The Wheel: Journal of Bicycling, Vol 1, No 11
Articles in this issue
- A miscellany of short notes: milk and soda recommended as the bicyclist's drink, the Excelsior Cyclometers due ready by March 20th, the Elks' fourteenth annual ball at the Academy of Music and Nilsson Hall, and remarks on the favourite single-breasted jacket as a wheelman's uniform.
- A legal memorandum by Julius Wilcox (New York, February 1, 1881) setting out eight propositions on the bicyclist's absolute and equal right to use public streets and parks, buttressed by rulings from the Supreme Courts of Maine, Connecticut, New York, Illinois and Michigan and Judge Cooley, then rebutting popular objections to the bicycle.
- Two letters to the editor: 'Cyclos' (Farmdale, Ky.) disputes Capt. C. W. F.'s proposed magneto/dynamo-electric bicycle head-light on energy-conservation grounds, and Capt. C. W. F. recounts his 1880 riding log (441 miles on a 50-inch Columbia), offers a rubber brake-lever guard against accidental braking, and proposes a winter exercising machine for bicyclists.
- Club news: the Milwaukee Bicycle Club (34 members, signed 'Sentinel') plans a Decoration Day run through Waukesha county via Waukesha, Delafield, Oconomowoc and Pewaukee, and the New York Bicycle Club holds its annual election at 791 Fifth Avenue, re-electing C. K. Munroe President and Captain, with Downing Vaux Lieutenant and Kingman N. Putnam Secretary and Treasurer.
- Editorial declaring the paper's aim to cover club meetings, races, tours and inventions, then arguing that New York rather than Washington should host the first annual meeting of the League of American Wheelmen, citing the city's central location, its 400-plus resident riders, the Manhattan Polo Association cinder track and superior daily-press coverage.
- A notice praising the Christmas number of the English monthly Cycling for its literary taste and editor Welford's abilities, followed by a letter from 'Knick O'Bocker' suggesting the clubs at 791 Fifth Avenue hold their monthly meetings jointly on the first Monday of each month.
- A column by 'Juvenis' (February 7, 1881) questioning the tradition of Boston's two elder clubs holding annual elections and dinners in midwinter, suggesting cycling papers might appear less often in the off-season, and observing that the liveliest clubs are those of smaller places such as Worcester, Salem and Waltham.