The Wheel: Journal of Bicycling, Vol 1, No 21
Articles in this issue
- Reports the deliberate test-case arrest of H. H. Walker (Manhattan Bi. Club), W. M. Wright and Sam Conant Foster (Mercury Bi. Club) for riding into Central Park in defiance of the ban, their $5 fines, committal to the Tombs and release on parole, and the July 1st hearing before Judge Lawrence that ordered a legal reference.
- Account of the Capital Bicycle Club's Second Annual Races at Iowa Circle, Washington, on June 18 before a crowd of 10,000, with delegations from the Arlington and Baltimore clubs and wins including H. M. Schooley's open one-mile (3:14 1/8) and J. McK. Borden's five-mile club race (18:42 3/4).
- Reports the bicycle events at the Elizabeth Athletic Club sports, criticising the over-crowded heats, with A. C. Bedell (Essex Bi. Club) winning the half-mile and W. M. Woodside (Manhattan Bi. Club) the mile heats by 60 yards in 3m 41s.
- Brief list of Boston race winners headed "New York to the Fore," with Wm. M. Woodside (Manhattan Bi. Club) taking the one-, half- and two-mile amateur events and Prof. F. S. Rollinson of New York winning the professional two-mile in 8m 3 1/4s.
- Describes the second meet of Philadelphia-area bicycle clubs at Fairmount Park, with a parade of over 100 riders from the Philadelphia, Germantown, Pegasus and Centaur clubs led by J. E. Le Conte and fancy- and slow-riding gold medals both won by C. Frederick Cope of the Pegasus Club.
- Notice inviting American wheelmen to join the 4,000-strong international Bicycle Touring Club, giving its annual fee (about 62 1/2 cents) and silver badge cost and directing applications to Chief Consul Frank W. Weston of Dorchester, Boston.
- Editorial statement of the paper's aims to cover club meetings, races, tours, personal items and the latest inventions, and inviting readers' correspondence and news to the editor at 75 Fulton Street, New York.
- Editorial signed J. W. arguing that the future of the wheel in America depends on good roads, contrasting England's thriving trade and centuries-old roads with America's cobbled streets, and calling on wheelmen from Halifax to San Francisco to send factual reports on local road conditions.
- Second instalment of a 1,030-mile tour narrative from Lima, Ohio, to Boston, recounting curious crowds, hostile horse-drivers and blind-horse mishaps between Tiffin and Norwalk, a road race against a carriage that ended in a peach orchard, and machinist Wm. B. Lyke botching an axle repair.
- Essay by Julius Wilcox (reprinted from the New York Times) giving a sober assessment of the bicycle's real powers, noting it triples walking speed on good surfaces, and predicting wider everyday use across all ages as it becomes a force for road improvement in America.