Sad young Walter Lohmann in his first Manhattan appearance, fell off his bicycle and broke his collarbone less than an hour after Jack Dempsey had fired the starting gun. Temperamental little Alfred Letourner, furious with his onetime teammate, harassed Marcel Guimbretiere mercilessly until that rider withdrew, 15 laps behind. For periodic sprints, spectators offered, instead of the customary $25, miscellaneous premiums: a dozen lobsters, a dinner with champagne, a set of tires, a red rose, a return bus ticket to Buffalo. N. Y.
After six days of cruising around the sharply inclined pine track in...