The Bicycling World, Vol 12, No 18
Articles in this issue
- Leader reviewing R. E. Phillips's paper read before the Institution of Mechanical Engineers at Coventry, a treatise on the principles of cycle construction with thirty-nine pages of scale drawings, commended to riders, mechanics and makers alike.
- Dr. George E. Blackham of Dunkirk, N.Y. rebuts Dr. Strahan's London Lancet article claiming cycling injures the perineum and prostate, reporting that a year of inquiry found no authentic case of injury and praising modern machines such as his 37-pound Columbia Light Roadster with a Lillibridge saddle.
- Portrait and profile of the editor of Wheeling, late of Wheel Life and the News, a Canadian-born (1860) writer of Scotch parentage who signs himself "Agonistes" and "Junius Junior", with an appreciation by correspondent London W. of his lunch and dinner with the Wheel Life staff at the Holborn.
- List of new bicycle and tricycle patents furnished by Henry W. Williams of Boston, including Thomas B. Jeffery's velocipede, Charles F. Hadley's loop frame assigned to the Overman Wheel Company, John B. Funk's tricycle, a Wood and Philbrick pedal, Alldridge's compressed-air tricycle, and David H. Rice's clutch.
- Correspondence: Edward J. Shriver of New York, holder of the header record for New York and vicinity, mock-seriously demands his subscription money back after the World claimed its subscribers never take headers; the editor stands by the statement.
- The Overman Wheel Company thanks the many riders sending friendly letters about the pending Pope litigation, declaring that riders are the masters of the situation and that the company will succeed in defending its own.
- A correspondent asks why no maker offers a moderate-priced small-wheeled bicycle (36-inch driver, 40-inch saddle height) for middle-aged and cautious riders at $50 or less; the editor replies that agent commissions and Pope and Overman royalties make such a price impossible.
- L. H. Johnson reports his trial of a 56-pound Rover safety with 36 and 30 inch wheels, finding it comfortable but a bad steerer, slower and a poorer hill-climber than an ordinary light roadster, and compares it with the Beeston Humber safety and his own 58-inch ordinary.
- Charles E. Pratt, attorney for the Pope Manufacturing Company, corrects a widely reprinted press item about the demurrer sustained in Pope vs. Overman, noting eight patent-infringement suits pending against the Overman Wheel Company and the Ames Manufacturing Company with $45,000 in attachments still standing.
- "Quad" of Boston agrees with Shawmut that League parades make wheelmen look foolish, urging a run into the country instead.
- K. H. Stickney pledges his dollar to E. H. Glenn's proposed subscription fund to send American amateur racing men to compete in England.
- James S. Dodson of Bethlehem, Pa. defends the Star as a touring machine, recounting his progression from a 54-inch Expert through a Facile, Victor tricycle and Rudge Safety to a 51-inch noiseless Star, and citing Burt Pressey's platform-riding and tour organizer E. H. Corson of Rochester, N.H.
- "Naum Keag" of Salem asks the editor to explain the exact situation of the suits between the Pope Manufacturing Company and the Overman Wheel Company and what valid patent claims now exist on the modern bicycle and tricycle.
- Editorial account of the litigation: the lengthy 1884 bill in equity in the Supreme Judicial Court in Boston claiming royalties under a surrendered license, the refused injunction, and the recently sustained demurrer that ends the case unless Pope amends it into an action at law.
- News paragraphs: League Meet committee chairmen meet at the New Marlboro', Dr. Beckwith will lead the parade a fourth time, W. H. Huntley of Newton rode 5,055 miles in 1885, the de Civry–Gika match is set for Longchamps on 11 April, F. A. Elwell's Bermuda party sails with twenty-six, and 557 machines were shown at the Stanley show.
- Essay signed "5678" on the growing cycling press and literature, from the nearly dozen wheel papers and the League Bulletin to Stevens's tour of adventure, urging riders to read several papers and dealers to circulate cycling information to win converts.
- London W. endorses E. H. Glenn's subscription to send Rowe and other racing men to England, joins Shawmut in condemning League parades, and reports courtroom banter from the Pope–Overman "war", including Mikado parodies and the Overman motion to reduce the ad-damnum on the Chicopee and Boston attachments.
- Report of the annual Executive Committee meeting at the Walker House, Toronto: the amateur rule clarified, a guide book for 1886 assigned to editor Hal. B. Donly, Montreal chosen over Brantford and Belleville for the annual meet, and a dark gray Norfolk-jacket association uniform adopted.
- Club news: the Massachusetts Club's athletic exhibition with sparring and a home-trainer race won by Gideon Haynes over Charles Martin in 1:41¾ for the mile, Worcester Bicycle Club officers under president F. P. Kendall, the Detroit Bicycle Club's incorporation and planned track at the Peninsular cricket grounds, and Bay City's quarter-mile track scheme.
- C.T.C. department under acting chief consul C. H. Potter of Cleveland, with the list of State consuls from Connecticut to Wyoming Territory and provisionally elected membership applicants from New York, Pennsylvania and elsewhere.
- Brief editorial replies, including word to E. A. Clifford that the Royal Mail will have a ball head this year and advice to C. E. Wilson that a used machine may be brought in as personal baggage if not intended for sale.