The Bicycling World, Vol 8, No 25
Articles in this issue
- Leader column arguing League championship medals should become the permanent property of a one-time winner rather than requiring three wins, citing sprinter Hendee's likely third mile title at Washington while rivals Gideon, Stall and Robinson have left the track; continuing overleaf to praise Judge Pitman's Sunday-riding ruling, criticize the New York Division for hoarding League funds instead of erecting road signs, and note the Wheel's own admission of an $1,100 personal profit from its now-cancelled League publishing contract.
- Weekly gossip column reporting Woodside and Morgan's preparations for their western tour on a British Challenge and a Rudge, plans for a Boston Bicycle Club road run and a Decoration Day tricycle picnic, the L.A.W. parade route and banquet arrangements for the Washington meet, and Rex Smith's stunt ride down the U.S. Capitol's Senate steps; continuing onto the next page with Stoddard, Lovering & Co.'s successful trial of a Coventry Tandem and Pope Manufacturing's new umbrella clip for the Columbia tricycle.
- Letter from Frank A. Elwell of Portland, Maine, questioning the Attorney General's customs ruling on bicycles bought in England and describing the sworn declaration of personal ownership, non-resale intent, and a year's prior use required to bring a wheel through U.S. customs duty-free; the editor's footnote adds that the Boston custom house has nonetheless refused to pass two bicycles brought in as personal effects.
- Correspondent endorses a call for President Bates to reform League management, denouncing Dr. Beckwith's administration, its unauthorized publishing contract with the Wheel, and the push to reinstate expelled corresponding secretary Fred Jenkins; the editor's footnote notes Bates cannot legally hold the presidency since he is not a member of the board of officers.
- R. F. Foster refuses repeated requests to seek reinstatement in the League of American Wheelmen, insisting he will not apply unless shown exactly which rule or by-law he is alleged to have broken.
- A correspondent signing as 'Novice' asks readers for advice on keeping loose tires and spokes tight without a repair shop nearby, and for recommendations on the best cycling head-gear.
- Formal protest to the League of American Wheelmen's board of officers, signed by chief consuls Edward K. Hill (Massachusetts), L. H. Johnson (New Jersey), C. H. Wilkins (New Hampshire), C. G. Ross (Vermont) and A. G. Carpenter (Rhode Island) among others, urging that expelled member Fred Jenkins, who slandered a League club, not be reinstated.
- Reprint of a lecture from The Spirit of the Times censuring the New Haven race committee for attempting to have performances on an undermeasured track accepted as records, arguing that full measure is indispensable and that allowing a five-foot shortage would invite ever-larger abuses at other venues.
- Report on the Superior Court trial in Boston of Dalton v. Milliken, in which Boston Bicycle Club member Joseph G. Dalton sued Horace F. Milliken for $1,000 in personal injuries sustained in a cycling-related incident, tried before Judge Pitman.
- Account of the Boston Bicycle Club's minstrel troupe performance at Union Hall, with Mr. Churchill as interlocutor and songs by Messrs. Thayer, Everett, Dunham, Knapp, Woodman and Harrison, capped by the afterpiece 'Who Killed Grimes?' featuring the club's 'Corey Hill Climbers' and 'Soudan Dudes' characters.
- Recent U.S. Patent Office grants reported for The World by Henry W. Williams, Esq., including tricycle patents to David E. Dutrow, Fisher C. Atherton, and William Spence & Richard B. Thompson of England, a velocipede patent to Daniel Crowley of Boston, a bicycle-bearing patent to Oliver M. Mitchell of Providence, a hand-power tricycle to Thomas A. Davies, and a ventilated bicycle handle to George S. Kelsey.
- Notes that Edward Kohler of Philadelphia is expected to make a mark this season, and that John D. Prince and Miss Armaindo alternated on a bicycle to cover 1,073 miles and beat fifteen relayed horses by a mile and a quarter in a San Francisco six-day tournament, with Prince's twenty-mile challenge to Woodside and Morgan declined; continuing with notices of the Cincinnati Wanderers' May 3 road race and the Capital Bicycle Club's May 17 spring meeting, including the Borden-Hanna $75 silver-cup championship match.
- Club news and newly elected officers from Harrisburg, Pa., Waltham, Mass., Goderich, Ottawa, Paris and Newcastle, Ontario, the Royal City Club of Guelph, and St. John, N.B., plus a Boston Ramblers' plan for a Decoration Day cycle picnic, the Massachusetts Bicycle Club's protest against horse-railroad tracks on Newbury Street, the Hartford Club's marble clock and gold pin, and the Peoria Bicycle Club's recovery after a $2,000 fire loss.
- Full roster of newly elected League of American Wheelmen chief consuls and representatives state by state, from Frank A. Elwell in Maine and N. P. Tyler in Connecticut through new consuls in Texas, Georgia, South Carolina, West Virginia and Maryland.
- C.T.C. department detailing membership dues, the application procedure through U.S. chief consul Frank W. Weston, the American branch's 21-22 May gathering at Poughkeepsie timed after the L.A.W. meet, the eighth annual Harrogate Meet on 4 August with discounted transatlantic steamship fares, and a list of provisionally elected new members including Geo. W. Boswell and Geo. R. Bidwell.
- Answers-to-correspondents column addressing a reader's question about tricycle bearing types (recommending Sturmey's Bicyclists' Indispensable) and steering-wheel weight distribution, plus a note on cyclometer prices from the John Wilkinson Co.
- Calendar of upcoming meetings through May 1884: the Citizens' Bicycle Club's 25 April race meeting in New York, the Capital Club races at Washington on 17 May, the L.A.W.'s fifth annual meet at Washington on 19-20 May, the C.T.C. American branch meet at Poughkeepsie on 21-22 May, Yale College Bicycle Club races on 28 May, the Illinois State division formation meeting and Essex County Wheelmen's meet on 30 May, and Harvard Bicycle Club races on 31 May.