The Wheel: Journal of Bicycling, Vol 12, No 11
Articles in this issue
- The editor warns against racing in an untrained condition, citing the deaths of Keith-Falconer and Cortis from heart disease; hails the LAW reorganization committee formed at the St. Louis meet and urges members to submit suggestions; notes the Governor's June 14 hearing on the New York Rights and Privileges Bill and the Roseville Athletic Association's unexplained June racing void.
- Charles Richards Dodge recounts cycling in Warwickshire with Henry Sturmey of the Cyclist—visiting Stratford-on-Avon, Warwick Castle, and Kenilworth ruins—then touring Coventry's Iliffe & Son press and Singer & Co. works (four hundred hands, many safety bicycles in manufacture), and attending the Alexandra Palace race meet where he spoke with Morgan, Woodside, and Ralph Temple of the American team and observed the rapid growth of equal-wheel safety bicycles.
- The New York Bicycle Club logged 4,216 miles in May, with F.M. Daniels leading at 514 miles for the month and 879 total for the year; the club's cumulative mileage to date stands at 6,919.
- The Long Island Wheelmen held their first moonlight excursion up the Hudson on the steamer John Lenox on June 8, celebrating the club's growth past 100 active members; the Entertainment Committee is planning future smokers and receptions for the new club house due to open next month with a grand house-warming parade.
- Thirty-two ex-Ramblers and unattached wheelmen gathered at the Lindell Hotel to organize a new bicycle club, electing C.H. Belden chairman and Walter Wylie secretary; the club is to be a road-riding League institution, with a committee on constitution and name considering 'Mound City,' 'Eclipse,' and 'Wanderers,' and a first run to Creve Coeur Lake the following day.
- Captain J.S. Lowell of the Roxbury Bicycle Club announced June runs to Middlesex Falls, Lexington, Nantasket Beach, and Framingham; at the monthly meeting three new members were admitted, H.B. Goodrich was elected bugler, and President Emery reported on the St. Louis League meet.
- The Union County Wheelmen were the first team to get all men over the line in an inter-club race, with Burnet gaining 11 points and riding the fastest last five miles, and Pierson gaining six points with the fastest overall five miles; Moore suffered a bad fall at 21 miles—spraining his wrist and cutting both knees—but was placed back in the saddle and pluckily finished.
- The Eastern Road Club's first road race of the season will be held June 11 over a twenty-five mile course from the corner of River and Washington streets, Dorchester, to Dedham and back; teams from Boston, Somerville, Dorchester, Newton, Suffolk, and Massachusetts clubs will compete for medals and a challenge cup requiring three wins to become individual property.
- Correspondent 'Milo' reports that the Montreal Bicycle Club operates within the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association (2,000 members, debt-free club house with a $32,000 surplus); city roads are poorly macadamized with clay filler washing out in rain, but country runs are pleasant, including a Tuesday evening ride of 35 members to the Mountain Club House; Theo. Gaudinger and E.P. Baird have offered medals for a June 14 hill-climbing contest on the unclimbed 'Cote de Neiges.'
- Jonah analyses the Kings County Wheelmen's road-race dominance—Hall, Valentine, Knox, Bridgman, and Weber as key riders—comments on 16-year-old Caldwell's drop from 1h.48m. to 1h.37m. and his new 2m.56s. boulevard mile record between Newark and Elizabeth (D.B. Bonnett timing), reviews the Orange Wanderers' century run by Porter, Lindsley, and Gilmour (100 miles in 14h.21m. actual), and notes a confirmed Roseville July 4th tournament from Secretary Willever of the N.J.C. and A.A.
- Henry E. Ducker—President of the Springfield Bicycle Club, editor of the Gazette, and credited with making Springfield the bicycling centre of the world—is leaving the Springfield Printing Company after 24 years; L.H. Orr purchases a controlling interest, P.E. Sweeney also resigns to join Clark W. Bryan, and Ducker will continue to edit the Gazette; reprinted from the Springfield Daily News.
- Obituary for the Hon. Ion Grant Neville Keith-Falconer (1856–1887)—third son of the Earl of Kintore, Lord Almoner's Reader in Arabic at Cambridge, and champion British cyclist—who died of heart disease in Arabia; his racing career is detailed from 1874 to 1877, including the inter-varsity mile in 3m., two miles in 6m.15s. (a record standing five years), and ten miles in 32m.25s. at Oxford; a note reprinted from The Cyclist records Harold Crooke's new 50-mile road record of 5h.12m.18s. on a 53-inch New Rapid Roadster over a hilly Catford course.
- Bicycle races at Beaver Falls on May 30 drew over 1,000 spectators; J. Huntingdon of Cleveland won the half-mile open in 1m.36½s. and the mile lap race in 3m.26s., while W. Banker of Allegheny won the one-mile open in 3m.36½s.; W. Banker also won a hill-climbing contest in New Brighton in 43¾s., with E.H. Yerger of Pittsburgh as referee.
- The East Hartford Bicycle Club's spring meeting on June 4 featured a half-mile handicap won by George L. Lewis of Springfield in 1m.23 2-5s. (Colt magazine rifle prize), a three-mile open won by C.H. Thomas of New Britain in 10m.14s., and a two-mile novice won by Lewis in 7m.57 4-5s.; L.A. Tracy of the Connecticut Division L.A.W. served as referee, and the quarter-mile track was in good condition after rain.
- Short news items: Frazier to train at Lynn and Crist at Roseville shortly; A.P. Engleheart set safety bicycle records from six to ten miles at Coventry on May 24 (6 miles in 17m.46 2-5s., 10 miles in 29m.34 3-5s.); L.G. Kolb of the University of Pennsylvania won the two-mile intercollegiate championship at Manhattan grounds in 6m.53 1-5s. over Maguire of Columbia; the New York and Ixion Clubs are close to a merger that would build a magnificent club house at a convenient location.
- Geo. W. Nellis, Jr., describes a wheel tour from Medina through Lockport and Niagara Falls—including a vivid nightmare about riding a bridge parapet and plunging over the falls, and escapades on the Maid of the Mist and in the Cave of the Winds—then south through Welland, Canfield, Cayuga, and Yarmouth to St. Thomas, Ontario, covering 77 miles on the final day, partly along Michigan Central railroad tracks.
- 'Dixey' reports Louis J. Kolb won the West Philadelphia Athletic Association's L.A.W.-sanctioned one-mile championship in 3m.10 4-5s. and the open mile; a steam tricycle—a kerosene-fueled Invincible tandem fitted with a foot-thick boiler and cylindrical fuel reservoir—was observed running on Broad Street; road improvements near the Schuylkill are anticipated; the Elizabeth Wheelmen open their new club house next Tuesday evening.
- Editorial urgently calls New York wheelmen to attend the June 14 Albany hearing on the bicycle Rights and Privileges Bill, noting over $1,000 spent on the campaign and strong opposition from horsemen making the outcome uncertain; Chief Consul George R. Bidwell's full letter to division members is reproduced, asking at least 150 wheelmen to fill the executive chamber, noting the train leaves Grand Central at 10 a.m.
- The Vermont Division annual meeting at Montpelier on June 17 features a three-mile road race for the state championship (first prize a Waltham watch from W.T. Russell, second a Kirkpatrick saddle from Pope Mfg. Co.), a one-mile novice race, and a hill-climbing contest on Seminary Hill which has never been ridden.
- The Ilderan Bicycle Club's Canadian tour (departing July 9) has been revised to take a steamer from Cornwall running the Lachine Rapids to Montreal on July 17, due to poor road conditions; Captain George H. Orr of the Toronto Wanderers will serve as convoy, and The Wheel has been named Official Organ of the tour, with a souvenir time-card to be issued around July 1.
- Detailed programme for the Indiana Division L.A.W.'s Fourth Annual Tour (July 8–13), passing through Logansport, Frankfort, Waveland, Rockville, Clinton, Lafayette, Crawfordsville, and the Shades of Death; a hill-climbing contest on Coal Creek Hill on July 12 offers two medals valued at $40, with races at the Terre Haute Fair Grounds on July 13 including the two-mile State championship, three-mile inter-State championship, and mile Star race.
- Seven Keystone Bicycle Club members—including Richardson, Tate, Wilson, McCargo, and McGowin—toured from Girard, PA to Buffalo via North East, Westfield, Fredonia, and Silver Creek; McGowin covered the 12-mile Silver Creek stretch in 57 minutes on what riders called some of the best roads in the United States; total tour distance was nearly 104 miles with fine Lake Erie views throughout.
- Feature on the Ilderan Bicycle Club's new three-story frame house at 71 Sterling Place, Brooklyn, formally opened May 14: luxuriously furnished parlors with portraits of cycling events, a piano, repair room with tool table, bath rooms, card and meeting rooms, and a grass-plot yard; the club grew from seven founding members in September 1884 to over 70 by 1887 under President Howard Greenman, with officers including Captain W.J. Savoye and Treasurer W.F. Miller.
- Calendar of upcoming cycling events including the Hagerstown Bicycle Club Meet (June 13), Vermont Division Meet (June 17–19), Maryland Division Meet (June 20–21), Kings County Wheelmen's Race Meet (June 25), Canadian Wheelmen's Association Meet at Brantford (July 1–2), Ilderan B.C. Canadian Tour (July 9–22), and Indiana Division Meet (July 8–13).
- The Scranton Bicycle Club's minstrel show on June 2 was a success after weeks of preparation; the programme featured end men including Billy Birch, J.R. Schlager, Frank B. Ward, and H.P. Simpson, interlocutor Colonel M.T. Skiff, a stump speech by John E. Allen, waltzes composed by Geo. N. Rockwell, and the sketch 'Hop, Skip and Jump' by Charles A. Hartley, all accompanied by a full orchestra.
- Trade and social notes: T.A. Smiley has given 500 bicycle riding lessons this year to notables including W.H. Gillette (author of Held by the Enemy) and C.C. Bangs of Scribners'; John C. Wetmore and W.W. Chester have opened the Manhattan Wheel Exchange at 49 Cortlandt Street specializing in second-hand bicycle sales on commission; a note excerpted from the N.Y. World warns of the dangerous extremes of athletic overtraining, citing a contestant carried off as a raving lunatic at the New England College Athletic Association games in Hartford.
- Two-day lawn tennis tournament at St. George's Cricket Club, June 2–3; R.L. Beeckman defeated H.A. Taylor 6–3, 8–6, 6–4 in the final to win the $250 silver challenge cup, with Taylor's earlier match against J.S. Clark of Philadelphia—Clark winning against the odds from two sets down—regarded as the brilliant contest of the tournament; full scores for all rounds are given.
- Harvard University singles championship was won by Lee over Tailer (5–7, 7–5, 6–0, 6–4), with Lee to play an exhibition against P.S. Sears, the national single champion; the Sears Brothers lost an exhibition doubles match to Stow and Tailer 8–6, 6–2, 6–4; students subscribed $150 for a college cup to be played for annually for 25 years.
- First tournament of the Middlesex County Tennis League at the Wedgemere Club, Winchester, Mass., May 30, with clubs from Somerville, Woburn, Melrose, Reading, Lowell, and Tufts College; E.H. Woods of Somerville and Carter of Wedgemere are to play off for the singles prize, while the doubles between Hemenway/Woods and Lincoln/Raymond of Somerville was left unfinished at dark with the fourth set at five-all.
- The New Haven Lawn Tennis Club announces an open tournament for the 'Championship of New England' prize beginning June 13, with best three of five sets and advantage games throughout in the finals; the prize must be won three times (not necessarily consecutively) to become the winner's property, and entries close June 11 with secretary Arthur S. Osborne.