The Bicycling World, Vol 10, No 23
Articles in this issue
- Editorial surveying the press debate over L.A.W. governance, focusing on the maker's amateur question and the Racing Board's expulsions; argues the League risks losing members if strict rules drive out sponsored riders and their supporters.
- Correspondence from a Buffalo wheelman describing the city's late-winter thaw after six inches of snow, the anticipation of the L.A.W. Meet preparations underway by the Buffalo Bicycle Club's committee, and the accessibility of Buffalo from all parts of the country.
- Correspondence letter protesting a note in the Cyclist and Athlete from a reader demanding repayment for Karl Kron's cycling book, which Kron says has been published by a fictitious correspondent writing under false pretences.
- Correspondence letter defending the L.A.W. against the Randolph Bicycle Club's decision to withhold fifteen memberships and dues, arguing that complaints about the League becoming a vast racing organisation miss its broader purpose.
- Correspondence letter from Willis Farrington correcting a report that he is switching from his Invincible tricycle to a Cripper; he clarifies he is having a Cripper built for hill work due to a broken arm but intends to keep his Invincible.
- Manufacture section describing the American Rudge bicycle, made by D. Rudge & Co. of Coventry and considered the leading low-priced wheel on the market, with specifications and features.
- Trade notes including the Butcher Cyclometer Co.'s move to Bicycle Corner with W. B. Everett & Co., the Columbia Light Roadster on exhibition at the Pope Manufacturing Company, Everett's account of visiting Singer and Hillman, Herbert & Cooper in England, J. A. R. Underwood's licence to import Quadrant tricycles, and a new central-geared two-track Royal Mail at William Read & Sons.
- First instalment of the Novice's Column on touring, drawing on articles from The Tricyclist and offering practical guidance for riders planning their first bicycle tours.
- Notes from the British cycling press including Mr. Beale's renewed medals for twenty-four-hour Facile rides, criticism of English journalists who write inaccurate American notes without visiting, and a strange story about a Yorkshire club recycling its trophies.
- Report on a fancy riding exhibition by W. H. Wetmore at the Cleveland Bicycle Club, where he rode on one wheel over a box, rode without handlebars, removed the forks and guided the wheel by its rim, and finally stood motionless on one wheel — a trick reportedly never before accomplished.
- Report on the Association of Missouri Wheelmen's board meeting, where initial steps were taken for an active spring campaign including a membership offer allowing new joiners to receive a full year's benefits for a single year's dues of one dollar.
- Notes on Dr. Dudley A. Sargent's lecture at the B.Y.M.C. Union on the best clothing for health and cleanliness, arguing that the primary purpose of dress is to retain body warmth rather than to keep cold out, with implications for cycling attire.
- A St. Louis exchange laments the city's over-zealous street-watering carts, whose floods of "eau de Mississippi" leave roads better for sailing than wheeling, contrasted with Boston, where the city pays for fine-spray sprinkling that keeps the streets hard-packed and rideable.
- Opens with the poem A (Breck-)Noc(-k-)Turne, a humorous verse about a bicycle school turned dance hall for an evening social, followed by short notes including Rev. Sylvanus Stall's planned 900-mile clerical tour in Canada, Thos. Stevens in Kansas City before his ride across Europe and Asia, and N.C.U. secretary Robert Todd's warning to cyclists over the Amateur Athletic Association dispute.
- The Citizens' Club of New York opens the racing season with its 17 April meeting at the Knickerbocker Rink, the Young America Cricket Club sets bicycle races for 2 May at Stenton with entries to George D. Gideon, and the Cambridge Club plans a fifty-mile Decoration Day road race from Harvard Square towards Salem.
- Club notes including Binghamton captain W. H. Hecox, Jr. breaking his leg skating at Scranton, officer elections at the Manchester (N.H.), Rutherford (N.J.), Troy (N.Y.), Trojan (Troy) and Cheshire (Conn.) clubs, the Brockton City Bicycle Club's masquerade carnival, and the Massachusetts Bicycle Club's plan for a small repair shop in its wheel room.
- American Division notices from Chief Consul Frank W. Weston, listing State consuls from Connecticut to Wyoming Territory, a special sleeping car leaving Boston 16 May for the annual meeting at Cleveland on 18-19 May, and provisional membership applications from Albany, West Randolph, St. Louis and elsewhere.
- Editor's brief replies to readers, noting that Charles Frazier and not J. H. Collister is the half-mile champion, and that the Ranelagh Club, Cripper, Quadrant, Cunard and Rucker tricycles all steer with a bicycle handle.
- Calendar of upcoming races from the Citizens' Bicycle Club meeting of 17 April through the Memphis and Louisville tournaments in May, the L.A.W. annual meet at Buffalo on 3-4 July, the Big Four Tour start on 6 July, and the Springfield tournament of 8-10 September.