The Bicycling World, Vol 12, No 4
Articles in this issue
- The unheaded leader takes up Percy Furnivall's amateur status: Wheeling reveals that his American trip was paid by Capt. Lambert of Humber & Co. (Dr. Furnivall later reimbursing the firm), and the editor argues it is unfair to class him with salaried makers' amateurs like English, though he is no pure amateur either.
- Letters open with Capt. L. W. Seely's surveyed gradients of Bowen Hill near Washington for comparison with Corey Hill, then run through a long multi-correspondent debate on the best size of tricycle driving wheels (Willis Farrington, "C.T.C. No. 12,567", "T. R. i", "Practical" and others), with shorter letters on Weber's Star riding and on handicapping.
- Official handicapper N. P. Tyler of Jersey City explains that the Springfield, Rochester, and King's County races were handicapped on his judgment of the riders' abilities rather than on records, and correspondent Y. Z. continues the discussion of Baird's methods.
- A. Kennedy Child of the Connecticut Bicycle Club defends his letter to the Cyclist questioning the timing of the Springfield records, calls for an officially appointed timer like the official handicapper, and, now knowing the timers' names, accepts the records fully and unreservedly.
- J. S. Dean answers correspondent "L. A. W." on whether the League should regulate road racing, arguing that an organized body could ensure careful management of road races and greater care over road records.
- "Crescent" replies to a previous correspondent's complaint about gall, saying his own machines have always been returned in good condition by fellow wheelmen and that the real danger is the "greenies" who know nothing about a machine.
- A letter signed "Jan" argues that the amateur law is a farce that public opinion will not enforce, noting that disqualifying the English contingent would have raised a howl even though every maker's amateur violates the law in spirit.
- News notes: R. Howell's nine English championships and rumoured marriage, Oliver P. Sanderson's arrest in Boston for stealing a nickel-plated Harvard bicycle, the Keen fund closing 31 December, the Pope Manufacturing Company winning its suit against T. B. Jefferey, R. H. English signing to ride a Rudge, and a C.T.C. Gazette wrinkle for mending broken spokes on the road.
- "Daisie" answers the "enthusiastic tandemon" of the previous issue, defending the single tricycle against the tandem: she values independence, strength, and companionable riding over the borrowed speed a lady gains from a gentleman doing two thirds of the work.
- "Old Essex" reviews wheel interests in New Jersey from Burt Knight's velocipede days and the old Essex Club to the New Jersey Wheelmen, Montclair, Orange Wanderers, Plainfield, and Elizabeth clubs, noting the popularity of the Victor, Cripper, and Humber tandem among lady riders, a conference on a permanent race track, and Zacharias & Smith's reopened Roseville rink.
- S. F. Heath reports the city excited over the Bell-Woodside five-mile rink races, both won by Bell (16.45 in the second), with a third race set for 24 November; also notes John Nicholson's trip to Ireland, the Armory Hall Bicycle School closed until January, and the Mercury Bicycle Club's planned ball and midwinter tournament.
- President Bates argues that Hendee, Rowe, Weber, and the English flyers have reached the limit of pedal speed, and predicts that shiftable gearing letting a rider apply his full muscular power at slower pedal play will revolutionise propulsion and bring the two-minute mile within fifteen years.
- Henry W. Williams of Boston lists recently issued cycle patents, including Geo. T. Warwick's backbone-bending and hollow-rim tools, Star-type velocipedes by Tryon and Owen, A. H. Overman's wire seat and rubber-faced pedals, Howe's velocipede brakes, and Hussong's ice velocipede.
- The twenty-four-hour record was broken twice in one day: W. H. Huntley of Newton scored 257 1/2 miles, and L. D. Munger of Detroit, riding with his leg in bandages, scored 259 miles, with certificates promised but not yet received.
- The Chicago Bicycle Track Association votes an assessment to cover its debts; William M. Woodside attempts the American Safety record at the Washington rink in Minneapolis; S. G. Whittaker posts American-record tricycle times at St. Louis; and John S. Prince beats Woodside's 50-mile record at the St. Louis Fair grounds in 2.53.56, finishing by lantern light.
- Club notes: the Florence (Mass.) Club opens new rooms, the Lowell Bicycle Club stages its first grand amateur entertainment, the Citizens' Club of New York grants half rates to non-residents, the Vermont Wheel Club is organized at Brattleboro, the Springfield Bicycle Club hunts for new quarters, and the Massachusetts Club holds its largest ladies' night.