Vol 3, No 12

Articles in this issue

• La Quota Annua 1898 di L. 6 (opens in a new tab)

  Reminder that the 6-lire 1898 subscription is due by 15 January, reporting about 3,000 payments already received, and explaining that from 15 February the club will begin collecting overdue fees at members' expense via a home-collection surcharge (6.20 lire in Milan, 6.55 lire by postal order elsewhere).
• Per il Convegno di Torino, Una Grande Gita dalla Lombardia a Torino (opens in a new tab)

  Announcement of director-general Federico Johnson's plan for a mass Milan-Torino ride to the Turin National Exposition and its cyclists' Convegno, covering the planned 142-kilometre route in three pace categories, a 5-lire entry fee for lunch and a souvenir badge, and Johnson's own proposal, quoted at length, with his sketch shown to the council, to strike a special silver medal, in three sizes by category, for every rider who completes the course in time.
• Deliberazioni del Consiglio (opens in a new tab)

  Minutes of the council's 1, 15 and 22 December 1897 sittings, chaired by Federico Johnson: approval of the club's stand at the 1898 Turin Exposition, publication of the new government cycling-circulation rules, the Bologna Circolo del Pedale's merger into Sport-Club, second reading of Gavazzi's new Corpo Consolare regulations, approval of the Milan-Torino ride and Johnson's silver-medal gift, and a year-end cash audit by the sindaci confirming the treasurer's accounts.
• Il Regolamento di Stato per la Circolazione e la Tassa Ciclistica (opens in a new tab)

  Full 32-article text, in four chapters, of the new state regulation governing bicycle circulation and the tax under the 22 July 1897 law, introduced by an editorial noting the club's role, through director-general Johnson and Ing. Vanzetti's negotiations with Minister Branca and Direttore Generale delle Gabelle Busca, in securing a broadly liberal outcome, though the Consiglio di Stato reinstated the municipal number-plate the T.C.C.I. had argued against; covers brakes, bells and lamps, the metal number-plate, right of way, exemptions for the poor and military, frontier markings and the procedure for contraventions.
• Sezione Strade, Carta di Lombardia, Piemonte e Liguria (opens in a new tab)

  Bertarelli reports he has approved the proofs of the Istituto Geografico Militare's new map of Lombardy, Piedmont, Liguria and neighbouring regions, with printing about to begin and delivery to members hoped for the opening of the 1898 cycling season.
• Sezione Strade, Guida del Piemonte (opens in a new tab)

  Bertarelli details progress on the Guida del Piemonte since the October report, zone division, line reading and distance measurement complete, altitudes reaching zone 23 (with roughly 20,000 spot heights expected, more than the Veneto's 13,000), about 300 of the guide's 750 profiles drawn and being engraved by the Turati works, and printing and binding contracts signed with Rebeschini and Natale Brusa, aided by Turin consul Count Capponi-Trenca's road-quality survey maps.
• Sezione Strade, Guida dell'Umbria (opens in a new tab)

  Bertarelli reports the Ganzini firm is enlarging about 25 sheets of the 1:50,000 Umbria survey into 100 sheets at 1:25,000 to secure the precision the guide needs, and that he plans to visit Perugia in February to arrange the difficult altimetric survey work in person.
• Diverse (opens in a new tab)

  Bertarelli recounts a scouting trip to the Aeolian Islands, with no cyclable roads at all, but a touring excursion he warmly recommends to cyclists passing Messina or Milazzo, taking in Stromboli's crater, the Lipari penal colony and the pumice quarries of Canneto, reports Turin consul Count Capponi-Trenca's newspaper campaign for cheaper, better road maintenance (eight concrete proposals, from ending lump-sum contracts to more road-menders), and thanks members for their many corrections and kind notes, which he archives for the next reprint rather than always answering individually.
• Sezione Comfort (opens in a new tab)

  List, compiled by Comfort section head A. C. Marelli, of hotels and restaurants newly affiliated between 20 November and 20 December 1897, from the Falcone at Albino to the Grand Hotel Zara, including changes of ownership at Lugano and Monza's readmission.
• Facilitazioni Diverse pervenute alla Sezione Comfort (opens in a new tab)

  Table of shop discounts for members negotiated between 20 November and 20 December 1897, from a 20% barber's discount at Porretta and Giulio Bettocchi's Bologna baths to Spezia's Stabilimento d'Ostricoltura Albano's oyster trade and photographic-supply, tailoring and watchmaking shops from Grosseto to Zara.
• Cancelleria, Spedizioni-raccomandate (opens in a new tab)

  Chancellor A. Provasoli again urges every member to pay the 1-lira registered-post surcharge to guarantee delivery of the club's rich 1898 publications programme, warning that ordinary post frequently goes astray, often because members fail to notify the club of address changes.
• Prenotazione per la Legatura in Tela (opens in a new tab)

  Advance-order notices from chancellor Provasoli: members wanting the new Lombardy-Piedmont-Liguria map mounted on cloth (rather than the standard hemp paper) can reserve it for 1 lira, and those wanting each of the Guida del Piemonte's three volumes bound in cloth like the Veneto guide can order the special binding for 1 lira total, both by the end of February.
• [Appello alla Propaganda per Nuovi Soci] (opens in a new tab)

  A recruitment appeal printed as mirrored text either side of the gutter, promising the Touring will exceed 20,000 members in 1898 if every current member brings in just one recruit, and framing new-member recruitment as both a moral and material service since Touring membership already pays for itself many times over.
• Candidati inscritti dal 20 Novembre al 20 Dicembre 1897 (opzione 1897) (opens in a new tab)

  Roll of new candidate members enrolled between 20 November and 20 December 1897 who opted for backdated 1897 membership, organised by province from Alessandria to Vicenza and abroad in Beaulieu, San Gallo, Basel, Zara and Trieste.
• Candidati dal 1898 (opens in a new tab)

  Roll of new candidate members enrolled in the same period who opted instead for 1898 membership, organised by province from Alessandria to Verona and abroad chiefly in Trieste, Gorizia, Vienna and the Trentino, closing with a combined monthly total of 340 candidates (108 for 1897, 232 for 1898).
• 2° Elenco del Corpo Consolare pel Triennio 1898-1900 (opens in a new tab)

  A supplementary list of Corpo Consolare appointments for the new triennium approved at the council's 1 and 15 December sittings, naming six new consuls including Guido Gerardi at Giaveno and Gustavo Borsari at Sassuolo, and restoring Angelo Bini's name, omitted by error from the previous issue's reconfirmation list.
• [Lettera di Ringraziamento del Direttore Generale delle Gabelle] (opens in a new tab)

  Framed by an editorial urging members to spread word of the club's work, the full text of a 28 November 1897 letter from Comm. Busca, Direttore Generale delle Gabelle, thanking Federico Johnson for a parcel of Touring guides and maps and lamenting that, unlike the Touring Club de France, Italian cycling clubs had until now done little to guide their members on the road.