The Springfield Wheelmen's Gazette, Vol 2, No 10
Articles in this issue
- Editorial proposing a coordinated cycling tournament circuit spanning Chicago, Cleveland, Albany, New Haven, Hartford, Springfield, Boston, and Philadelphia in a two-month arc, so racing men need not travel back and forth.
- Announces that Karl Kron's road-book 'Ten Thousand Miles on a Bicycle' has been contracted to the Springfield Printing Company, whose brevier type (also used by the Gazette) will give the volume handsome typography.
- Editorial advocating that the League of American Wheelmen hold its next annual meet at Buffalo around May 29–30, arguing against the proposed July 4 date as impractical and praising Buffalo's hospitable wheelmen and good roads.
- London cycling letter covering the disputed road-record claims of Webb, Nixon, and Sutton; the controversial Westminster Aquarium six-day safety-bicycle race won by T. Birt; the CTC half-yearly meeting; and the upcoming Stanley Show.
- Humorous essay by Thomas Stevens arguing from his cross-country ride that cycling is physically beneficial and, by doubling riders' appetites, would create a home market for American agricultural products if good roads were built.
- Short list of New Year wishes for wheelmen, including hopes for the LAW to find its proper sphere, for Corey, Claflin, and Ahel to return to racing, and for twenty miles within the hour to be made in America; reprinted from the Boston Herald.
- Reports that D. Rudge & Co. of Coventry built a miniature sociable tricycle in four days for the performing 'Midgets' visiting the city, with 20-inch driving wheels and saddles by Brooks & Co., said to be the smallest rideable tricycle in the world.
- Profile of Asa Dolph of New London, Ohio — captain of his local club, champion of Ohio, holder of a 2:40½ mile record — crediting him with forcing Sanders Sellers to the famous 2:39 at Hartford, and predicting he will better 2:39 at Springfield.
- Reports on the organizational meeting at the Genesee Hotel, Buffalo, for the Big Four Bicycle Tour, listing elected officers including B. B. Ayers (manager) and Fred G. Bourne (commander), and detailing the route from Buffalo through Canada's Thousand Islands to Albany and New York City.
- Detailed racing biography of Louise Armaindo, born near Montreal in 1860, covering her major victories against Rollinson, Eck, Prince, and Von Blumen from 1882 through 1884, including her championship long-distance win at Chicago (843 miles) and her 268-mile third-place in the 26-hour race at San Francisco's Mechanics' Pavilion.
- Full secretary's report by Sanford Lawton reviewing the club's first year of incorporation, covering the February annual ball (profit over $550), the L.A.W. meet at Washington, construction of the Hampden Park half-mile track, and the September tournament, with suggestions for a club house and better club runs.
- Letters from 'Spokes' (Galveston) on John S. Prince's professional party touring Texas; Will R. Pitman (Ixion Bicycle Club) defending his Columbia tricycle's win over Victor tricycles in the Boston Bicycle Club 100-mile road race; Edward P. Burnham recommending the Royal Mail bicycle; a Minneapolis correspondent on the Citizens' Wheel Club mid-winter tournament; the Weedsport Bicycle Club announcing a June two-day tournament; and 'Pakeha' reporting the Dunedin Cycling Club's New Zealand Alliance five-mile championship won by F. A. Cutten.
- Open letter from John S. Prince, one-mile champion of the world, replying to H. D. Corey's demands for a rematch with Richard Howell, explaining that £60 is insufficient stakes and that he was undertrained at Springfield, and offering to meet Howell for $5,000 a side before the year is out.
- Hartford correspondent 'H' reports the Connecticut Club's move to new rooms on Central Row, then argues at length that the cycling press — especially the Bicycling World — is undermining League membership by relentlessly criticising the official gazette, and proposes that the League publish its own weekly newspaper.
- Briefs on club activities including the Meriden Wheel Club's game supper hosted by J. F. Ives, the Citizens Wheel Club of Minneapolis planning a mid-winter indoor tournament, the Germantown Cycling Club opening its new Philadelphia club house, and social events at Fort Schuyler Wheelmen, Genesee Bicycle Club, Albany, Maryland, Berkshire County, Baltimore, and Buffalo clubs.
- Lists newly elected officers for over twenty clubs including Ariel Wheel Club (Poughkeepsie), Boston Bicycle Club, Chicago Bicycle Club, Ixion Bicycle Club (New York), Springfield Bicycle Club, and Winnipeg Bicycle Club.
- Notes on the Wanderers of Avondale (Cincinnati suburb) planning a club house, pride in the nine-man New London club whose captain Asa Dolph holds nearly all Ohio records, and announcement that the Kenton Wheel Club of Covington, Ky., will publish a road guide for Kentucky and nearby Ohio.
- Humorous short fiction in which Minerva LeBlynn rejects the advances of Early D'Otten because he confesses his true love is 'a 54-inch, full nickeled, Expert Columbia bicycle'; signed 'Willhelm.'
- Extended column of short cycling paragraphs covering news of riders (Howell in training, Hendee's new 57-inch Rudge racer, Dolph's gym work), trade items (Stoddard Lovering & Co. dropping Singer agency, Overman moving to 179 Tremont Street, Boston), international notes (Czar of Russia buying a tricycle, London parks opened to wheelmen, D. H. Huie the Scotch racer), and miscellaneous wit and Club news.
- Correspondent 'Stamson' reports on the Stamford Wheel Club's new rooms and annual meeting electing W. J. Michels president, notes the Facile Club considering merger with the Stamford club, and ends with a lyrical account of riding by bicycle lamp at night.
- Miscellaneous mileage records including A. J. Wilson's 6,344 miles in 1884 for North London Tricycle Club, N. H. Van Sicklen's 5,078½ miles in Chicago, Brown and Robinson's 103-mile road ride from Greenville Pa. to Cleveland, and J. Rolfe's 100-mile record of 6h. 9m. 3s. in Sydney.
- Humorous code interpreting cycling manoeuvres as romantic signals — e.g., 'taking a header' means 'my heart is at your feet,' 'riding furiously' means 'I am married.'
- The Gazette compares itself favourably against the Bicycling World, the Wheel, and the Cyclist and Athlete, noting it published 570 running inches with two illustrations for five cents — more than any rival — and challenges competitors to publish their circulation figures.
- Describes the Pope Manufacturing Company's twelve-color Columbia valentine chromo, a three-scene panel painting by Copeland of Boston depicting dawn, noon, and moonlight riding, with accompanying verse dated February 14, 1885.
- Results of the Bay City Wheelmen's first annual tournament (Mechanics' Pavilion, San Francisco, January 10) won in the five-mile and half-mile scratch by Edwin Mohrig, and of the Westminster Aquarium six-day safety-bicycle race (London, December 15–20) won by T. Birt of Northampton with 630 miles, ahead of Weston and Vale.
- Reprint of an 1879 story-paper account of the Suffolk Bicycle Club's race meeting, showing the one-mile American record then stood at 3:21½ — contrasted with the current record of 2:39 — as context for the sport's rapid progress.
- Brief humorous item presenting a translated letter from 'Wing Hing' to the Pope Manufacturing Company praising the Columbia bicycle: 'You make the best bicycle now on the market.'