Twentieth Annual Meet, League of American Wheelmen
Contents
- An ornamental welcome poem to the L.A.W. by Nixon Waterman, flanked by L.A.W. and Massachusetts state seal medallions, greeting visiting wheelmen to Boston for the Twentieth National Meet.
- The Souvenir Programme Committee's introduction explaining the book's purpose as a guide for the August 14-19 Meet and a souvenir afterward, crediting photographer Elmer Chickering, the Boston Engraving Co., Carter, Rice & Co. and The Wheelman Co. for producing it.
- Describes the L.A.W.'s objects as the national cycling body: protecting wheelmen's rights, encouraging touring, and above all promoting good roads, noting it has spent over $120,000 on the Good Roads movement and circulated over five million pamphlets.
- Describes the Massachusetts Division as third in national membership, crediting it with establishing the state highway commission, securing a guide-board law and danger signs, and prosecuting cycle thieves.
- An illustrated feature article by Aaron Wolfson on Boston's roads, parks, 1630 founding and 1822 incorporation, industry and commerce, written to welcome wheelmen to the Twentieth National Meet; continues over several later pages.
- A chronological history of Boston from its 1630 settlement by Gov. John Winthrop through the 1770 Boston Massacre, the 1773 Tea Party, Bunker Hill, Washington's 1776 entry, the 1872 fire, and its 1899 population of over 500,000 under Mayor Josiah Quincy.
- A gazetteer of Boston landmarks for visiting wheelmen: the Old State House, Faneuil Hall ('Cradle of Liberty'), the Old South Meeting-House, King's Chapel and Burying Ground, Christ Church (from which Paul Revere's lanterns were hung), the Boston Common, and homes of Franklin, Hancock and Wendell Phillips.
- Describes a passage down Boston Harbor past its fortified islands: Fort Independence on Castle Island, Fort Winthrop, Fort Warren on George's Island, Deer Island's city institutions, Long Island, and the Boston Light and Minot's Ledge lighthouses.
- North Shore and South Shore resort descriptions: Winthrop, Revere and the Point of Pines, Nahant, Swampscott, Marblehead, Salem and Salem Willows, Beverly, Gloucester and Newburyport on the North Shore; Downer Landing, Nantasket Beach, Hingham, Cohasset, Scituate, Marshfield, Duxbury and Plymouth on the South Shore.
- Describes Boston's suburban towns for touring wheelmen, including Chelsea, Malden, Everett, Melrose, Stoneham, Medford, Wakefield, Danvers, Peabody, Lexington, Concord, Somerville, Brookline, Cambridge, Newton, Milton and Quincy.
- Full roster of the Meet's committees and chairmen: Executive, Finance and Entertainment (Sterling Elliott, chairman), Souvenir Programme, Race (Henry W. Robinson), Transportation, Hotels and Accommodations, Ladies' (Mrs. L. M. Tillinghast), Tours and Runs (Alonzo D. Peck), Reception (Ernest R. Benson), Official Photographer, Press (George W. Tarbell), Pioneers' Banquet, Carnival (Gaston Plantiff) and Emergency committees.
- Meet headquarters located at the Hotel Brunswick, corner of Boylston and Clarendon streets, opening Monday, August 14th at 4 P.M. and remaining open daily from 7:45 A.M. except the final Saturday, when it closes at 4 P.M.
- Instructs visiting wheelmen holding excursion tickets to deposit them with the Boston city ticket agent by August 19th for a 50-cent extension, and to deposit Western Passenger Association certificates with Henry C. Nickerson at headquarters by August 18th.
- Announces $5,000 in L.A.W.-sanctioned prizes at the third-mile Charles River Park track, races held Wednesday through Saturday, admission from 50 cents general to $15 boxes, and rules for the Middle-Distance Championship and Inter-City Team Pursuit Race.
- General instructions for participants on the week's club runs, all starting from Copley Square: ride in twos or fours rather than spreading across the road, notify riders behind before dismounting, and watch the headquarters bulletin board for schedule changes.
- Opening day: reduced-rate harbor excursions to Nantasket, Nahant, Winthrop, Plymouth, Salem Willows and Gloucester; the 4 P.M. opening of headquarters; a 6 P.M. reception for visiting wheelmen at the Old Colonial Club; Run No. 1, a moonlight ride through the Boston park system to Arnold Arboretum and Franklin Park ending at a Tiger Roadsters stag lawn party; and Run No. 2 through Brookline Woodlands to a Roslindale Cycle Club reception.
- Continued harbor excursions; Run No. 3, an early 6 A.M. ride to Marine Park, South Boston, before breakfast; and Run No. 4, an all-day South Shore run to Nantasket and Cohasset with a shore dinner and a swim.
- Includes the historic Concord and Lexington run retracing the Battle Road past Christ Church, the site of Hancock's house, the Jason Russell house and Lexington Green, and the opening night of the National Championship Races at Charles River Park.
- Includes a run past the Huntington Avenue Chutes, a 7:30 P.M. special League concert on Boston Common by the Boston Municipal Band, L.A.W. Night at Huntington Avenue Chutes with special attractions, and a 9:30 P.M. fireworks display on the Common by Paine's Fireworks Co.
- Features the electric-light session of the National Championship Races at Charles River Park, with amateur events (Five Mile National Championship, Half-Mile Handicap, One-Third Mile Championship) and professional events (Half-Mile National Championship, the Middle-Distance Championship's third heat), plus a band concert.
- Closing day: harbor excursions, a 42-mile Run No. 25 to Plymouth for dinner at the Samoset House, an all-day Run No. 26 to South Natick and Norumbega Park, and the final National Championship Races program including the One Mile National Championship and the Middle-Distance Championship final.
- Shorter runs organized for ladies not joining the main tours, led by Bostonian Cycle Club members Miss Ida Harrison, Mrs. Delia Broderick, Miss E. Ohman, Miss Delia Fitzgerald and Mrs. Annie E. Worcester, held Tuesday through Friday to Marine Park, Harvard College, Echo Bridge and Blue Hill.