last mile were on the Hamilton Jockey Club track and the rest of the journey to Stoney Creek and return. The race afforded an afternoon’s sport for about 600 people, of whom a good smattering were ladies”⁶

⁶ “Hamilton Times. September 25, 1899.

It was a cool afternoon, but a strong wind from the east made things uncomfortable for the wheelmen and the spectators. The race had been scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m. but it did not start until 35 minutes later:

“The reason was that the referee’s arrival had been delayed by the same strong wind that bothered the the riders – Mr. Broomfield rode down from Brantford. He left there in plenty of time, under ordinary conditions, to arrive at the track at 3 o’clock, but had the killing head wind all the way, and it was 4 o’clock when he arrived.”⁶

Broomfield did insist of speaking to the wheelmen collectively before he started the race:

“For the sake of the grand sport of bicycle riding and racing, he said, he hoped every man would ride a fair and honest race, that every man would do his best to win for himself and his club, and that there would be no jockeying or fouling.”⁶

The arrival of the riders at the Stoney Creek end of the course was witnessed by many residents of the town:

“Cries of ‘Here they come” from the ubiquitous small boy brought people to doors and windows, and the crowd at the turning point eagerly faced up the road as a cloud of dust on the top of the slight hill just east of the toll-gate proclaimed the arrival of the vanguard of the racers.”

“A large crowd had assembled at Stoney Creek, and the interest evinced there was keener than in any previous competition. The turning point was marked by a barrle set in the middle of the road, and surmounted by a Union Jack. The crowd of spectators remained at a goodly distance from the barrel, giving the riders plenty of room to make the trun.”⁶

The race had been generally without incident until close to the finish line, with several of the leaders very close to each other:

“Carried away at the prospect of a close finish, a crowd of spectators pushed in too close to the track regardless of the efforts of the patrol judges and officers to keep them back. There was just enough room to let the riders through, but in some way Tolton was crowded and went down. Dalton couldn’t clear and piled on top of him, and McKeand took a plunge on both of them”⁶

Race officials managed to inform the riders still approaching about the incident and all managed to pass by it without any further spills. Of the three riders who fell, Dalton did not suffer any injury, but the other two Tolton and McKeand had been knocked unconscious. They were carried off the track itself and hurriedly attended to by a doctor. No broken bones were found on either rider. Tolton regained consciousness within a few minutes, but McKeand had suffered a concussion and it was nearly an hour before he was able to speak and recognize where he was.

Alex. Murray of the Rambler Cycling Club was the winner, with that club also taking the second and third finishes.

Back in the city during the evening after the race, the Ramblers’ victory was cheered :

“The winners of the Times Team Trophy celebrated their victory in a merry fashion. Every club member who could attend was on hand, and the Ramblers’ band played in front of the Gore Street Club House for half an hour. Then a procession was formed. The club members piled into hacks and, headed by the band, paraded the principal streets, shooting off rockets, Roman candles and other fireworks en route.”⁶

Another winner, although not a rider, was referee Bloomfield who the Times said, “established himself in popular favor in Hamilton by the broad, honest, manly views he has expressed and by the efforts he has put forth to promote clean and honorable racing.”⁶