The Canadian Wheelman, Vol 2, No 7
Articles in this issue
- A comic narrative poem on Chas. Robinson & Co.'s advertiser page, telling of a lover named Dan who bought a Rudge wheel from Robinson's Toronto stock.
- A jocular account of crowds besieging Chas. Robinson & Co.'s Church Street premises on the first fine wheeling day, requiring police to hold back the boys.
- Robinson & Co. review new saddle and bell offerings including the Duryea saddle and spring, the Lamplugh & Brown Eclipse and Long-Distance saddles, the Lillibridge saddle, and Harrison, Hill & Tolman and Perfection alarm bells.
- Robinson & Co. report the Rudge Safety has sold out its winter stock and pronounce it the safety wheel of the world, running like a sewing machine.
- Robinson & Co.'s news counter notice listing Canadian, American and English cycling papers stocked, including The Canadian Wheelman, Boston Bicycling World, Springfield Wheelman's Gazette and the English Cyclist, plus Sturmey's Handbook and other books.
- Sec.-Treas. H.B. Donly publishes, under Article III, the list of new C.W.A. membership applications, including the Cornwall Club of Cornwall, Ont. (Henry Turner, C.A. McHaffie, J.H. Shane, W. Haskett and others).
- List of local consuls appointed this month, including W.W. Patterson (Paris), O. Shantz (Berlin), Charles Tice (Waterloo) and N.O. Lindsay (St. Catharines).
- Report of the C.W.A. Board of Officers meeting at the Montreal A.A.A. Club House on the 10th, accepting Woodstock's invitation to host the 1885 meet on equal terms with the W.A.A.A., with President Tibbs, J.S. Brierley, H.B. Donly, W.A. Karn and others present; followed by a defence of the value of C.W.A. membership.
- Nominations for officers for 1885-6, with ballots sent out by the Secretary: W.A. Karn and John G. Hay for Chief Consul of District 1, T.J. Campbell for District 2, J.H. Low for District 4 and A.J. Darch of Winnipeg for District 5.
- Reviews of new publications, notably the enlarged April Outing (with Thomas Stevens's serial "Across America on a Bicycle"), the Cyclists' Touring Club Hand-book and Guide compiled by Ernest R. Shipton, and the Overman Wheel Company's catalogue.
- Thomas Stevens's Outing account of groping through the dark, smoky snow-sheds of the Central Pacific Railway across the Sierra Nevada and viewing Donner Lake; prefaced by a note on Fane & Co.'s "Comet" roadster.
- The journal's masthead and editorial column, leading with a rebuttal of the New York Wheel's claim that the Wanderers' Club of Toronto (with over 100 members) would quit the C.W.A. for the L.A.W., countering that the club has only 45 members and is divided.
- Editorial notes on the enlarged twelve-page Wheelman, photographs received from Geo. W. Orr and Chas. E. Dudley, and Thomas Stevens's plans for his round-the-world ride aboard the "City of Chicago" on a 50-inch Expert Columbia, expecting an 18-month, 13,000-mile journey.
- Correspondence from Karl Kron of New York describing the weather, his progress on the book "Ten Thousand Miles on a Bicycle," and Thomas Stevens's character and preparations for his round-the-world journey aboard the steamer for Liverpool.
- Club correspondence and news: a letter from Arthur J. Hills of Biggleswade, England praising C.F. (Charlie) Lavender, and reports of officers elected by the Ottawa Bicycle Club, the Simcoe Bicycle Club and the Ramblers' Wheel Club of Belleville.
- A poem from the Xmas Cyclist describing a lady gliding gracefully upon her tricycle.
- Messrs. Webster and Ryrie of the Toronto Bicycle Club plan a seven-week, $200 tour of Scotland and England leaving July 15, covering roughly 1,400 miles from Glasgow through Edinburgh, York, Coventry and London to Liverpool.
- A profile of Geo. H. Orr of Toronto, captain of the Wanderers' Club and Big Four Tour convoy, recounting his racing career and the knee injury that ended it after defeating riders such as Doolittle, Davies and Campbell.
- Racing items including the Big Four Tourists' century road race from Colborne to Kingston and challenges issued by John S. Prince (against any trotter, including Maud S.) and ex-champion Fred Rollison for the Pacific Coast championship.
- A defence of tricycling for ladies by Emily Smith in the Cycling Times, arguing it is healthful and respectable and quoting Lord Lytton on women's place in society.
- C.E. Duryea's detailed first-person account of preparing his 54-inch Standard Columbia and the many breakdowns, repairs and improvisations during a rough solo tour.
- Viscount Bury, in the Nineteenth Century, compares the speed and staying power of horse versus cyclist over various distances, citing records by Maud S., Lady Mack, Ariel and Ion Keith-Falconer.
- A portly correspondent's hints for a leisurely tricycle journey of over 200 miles from the West Riding of Yorkshire toward London, advising older "old boys" on machine choice, dress, luggage and pacing.
- A reflection (from the Star Advocate) on the unsociable, fault-finding "hog species" of cyclist, urging wheelmen to suit themselves to circumstances rather than grumble about roads and weather.
- A column of brief news items: Woodstock chosen for the C.W.A. '85 meet, a new Cornwall bicycle club, professional moves by Asa Dolph and Woodside, Big Four Tour judges named (Retallack, Doolittle, Evans), and Westbrook and Hacker's double fancy-riding exhibitions.