L. A. W. Bulletin and Good Roads, Vol 27, No 13
Articles in this issue
- Niagara County Side-Path Commissioner Chas. T. Raymond defends the county's licensing system — a 50-cent annual tax on all wheelmen — reporting five convictions under the $50-fine ordinance and arguing that smooth, well-enforced paths convert touring riders from other counties into advocates for similar laws at home.
- Drawing on Iron Age statistics, this item reports 124 patents for cycle stands led the field in 1897, followed by 110 for pneumatic tires, 106 for handle-bars, and 105 for driving gear — more than 70 of the last being for chainless designs.
- New York Superintendent of Public Works E. M. Aldridge confirms in a letter dated March 15, 1898 that he issued a standing order opening all state canal tow-paths to wheelmen; a second letter from Foreman H. O. Folger of the Champlain Canal corroborates the order and describes riding the Erie without interference.
- Editor Sterling Elliott's April 1 editorial laments that spring's appeal is ruined by impassable mud roads across every state, urging wheelmen to keep hammering individually and collectively for good roads, alongside the companion editorial 'What About This Summer?' advising readers to plan their tours and bicycle purchases early.
- Reports that voters in East Rockhill Township, Bucks County, Pa., defeated a stone-crusher purchase by a small majority — one voter walking two miles through mud to vote against it — as an illustration of how rural communities fail to understand that mud roads cost more than good ones; with the companion squib 'The Meanest Mortal' condemning the tack-thrower who punctured member Gus Fritz on the Hudson County Boulevard.
- Criticises Cleveland's ordinance requiring cyclists to keep to the muddy street rather than the sidewalk, quoting a local citizen's observation that a horse recently sank to its shoulders in a city street, and calling on Cleveland to mend its roads or amend its laws.
- In response to member inquiries, the editor outlines the standard objections to extra-long cranks — excessive foot travel, muscle fatigue above the knee, added machine stress, and pedal clearance problems — and advises no more than a half-inch increase at a time, noting that seven-inch cranks are the longest most makers offer as an option.
- Describes the Essex County, N.J. Board of Park Commissioners' ambitious plan, authorised in 1895, for four parks in Newark, one large park for the Oranges, two mountain reservations, and connecting boulevards with special cycle paths — with $1,500,000 more still needed to complete it; with the companion note 'Greasy Roads' on side-slip on English macadam surfaces.
- A round-up of 1898 trade catalogues received from bicycle and accessory makers including Humber, Iver Johnson, Keating, Spalding, Sterling, Syracuse, Morgan & Wright, Palmer, and others, noting which catalogues gave complimentary mention to the L.A.W.
- A humorous verse letter by Frank D. Espy advising a novice woman cyclist named May on choosing a wheel, fitting a saddle correctly, distributing weight between handles, feet and saddle, and selecting a divided-skirt costume with high boots rather than fighting custom for full knickerbockers.
- The fifteenth instalment of this serial history traces the emergence of the modern safety bicycle between 1884 and 1886, describing the original Rover's clumsy secondary steering, George Smith's 100-mile road-race victory on the 1885 Rover, and Starley & Sutton's greatly improved 1886 model with direct steering and an open diamond frame.
- A sentimental narrative poem by associate editor Joe Lincoln in which a sea captain, navigating a stormy night, blows the ship's whistle as a coded message home to his wife and children waiting by the shore light.
- Full-page editorial feature explaining the Bulletin's weekly $5 contest inviting readers to criticise five of its advertisements, reporting 149 letters received the first week and awarding the March 11th prize to C. G. Adams of Hartford, Conn.
- A letter from L.A.W. member Charles Fuller Gates (No. 820), writing from Johannesburg, California in the Mojave Desert gold fields on February 24, 1898, describing extreme desert heat, the smooth rock roads of the desert hills, and his 203-mile two-day ride to Los Angeles along the railroad tracks.
- An unsigned correspondent (L.A.W. No. 67,386) writing from St. Augustine on March 17, 1898 describes the boom winter tourist season on Florida's east coast — hotels beyond capacity at Palm Beach's Royal Poinciana — and the delightful bicycle roads through orange groves, pineapple plantations and along picturesque streams.
- A short editorial jab noting that the New York Evening Post severely criticised the L.A.W. Bulletin on Tuesday, then reprinted one of its original articles without credit on Wednesday.
- A five-point programme for road improvement — cash road taxes, proper grading, thorough drainage, crowned beds kept in continuous repair, and wide-tire enforcement — followed by 'Lessons from Experience,' applying Prof. W. R. Hoag's six railway-maintenance principles identically to public highways.
- The League's official section listing 1897-98 national officers (President Isaac B. Potter, Secretary Abbot Bassett), the standing committees, and the full roster of state Chief Consuls and Secretary-Treasurers, with membership-application and renewal blanks.
- Consolidated division reports including the New York State Division special board-meeting minutes resolving to seek the 1899 National Meet for Buffalo, Pennsylvania's new road books, Wisconsin's nine new racing districts under Chief Consul M. C. Rotier, and notices from the Ohio, Maryland, Montana and Kansas divisions, with local-consul and renewal lists.
- Chairman Albert Mott's official bulletin dated Baltimore, March 26, 1898, listing new handicappers for New England and Michigan, new registrations (Tom Cooper, Frank H. Ayers), suspensions and sanctions, and the triplet world records set by Karl Kaser, Charles W. Miller and Arthur Gardiner at Belleair, Fla. on March 16 — 2 to 28 miles and one hour.
- The state-by-state list of pending L.A.W. membership applications, published under Article III of the constitution, running across Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania and many other divisions, with stolen-wheel notices.
- Replies to members' numbered queries on shipping bicycles across the Atlantic and customs deposits in Denmark and Norway, conducting a paper chase on wheels, and cleaning nickel and enamel with gasoline.