The Bicycling World, Vol 7, No 21
Articles in this issue
- The editor reflects on the record-breaking Springfield tournament, praising H. D. Corey's sportsmanship in lending his machine to T. Midgley mid-race but criticizing the Springfield press's partisan boosting of hometown favorite George Hendee and voicing suspicion that the professional race was 'fixed' for Higham over John Keen, John S. Prince and Robert James; it goes on to debate League of American Wheelmen dues-crediting rules for out-of-state club members and the row over excluding unattached riders from the Germantown/Pennsylvania parade.
- Lists recent U.S. patents reported for The World by solicitor Henry W. Williams, including velocipede/tricycle patents to Joseph J. Stassen and Robert H. Charsley of England, Charles F. Waldo of New York, and Albert E. Wallace of Hartford (assigned to the Pope Manufacturing Company).
- Day-by-day account of the Springfield Bicycle Club's national race meet: George Hendee wins the ten-mile and twenty-mile amateur championships, W. W. Stall the one-mile tricycle championship, and John S. Prince beats Higham, Keen and James in the professional handicap and the twenty-mile world championship, while A. H. Robinson takes the twenty-five-mile amateur championship.
- Describes the grand parade of 692 wheelmen through Springfield's streets in three divisions led by Chief Marshal N. M. Beckwith, with visiting clubs from Scranton, Baltimore, Montreal, Troy, Rutland and elsewhere, and the Connecticut Club of Hartford judged the finest-turned-out, winning the prize bugle.
- An evening fireworks display at the park drew an immense crowd, with set pieces depicting a bicycle race, the L.A.W. and C.T.C. badges, the Springfield Club and Mercury Club badges, Niagara Falls, Jumbo and a dancing skeleton.
- The Rochester (N.Y.) Bicycle Club's eight-man precision drill team narrowly bested the New Haven Bicycle Club, performing wheeling maneuvers and a hand-grasping formation judged the best ever seen; Rochester won a club banner and silver cups, New Haven a bicycle bugle.
- Describes the tented encampment at the park where the Boston, Massachusetts, Montreal, Meriden, Connecticut, New Haven, Holyoke and Ixion clubs lodged, with about 500 wheelmen dining daily at the caterer's tent and the Overman Wheel Company running a well-stocked hospitality tent for visitors.
- A detailed walk through the trade show at the skating rink, covering the Overman Wheel Company's Victor tricycles, Stoddard, Lovering & Co.'s Rudge machines, R. V. R. Schuyler's Coventry-made Club/Cheylesmore/Imperial tricycles, S. T. Clark & Co.'s Sanspareils, the Missouri Wheel Company's giant 'Jumbo' bicycle, and A. P. Bartlett's demonstrations of the Otto bicycle.
- Miscellaneous post-tournament notes: H. D. Corey's gold-watch prize for record-breaking, a lightning strike on the grandstand during the Germantown Club's visit, Englishman Robert James blaming poor form on the sea voyage, Michael Davis representing London's Speedwell Bicycle Club, and President Ducker doubting the Springfield Club will clear much profit after $6,000 in prizes and $1,000 in police costs.
- Previews the League of Essex County Wheelmen's eighth meet and first annual race meeting at Lawrence, and reports the L.A.W. board of officers' fall meeting at Springfield's Hotel Warwick under President N. M. Beckwith, including Treasurer W. V. Gilman's financial statement and new chief consuls elected for Connecticut, Texas and Iowa.
- Short items including Richard Garvey's plan to award a medal for climbing Corey Hill, the C.T.C. council's discussion of reorganizing to better serve American members, and unattached Philadelphia riders organizing (with the Pennsylvania Bicycle Club) a joint parade for the 29 September meet.
- Club news: the Massachusetts Bicycle Club's mixed tricycle-and-bicycle run to the Hotel Hunnewell in Newton, the (re-formed) Tremont Bicycle Club's run to Cobb's tavern in Sharon, and the Star Bicycle Club of Lynn electing F. S. Winship president at its semi-annual meeting at the Revere House.
- Reader correspondence answered on League racing-sanction rules for competitors in unsanctioned races, the cost and construction of racing shoes, and follow-ups to earlier queries from correspondents signing as Karl Keon, Tank and Jos. Lorber.
- Upcoming events for late September and October 1883, including the Germantown/Pennsylvania joint race meeting, the Boston Bicycle Club's twenty-mile championship at Beacon Park, the Pennsylvania Division L.A.W.'s first annual meet, and the Boston Bicycle Club's hundred-mile road race on 6 October.