The Bicycling World, Vol 10, No 26
Articles in this issue
- The publisher announces the dissolution of the Bassett and Dean business partnership; Abbot Bassett assumes sole management of The Bicycling World while J.S. Dean will continue contributing as an editorial writer.
- The lead editorial welcomes the new L.A.W. Racing Board rules; discusses the makers' amateur question, the Surrey Club's proposed class-based solution, cycling's safety record compared with lawn tennis fatalities, and The World's position on allowing professionals at certain amateur meets.
- Editorial notes: praise for the sportsmanship of Bidwell and Hamilton in a dispute at the Citizens' Club races; response to 'Bicycle South' criticism of Southern racing coverage; English skepticism about the 2.39 one-mile record.
- Letter from P.X.Q. (W.S. Bull, Buffalo, NY) reporting on Rudge Safety bicycle sales, Bowen's new 50-inch wheel with a multi-function cyclometer, seven machines sold locally in one week, and preparations of Buffalo's park roads for the upcoming L.A.W. annual meet.
- Description of Singer & Co.'s new Challenge Safety bicycle (Coventry), imported by W.B. Everett & Co., Boston: 40-inch front wheel, 22-inch rear, adjustable seat, designed for safer upright riding.
- Description of the Overman Wheel Co.'s improved ribbon steering device for the Victor bicycle, offering more responsive steering control than the previous design.
- Trade notes: T.J. Kirkpatrick's patented Hygienic bicycle saddle (Springfield, Ohio); W.B. Everett & Co.'s grand opening at 6-8 Berkeley Street ('Bicycle Corner'), Boston; a 58-inch Victor Racer built for Cola Stone weighing only 24 pounds; Zacharias & Smith's 1885 catalogue.
- A Rutland correspondent reports on the spring cycling season: local discussion of Victor, Rudge, and Columbia machines; plans for a Memorial Day club run; hopes for a century ride; a drill squad riding to West Rutland.
- Comprehensive history of all L.A.W. national championships from 1879 to 1885, covering the half-mile, one-mile, two-mile, three-mile, five-mile, ten-mile, and twenty-five-mile bicycle and one-mile tricycle events, with winners, times, host clubs, and venues for each year.
- Short notices: poem 'Jim Slote' by Charles Richards Dodge; Thomas Stevens arrived at Queenstown on his round-the-world bicycle trip; the Decoma brothers injured by a wire rope at Rockland, ME; L.F. Thurber and Miss Little married; notes on A.C. Beasley's European tour and Dr. Kendall's C.T.C. route.
- English cycling news: John Keen announced to visit America; N.C.U. Athletic Association Easter victories; Wheel World's May portrait of Howell; over 2,000 machines shipped from Coventry for the Easter season; H.J. Webb's appeal to the N.C.U. council.
- Humorous piece reprinted from Wheel World, written in mock-cockney dialect, satirizing a pompous cycling convert who buys a tricycle ('Bi a Kabul Tank') and fumbles with its operation.
- Full text of the L.A.W. Racing Board rules for 1885: amateur definition, board powers, national championship assignments, and 30 track rules covering officials' duties, start procedures, foul riding, protests, and event formats including lap races, team races, slow races, and run-and-ride races.
- Race reports: W.J. Morgan won the 10-mile at Macon, GA in 31:48½ over John H. Polhill; Manhattan Athletic Club spring games (H.S. Cavanagh, Cohoes NY, won the 2-mile bicycle in 8:43½); Yale tournament postponed to June 5-6; Dan Canary challenges Maltby or Hutchinson for the fancy-riding championship; Cola Stone badly injured in a fall.
- Club news: Thorndike Club of Beverly (4th anniversary turkey supper); Waltham clubs relocating; Portland Club planning a Boston Memorial Day visit; Elmira NY Club disbanded after president Lew Brown's departure; Montreal Bicycle Club officers elected; New Orleans Bicycle Club protests a letter in the Southern Cycler signed 'Cranks'; Canadian Wheelmen plan their annual meet at Woodstock, Ont.
- American Division notice: Chief Consul Frank W. Weston (Savin Hill, Boston); full state consul list from Connecticut to Wyoming Territory; special sleeping car from Boston to the Cleveland annual meeting May 16; new membership applications from New Orleans, New York, Hudson (NY), and elsewhere.
- Brief editorial replies: guidance on cyclometer selection (Singer's, Lamson's, and Overman Wheel Company models recommended); note on timing records and L.A.W. racing rules; subscription matters.
- Upcoming race calendar: Memphis tournament April 30-May 2; L.A.W. annual meet at Buffalo July 2-3 (one-mile bicycle and tricycle championships); C.W.A. meet at Woodstock Ont. July 1; Cleveland Club races August 27-28 (two-mile championship); Hartford tournament September 1-2 (five-mile championship); Springfield tournament September 8-10 (ten-mile championship).