The Wheel: Journal of Bicycling, Vol 11, No 19
Articles in this issue
- Regular news column covering the American racing team's departure for Europe, Thomas Stevens' lecture at San Francisco's Olympic Club where he was dubbed 'the Mark Twain of the Wheel,' the Stanley Show featuring 276 bicycles and 286 tricycles from Coventry, Rudge, Singer and other makers, and Frederick Jenkins' advocacy for winter road riding.
- W. D. Edwards reports the Harlem Wheelmen's riding records since March 12, 1886, led by E. J. Halsted at 3,602½ miles and F. W. Styles at 2,749 miles, with thousand-mile medals awarded and notes on the poor state of New York City roads.
- The editor announces a new Southern Department under sole management of N. L. Collamer at St. Cloud Building, Washington D.C., inviting club secretaries, press members, and Southern and South-Western wheelmen to correspond with him on local, state, and sectional matters.
- Description of the new League of American Wheelmen Smyrna rug designed by Will R. Pitman ('the Vet') of the Ixion Club, 30 by 60 inches, featuring the League badge and direction arrows in its border, selling at $5 per copy through The Wheel's office.
- Review and extended quotation of Thomas Stevens' February Outing article on his journey through Persia, describing the Shah's street procession, a personal audience at the Shah's summer palace, and a visit to Fatteh-ali Shah's garden with its marble toboggan slide.
- Correspondent 'Golden Gate' recounts Thomas Stevens' reception in San Francisco after completing his round-the-world bicycle tour, including a complimentary banquet by the California Wheelmen with sixty guests, his election as honorary member of the San Francisco Bicycle Club, and a 125-man parade and road run to Haywards.
- Stevens' letter to the editor of Outing, dated January 18, 1887, outlines his travel route from San Francisco via Portland, St. Paul, and Minneapolis to Chicago, before a brief private visit to Missouri before rejoining the wheeling fraternity.
- Secretary Geo. C. Pennell reports the Elizabeth Wheelmen's 1886 season totalling 52,563 miles from 71 members including 8 lady L.A.W. members, with D. B. Bonnett taking the distance medal at 3,767½ miles and Walter Leary's 115-mile solo run in 12½ hours riding time.
- Report on the Kings County Wheelmen's annual reception at Knickerbocker Hall, Brooklyn, with elegant decorations, dancing opened by Mr. Bridgman, supper by Dillard, and guests from prominent New York and Brooklyn clubs; also notes Mr. Herring of the Ixion Club preparing a tricycle tour through Japan.
- Southern Department editorial assessing the divided reaction among Southern wheelmen to the L.A.W. board's recent preferring of charges against Aaron and selection of Bassett as the new Bulletin editor, urging members to suspend judgment rather than make hasty sectional protests.
- Inaugural editorial by Southern Department editor N. L. Collamer addressing Southern and South-Western wheelmen on the L.A.W.'s perceived Northern dominance, arguing that the South's low membership numbers rather than bad faith explain limited representation, and calling for more meets, races, and club growth.
- Report on a January 25 meeting of New Orleans wheelmen finalizing plans for an illuminated cycle parade on February 21 during Carnival week, with H. H. Hodgson elected Grand Marshal over nearly one hundred local and visiting riders, winding up with a smoker at the New Orleans Bicycle Club rooms.
- Account of the Capital Bicycle Club's eighth annual banquet at Solari's Restaurant, Washington D.C., on January 31, 1887, with eighty of 123 riding members attending; toasts covered topics from 'Our Club Sisters' and 'The Safety Wheel' to a humorous 'Prophetic Club Run' set in Spring 1900.
- Travel narrative by Dr. F. A. Kinch, Jr. describing a journey by rail and stagecoach from San Francisco to the Yosemite Valley, with vivid descriptions of El Capitan (3,400 feet), the Bridal Veil and Yosemite Falls (2,634 feet), Mirror Lake, and an encounter with a settler astonished by a wheelman coasting the mountain grade.
- Technical article reprinted from The Cyclist arguing that double ball bearings with lateral adjustment produce no more friction than single bearings and last twice as long, criticising the racing-machine influence for reducing ball size in roadsters and stressing the importance of regular bearing adjustment.
- Excerpt from 'X. M. Miles on a Bicycle' cataloguing American cycling books and pamphlets in print as of August 1886 — including Lyra Bicycla, Wheel Songs, and road-books by L.A.W. State Divisions — plus a detailed history of the American Bicycling Journal, the first American cycling periodical, published by Cunningham, Heath & Co. in 18 issues from December 1877.
- List of new cycle-related patents including W. H. Addicks of Philadelphia (velocipede), Jos. Boyer of St. Louis (recording velocimeter), Jos. Butcher of Boston (cyclometer), and J. A. Weston and W. A. Smith of Syracuse (velocipede).