The Springfield Wheelmen's Gazette, Vol 2, No 4
Articles in this issue
- The editor surveys the busy late-summer racing calendar stretching from the Pittsfield tournament (August 14) through meets at Cleveland, Hartford, Albany, Philadelphia, and New Haven, urging cyclists to attend and noting that advertising pays at these events.
- An explanatory editorial on handicap systems across sports, contrasting the English yacht-style time allowance with the American 'distance handicap' and 'time handicap' methods, specifically endorsing the Springfield Bicycle Club's time-handicap system for its fairness and spectator appeal.
- An essay—quoting extensively from the Providence Journal—advocates cycling as the ideal daily recreation for sedentary men, arguing it surpasses tennis, boating, and the horse saddle, and details the physical and mental benefits of a vigorous evening spin.
- The Springfield Club calls on race entrants to maintain the respectable appearance that distinguished last year's meet—where ladies formed a large part of the audience—recommending loose woolen shirts and drawers rather than 'fancy circus tights,' supplied by Ira Perego of New York.
- A numbered-point editorial cautions wheeling tourists against rowdy conduct on tour, arguing that the cycling fraternity's hard-won gentlemanly reputation is at stake and urging every wheelman to behave like a gentleman and keep his fellow riders in line.
- Henry Sturmey, editor of the London Cyclist, explains in a quoted note that unforeseen circumstances and the postponement of the Springfield meet force him to cancel his planned American tour, while expressing hope to visit the following season.
- Karl Kron details the economics behind his forthcoming 'Ten Thousand Miles on a Bicycle,' explaining why conventional publishers would never take it on, how he secured 1,550 advance subscriptions, and his scheme for involving bicycle dealers and hotel keepers in the book's distribution and advertising appendix.
- Reader letters from Rome N.Y., Minneapolis, Dunkirk N.Y., Brattleboro Vt., Hartford, and Laramie Wyo. report on local club news: the Rome Bicycle Club's growth to 32 members, a Minneapolis liveryman who deliberately struck a cyclist, a Brattleboro club's victories at Chester Vt. races, Hartford's coming September meet, and a Laramie wheelman's muddy 5h 40m ride to Cheyenne to see Lillie Langtry.
- Karl Kron argues that the League of American Wheelmen should steer hotels toward raising quality rather than cutting rates, lists 33 hotels in 14 states and provinces already enrolled as subscribers for his road book, and reprints a circular to hotel keepers explaining the advertising value of appearing in his 5,000-copy appendix.
- Full programme for the Springfield Bicycle Club's Third Annual Tournament at Hampden Park, September 16–19, listing all 36 race events over four days with prizes totalling $8,000, hotel rates, committees, officials, and travel directions to Springfield.
- New officers are listed for more than a dozen clubs including the Allentown Wheelmen, Canadian Wheelmen's Association, Charlestown, Elmira, Essex N.J., Janesville, La Crosse, Meriden, Merrimac, Orange Wanderers, Passaic County, Providence, Quaker City, Salt Lake, Somerville, Victor (Corpus Christi), and Wakefield bicycle clubs.
- Short items cover Dolph, Brooks, and Morgan switching to the Royal Mail bicycle; Chambers's English championship dominance (34 wins from 35 races); Elsa Von Blumen's exhibition at Narragansett; the Massachusetts division L.A.W. reunion; A. Dolph's 2m 38s mile before the Philadelphia tournament; and Salt Lake bicyclists' planned Yellowstone Park tour.
- Brief notes on international cycling statistics and records, including Scottish wheelmen's annual meet with 590 riders, Canadian amateur records set at Toronto, the London Bicycle Club's 100-mile trial results back to 1877, and the Gazette's June mailing of 9,059 copies to 1,113 cities in the U.S., Canada, and six countries abroad.
- Detailed results from recent meetings of the Cleveland Bicycle Club (July 10), Kings County Wheelmen (Brooklyn, June 21), Montreal Bicycle Club (June 21), Ovid Bicycle Club (July 4), Pawtucket Bicycle Club (July 12), Trojan Wheelmen (June 24), and the Boston Common Fourth of July races, with times, winners, and officials named throughout.
- Correspondent P. E. D'Alpin reports on Canadian cycling: Fred Westbrook facing charges of throwing a race at Belleville and being barred from C.W.A. contests, H. B. Donly resigning as Simcoe Club secretary, and the Toronto clubs' record 84-man Confederation Day parade.
- Full account of the Canadian Wheelmen's Association's second annual meet in Toronto on July 1, covering the business meeting that elected H. S. Tibbs president, the 350-man street parade, and all race results—including new Canadian records by C. F. Lavender (1 mile, 3m 6s) and W. G. Ross (5 miles, 17m 14 1/5s).
- Preview of the Albany Bicycle Club's third annual race meeting (September 10–11, Island Park), detailing 18 events and $1,000 in prizes, including New York state L.A.W. championships, with entries closing September 5.
- Programme for the Ohio division L.A.W. annual meet at Cleveland, August 18–19, offering $1,100 in prizes across 13 events including state championships, with entries closing August 10 to Alfred Ely in Cleveland.
- A light editorial responds to a Lowell paper's prediction that the local club captain will win the Springfield meet's 'best looking wheelman' prize, promising a parade so full of handsome riders that the beauty will be 'positively painful' in daylight.
- H. D. Corey of the Massachusetts Bicycle Club successfully rode the steep, poorly lit Corey Hill on a 31-pound Rudge—the only crank machine confirmed to have made the climb three times—witnessed the next morning by C. F. Haven, who stopped two-thirds up.
- An editorial feature traces the history of Rudge & Co. of Coventry, details the technical features of their ball-bearing light roadster, and recounts the machine's American achievements through riders Corey, Hendee, and Midgely under sole agents Stoddard, Lovering & Co. of Boston.
- A touring narrative by 'Stamson' follows the Solitary Club of Stamford, Conn. on a dawn ride up the Hudson River valley via Port Chester, Yonkers, Dobbs Ferry, Tarrytown, and a ferry crossing to Nyack, describing roads, scenery, and a chance meeting with G. W. Mabie of the Long Island Wheelmen.
- A humorous sketch describes how 'Captain Ed' coasted downhill at speed on his 52-inch bicycle and collided with the town mayor, his companion, and a disgruntled man in a comical pile-up, concluding with a mock classified offering the wrecked machine for sale.
- A correspondent profiles cycling in Newark, N.J., noting how dealers Zacharias & Smith grew the local riding community from 50 to 200 riders in under a year, and describes the New Jersey Wheelmen club (30 members, new dark-green uniform) and the excellent roads radiating from the city.
- A column of humorous clippings and brief quotations from cycling papers across the U.S., Canada, and England, commenting on the Springfield Gazette, the Springfield tournament, Col. Pope's candidacy for governor, and miscellaneous wheeling anecdotes.
- Classified advertisements offering bicycles and tricycles for sale or exchange, including a 51-inch Star, 50-inch Expert Columbia, 56-inch Sanspareil, 52-inch American Rudge, and Victor Rotary Tricycles, with prices and seller addresses across Ohio, Massachusetts, Michigan, Connecticut, and New York.