The evening world. Newspaper, August 9, 1922, Page 16

x a | J A Cycle Ch Fran no}: Won His Last Race and Broke His Own Record Last Month at Age of 42-- Now Retires With Fortune After Riding 27 Years-- Plans to Win One More Race--With Father Time. By Victor H. Lawn. Gopyright. ‘ York Evening World) by’ Press Publishing Company GOOD many years ago, more titan twenty, Robert Ed- gren drew a cartoon for The Bvening World showing a swarm of Jersey mos. quitoes, every one as big as a hawk, chasing a lad with a great, protruding chin. The youngster was pedalling a bicycle for all he was worth, and Edgren wrote under the picture something like this: ‘No wonder Frank Kramer shows speed, with those Jersey mosquitoes to keep him going.” At that time Frank L. Kramer was twenty years old. He had, just won hia first American championship. He has been going ever since, with Jersey mosquitoes from near his East Orange bome still chasing him To-day, Frank Kramer is going of forty-two, Sunday, July 23, with Ray Eaton, he rode and won his Inst race, still American champion Wednesday evening, July 26, in New fark, before a record crowd of 20,000 he rode his last exhibi “and after twenty-seven years of riding beat his own record of many years for «# sixth of a mile by ¢wo-fifths of a second, equalling the world's record of 16 2-6 seconds ~ Now Frank Kramer has laid aside his wheel. In fact, he has given it to the Newark Athletic Club. He is no Jonger a racer, but he is still cham- pion. Highteen times out of twenty- two starts for the American pro fessional championship he has finished first, sixteen times in succession. The only time he started in the world's championship, in 1912, he won easily About the time the Edgren cartoon appeared the writer of this story got his first ‘‘bike."” “Here goes Frank Kramer,” he Doastfully taunted his Jeas fortunate playmates. And in subsequent years he took part in $10,000,000 bets with other beys that Kramer would beat Major Taylor, the Negro star, or that Krebs, Bedell or Iver Lawson, not to mention Bobby Walthour, would take Kramer's measure. Now the writer of this story has to think about get- ting his own boy = ‘wheel.’ But that youngster won't be able to wey, “Here goes Frank Kramer," for Frank Kramer has retired. There will never be, however, a finer ex- ‘ample of decent living for him to fol- Jow than the boyhood idol of his “ded."" Kramer was not only the greatest of all wheel champions, but he was 2s fine a specimen of dean living and careful training as ever appeared before the public, When people first began to notice Kramer in 1898 he said he believed in careful living. He has said that ever since. If you want to find out Mf careful living pays, just look at this: ‘Twenty-seven years a cyclist. Holder of several world’s awards, At forty-two still champion of them all. Has amassed a fortune estimated at more than $350,000, But above all, he has the respect nd confidence of all his opponents and of all cycling enthusiasts, He leaves the game virtually at the top of hie form, not an old timer by any, means. “I have won all my races by keep. img a jump ahead of my opponents, Kramer explained, “When I lost the championship to Arthur Spencer for the first time in sixteen years, in 1917, it was because my eyes had gone back and I couldn't see what the other fel- Jow intended to do as quickly as I mused to. * “But there's one fellow who is not golmg to slip one by. And that Is Father Time. I'm going to beat him to & amd retire a champion, If 1 should go on u few be a second-rater. The secret of my continued speed has been that I have always known my condition. T know years longer, I'¢ My condition now and that is why 1] have decided to quit. I am still in perfect health and physical condition. and I shall continue to be so for year to come. “But it is manifest that 1 could not retain my strength and vitality if 1 continued to put myself to the same tremendous strain and exertion to which I have been accustomed. T am getting older now." Kramer has established a record for longevity—from the standpoint of sports, He has been going twenty- seven years, and in « furious all-year battle, at a furious pace. Cy Young for twenty-four years, and Hans Wag Rer for twenty-one, are his nearest rivals in baseball, but the pace there is much slower and the season half as long. “I never could get baseball," Kramer sald. ‘‘It's too slow, too long between things com- Pared with cycling.’ Although Bam Langfont and the Sullivan twins have been scrappi for more than twenty years, they have not been champions or first-raters all that time, as has Kramer “Prize-fighting never appealed to me. It is too brutal,"’ commented the cycling marvel. “I never could see the idew of two men getting up and pasting away at each other. Scientific boxing, however, iy another thing, and I'm very fond of it Kramer was one of the first auto- mobile enthusiasts in the East and his high-powered car has been as fre- interested in quent a sight on the Jersey highways as his bicycle has been on the tracks. He also likes to ruise chickens—and now he has become an ardent golf en- thuslast. “The trouble with Kramer," a close friend said, ‘‘is that he ts more inter- ested in pushing a pill than pushing a wheel." Kramer, who has never been mar- ried, although he has received more magh notes than probubly any matt- nee Idol, is built like an Apollo—fine shaped shoulders and chest, long, graceful, supple legs, body beautifully proportioned. The ‘‘fighting face,’” Kramer's fumous protruding “racing n,"? helped make him famous be- fore he had won professional r: cords His quiet, calm manner on the track and his gentle smile, in victory or de feat, have won him hosts of friends Kramer is known as "Lig Steve’ \ World's Championship to cyclists. In those days ‘I got you, Steve,"’ was the popular slogan and Floyd McFarland, who was handling Jackie Clarke, dubbed him “Little Steve.” Kramer, in turn, was nicknamed “Big Steve." Although Clarke soon lost his montcker, Kra- mer has ever since been cheered and greeted as ‘Big Steve.” The way Kramer came to ride & bicycle was typical of those early days. He was born in Evansville, Ind., Nov. 21, 1980, He grew too quickly and his anaemic appearance created the impression that he was tubercular. So his father hearkened to the bicycle ads—"'Get your boy a bike and keep him in the healthy open air'’—and little Frank got # wheel. “We boys used to have brushes along the road, and usually I beat them. Some, however, would get into races at picnics and fairs and win prizes. So I thought that if they could win prizes, and I could beat them, why couldn't I win? The first year I entered I didn’t win @ race I was only fifteen then, But I goon got the hang, and in 1898 and 1899 I won the national championships. Then I turned professional.” The first professional race Kramer ever rode he won, although, the old “pros,"’ jealous of the newcomer tried all the tricks of the trade to beat him. He managed to get out of a neat pocket at Vailsburg, N. J. track, May 6. 1900, and beat the old- timers. The next year he won the American championship. His povice ( 4 id \ When He Became race he won June 30, 1896,-at Clifton, N. J., after many races in which be finished ‘‘last or worse.”’ With this record of thousands of races won, with an average earning power of more than $20,000 a year for, twenty-two years as a profes- sional, Kramer's advice on how to keep in condition has some weight, ‘This is what ‘Big Steve'’ advises: | Know your own conditionyour physical strength. Never overextend yourself, con- serve your vitality, Always get enough sleep—the hours before midnight are the Never overeat—mone people get Amateur Champion in 1898, Age 18. THE EVENING WORLD, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 9, 1922. amp ‘Kramer Figlds Athletic / When He Won His Last Race, ion Twent rour Years Be KeCOrd . CLE @w \6 July 23, 1922, Age 42. sick or die from overeating than from any other form of abusing the system. Bo regular in everything—go to bed and get up regularly, eat at regular hours, live a regular life. Don't try to go against Nature— watch yourself to see if you need much or little exercise, sleep, food, &o. Everybody exercise, but accord- ing to his own strength and vital- ity. Make exercise play, not a job. Relax—let your back naturally when tired. The energy you come are d ‘controls the body— you are never more tired or less tired, more sick or well, generally, than you believe. “I'm going to continue to follow my own advice,” said Kramer, “I'll have to keep exercising so as not to get sluggish; my heart will demand work."* To all questions what he \ ld do in the future Kramer remai ’ tic “I'm not talking said. “If I get a good business offre { suppose I'l! tak but 1 don’t know. I haven't even made up 1} mind to take a rest.’ To be sure, there is no need for Kramer to worry, about the future. {- When He Became American Champion in 1901, Age 21. He has invested his average $20,000 a year discreetly. His investment judg- ment is as good as his cycling tn- stinct, But there is a rumor going through Jersey that he will go into politics, His namv hes been men- tioned frequently in the past, but he refused to be nominated or appointed while he was racing. Now he is off the track. Senators Edge and Frelinghuysen are his » closest friends. He has more persona! friends thu: probably any other man in New Jer He ts a Shriner, an Elk and tieniber of many other f ternal organizations. Perhaps Frank Kramer's next race will be om @ bal- lot.