The Bicycling World, Vol 6, No 11
Articles in this issue
- Editorial on the L.A.W. Racing Board's unexpected first meeting, approving the striking of 'not' from Rule 1 and the appointment of an official handicapper, but questioning the eighteen-inch track-measurement standard and urging a joint standard with the Bicycle Union and the N.A.A.A.A.; the board's refusal to sanction amateur-professional races such as Frye v. Prince is endorsed.
- Fred S. Pratt of Worcester seconds 'London W.'s' call for League reform, blaming club-paid dues for a large fictitious membership and reporting that Massachusetts State officers favour a single yearly assessment covering both National and State bodies.
- Will R. Pitman, captain of the Ixion Bicycle Club, answers Cedar Rapids correspondent F. Lillibridge on the injuries caused by riding too large a wheel, recalling a Pope Manufacturing Company pupil who built up his shoe soles to ride a 52-inch; Pitman himself rides a 54-inch Standard Columbia and intends changing to a 56-inch Expert.
- Report of a Capital Club exhibition at the Washington Skating Rink: Capt. Seeley with Messrs. Allen, Borden, and Graves performed drill, and Rex Smith gave a display of trick riding including a saddleless single wheel, riding backwards on the big wheel, and his own 'upside down' mount.
- 'Chic' reports the Ixion Club's re-election of its officers with Frank A. Egan president, the Citizens' Club nominating Dr. N. M. Beckwith for L.A.W. State consul, the coming Kings County sociable, and the Woodside-Prince races, with Woodside still fleshy and untrained for want of a machine to fit him.
- H. E. D. proposes a time-class eligibility rule as fairer than handicapping, arguing from the Springfield meet, where six men carried home all eighteen prizes from forty-seven entries, and from the Prince-Frye races that scratch contests favour the fastest few.
- Will R. Pitman, captain of the Ixion Bicycle Club, invites John Keen ('Happy Jack'), soon to leave England for America, to settle in New York City and train the racing men, predicting a handsome reduction in the records.
- Club calendar and news: the new American Star Bicycle Club organized in Philadelphia under president C. E. Updegraff; annual elections at the Chicago (Dr. C. P. Pruyn), Detroit (L. J. Bates), and Ixion (Frank A. Egan) clubs; notes from Salt Lake City and Philadelphia; season reports from the Boston Ramblers, led by Capt. C. S. Howard's 2,187 road miles, and the Scranton Bicycle Club under Capt. George Sanderson, Jr.
- The Cercle Velocipedique Milanais flourishes with forty members in Milan; Romeo Bisini and Adolfo Cardilli of the Rome Bicycle Club rode one hundred miles to Aquila in fourteen hours; Cambridge professor Oscar Browning's nine-hundred-mile tricycle tour through Belgium, France, and Germany; grand meets planned at Vienna and Prague, and Belgium's Minister of Public Works plans to try bicycles in the telegraphic and postal service.
- Notes from the Bicycling Times condemning professionals' bogus challenges as cheap self-advertisement, and praising French race meetings for their prizes, military bands, gratis banquets, and processions led by 'Jules' Terront, styled the 'Champion Trick Rider of the World.'
- No. 7 in the series: a portrait of William H. Miller, president of the League of American Wheelmen, published without biography after Miller modestly declined to give an account of himself.
- Illustrated description of Myer & Myers of Logan, Ohio's new wheel, whose looped-spoke ends and adjustable hub flange are claimed to make the strongest suspension-wheel connection, keep the wheel true with equal-length spokes, and allow an injured spoke to be replaced in moments.
- B.T.C. membership applications to chief consul Frank W. West of Savin Hill, Boston; the Ixion Bicycle Club extends its club-room courtesies to visiting B.T.C. members; and the New York State meeting at State Consul F. G. Bourne's residence unanimously elects F. A. Egan city consul.
- League membership applications forwarded by corresponding secretary Fred T. Sholes from the Massachusetts and Greenfield bicycle clubs and unattached riders in Portland and Waterville, Maine, with the Racing Board's standing notice naming chairman S. A. Marsden and secretary Fred Jenkins.
- Full minutes of the Racing Board's first meeting, held 10 January at the Metropolitan Hotel: Rules 1 and 14 amended, Fred Jenkins elected Official Handicapper with fees fixed, directions issued for obtaining race sanctions, an eighteen-inch track-measurement standard recommended, and amateur-professional races refused sanction.
- Replies to correspondents in Milwaukee, Chicago, Salt Lake City, and Detroit, naming the League membership committee of E. K. Hill of Worcester and Henry W. Williams and Chas. P. Shillaber of Boston.
- The B.T.C. Council resolves that L.A.W. membership shall no longer carry automatic B.T.C. entry after the League admitted paid riding teachers; the late honorary treasurer S. H. Ineson's embezzlement of £258, followed by his flight to Australia, is reported; and a change of title to 'Cycle Touring Club' is discussed.
- 'Mutterhorn,' writing in the Tricyclist, opposes Mrs. King of the Rational Dress Society's masculine model costume for lady tricyclists, recommending instead an ordinary kilted walking dress such as Duncan Smith of Regent Street's £2 10s. 'Knockabout,' worn with a quiet, lady-like style of riding.
- Articles of agreement signed for the Prince-Frye race, with $300-a-side stakes lodged with the editor and E. C. Hodges of the Boston Bicycle Club appointed referee; also the Union Athletic Club's winter games, Newton Crawford of Louisville's five-mile rink win, a projected Chicago Bicycle Club tour through Canada, and gymnast Mr. Roberts's physical examination of Frye and Prince.