The Wheel: Journal of Bicycling, Vol 12, No 15
Articles in this issue
- The fifth annual Pennsylvania State meet of the L.A.W. at Wilkesbarre on July 4 drew 360 wheelmen in the grand parade; W. E. Crist of Washington, D.C. dominated the racing, winning the two-mile L.A.W. championship (3m. 52⅗s.), one-mile dash, and one-mile tandem tricycle, while W. I. Wilhelm of Reading captured the three-mile state championship and one-mile state championship.
- The fourth annual Illinois Division L.A.W. meet at Peoria on July 4 included a parade, a run to Prospect Hill for dinner, and a moonlight boat-ride; Mr. Street of Chicago was elected Secretary and Treasurer, and Van Sicklen was named chairman of the new racing board with Munger, Ridgely, Blake, and Pafee.
- Race results from the Omaha tournament June 25–26, with Stockdale of Minneapolis winning the 3:30 amateur class, Peabody of Omaha taking the three-minute class across multiple heats, and professional Whittaker of Chicago winning the one-mile professional handicap in 2m. 59⅖s. and the ten-mile professional open.
- Minneapolis correspondent L.B.G. covers the Omaha races from a local perspective—Stockdale winning the 3:30 class, Peabody dominating amateur events, Savage of Minneapolis suffering a bad header in the one-mile race—and previews the July 9 Minneapolis lantern parade with hopes of getting two hundred riders in line.
- Wide-ranging news column covering Jesse Powers' defeat of A. B. Rich in the five-mile at Roseville on the Fourth, C. A. Stenken's fast mile stamping him as one of the fastest amateurs in the country, Thomas Stevens wearing flowers from an Elizabeth Club lady, Humber & Co. forming a limited stock company at £25,000, and the A. B. Rich and F. White two-mile handicap at Staten Island finished in 6m. 06s.
- Touring narrative by G. W. Nellis, Jr. recounting his cross-country bicycle ride through Nebraska: attending the Omaha races, battling deep sand roads day after day, a close encounter with a rattlesnake near Gothenburg, and a five-mile moonlit trudge along the railroad to Paxton after moonlight riding in the sand proved impossible.
- Karl Kron describes his July 4th ride from West Springfield to Cheshire, Connecticut (57.5 miles) in intense heat and dust—his 64th consecutive day of riding—and updates readers on distribution of 'Ten Thousand Miles on a Bicycle,' including 100 copies to Boston, 44 to Montreal, 100 to his Springfield agency, and 280 to Australia.
- Race meet at Hampden Park, Springfield on July 4 despite strong wind; E. A. De Blois of East Hartford won the one-mile handicap in 2m. 56⅖s. and the one-mile scratch race in a nip-and-tuck struggle with H. S. Hart, while the Hartford Wheel Club took the one-mile team race with 34 points over New Britain's 31 and the Outing Club's 30.
- The city's annual July 4 races on Boston Common drew several thousand spectators to a rough four-laps-to-the-mile clay track; Caldwell of Boston and Berlo of South Boston dominated, with Berlo winning the two-mile scratch in 7m. 01s. and Caldwell taking the two-mile lap race and the three-mile scratch in 11m. 20s.
- Three-mile handicap match race at Lynn's bicycle park for $100 a side and gate receipts before nearly 300 spectators; McCurdy on a Star was given 300 yards over Rowe on a Columbia racer, held his lead throughout, and won by about 50 yards while Rowe completed the three miles in 8m. 15s.
- Race meet at Lynn on July 4 attracted about 1,200 spectators; Horace Crocker of Newton won the three-mile professional handicap in 8m. 44⅘s., A. A. McCurdy of Lynn won the two-mile professional handicap, and W. A. Rowe rode a one-mile exhibition in 2m. 35⅗s. aided by Crocker on the second lap.
- Bicycle races at Stanford, Kentucky on July 2 drew wheelmen from Louisville, Richmond, Lexington, Covington, and Danville; Edward H. Croninger of Covington won the mile dash free-for-all in 3m. 24s. and the five-mile open in 15m. 17s., while W. B. Penny of Stanford captured the Lincoln County quarter-mile championship heats.
- Annual race meeting of the Cleveland Bicycle Club at Athletic Park on June 22, attended by about 500 persons; high wind prevented fast times, and G. B. Childs won the quarter-mile bicycle (41s.) and the two-mile bicycle (7m. 30s. with a 50-yard start), with George Collister taking the half-mile tricycle in 1m. 46⅕s.
- At Wolverhampton on the evening of June 17, professional champion R. Howell lowered records previously held by W. M. Woodside at Coventry, posting new bests at one mile (2m. 43s.), two miles (5m. 27½s.), three miles (8m. 20½s.), and four miles (11m. 10½s.) on a track in splendid condition.
- Manchester Bicycle Club's hill climb on Hanover Street, Manchester, N.H. on July 2 over a quarter-mile distance; President F. C. Moulton won in 1m. 17⅞s., with C. H. Fish second in 1m. 25s. and C. E. Temple third in 1m. 35s.; M. Sheriff was starter and A. H. N. Davidson timekeeper.
- Fifth annual meet of the Canadian Wheelmen's Association at Brantford on July 1 drew 400 wheelmen in parade before 4,000 spectators; J. D. Miller of Montreal was unanimously elected president; Fred Foster of Toronto won the ten-mile open (33m. 50s.) and five-mile championship, and H. P. Davies took the one-mile bicycle championship of Canada in a close finish over Foster.
- Preview of the July 10 road race from St. Louis to De Soto and back (90 miles) between S. G. Whittaker on a Star and Percy Stone on his 55-inch crank machine; the route via Stringtown road, Point Breeze, and Bulltown to De Soto is described, with Greenwood's existing record of ten hours as the benchmark.
- Description reprinted from Indian Engineering of a field ambulance designed by J. E. Whiting, M.A., M. Inst. C. E., using two bicycles with trailing wheels removed, joined by a bamboo pole and hammock supported on the bicycle seats; successfully used to carry a sick lady on the road to Mahableshwur and proposed for hospital or field service.
- Comic poem 'For the Wheel' by Charles Richards Dodge celebrating Sunday cyclists as 'worshippers of the sun and air,' 'Muscular Christians, road fiends and tandemons,' who aspire to 'the supreme heights of joy—twenty miles in an hour and fifteen minutes without a dismount.'
- Lively account of the L. I. W. club's social evening on June 29 featuring singing by Dr. Hudnut, a discordant six-man musical performance by Alden, Donaldson, Crafts, Starrett, Brown, and Monell, and an elaborate mock presentation speech by Captain Luscomb awarding Mr. Clapp the prize for 'his good sense in not competing'; eleven new members posted for July.
- Reprint of Wheeling magazine's review praising Karl Kron's 'Ten Thousand Miles on a Bicycle' as 'the first classic of cycling literature,' commending its eight hundred pages of road description, American humor reminiscent of Mark Twain, the chapter on Kron's bulldog 'Curl,' and its unrivalled compendium on the literature of cycling.
- Column by 'Norb.' reporting the Avondale Bicycle Club races at Carthage, Ohio on July 2, where Bryson Burroughs won the one-mile championship of three cities (3m. 07½s.) for the second time; also describes the start of the Kentucky Tour with riders from Cincinnati, Newport, Covington, and Wyoming, Ohio heading to Lexington, Blue Lick Springs, and High Bridge.
- Boston-area column examining women's tricycling: the correspondent compares three lady riders he observed, debates whether cycling costume and style is 'becoming,' and urges thoughtful wheelwomen to study graceful riding to silence critics; also notes the Massachusetts Bicycle Club formally disbanding and comments on L.A.W. policy on records made in paced time trials.
- The New York Club added 3,796 miles in June for a running total of 10,753 to July 1; top scorers listed include F. M. Daniels (341 in June, 1,220 total), J. M. McFadden (446/1,002), Harry M. Archer (399/543), and E. J. Shriver (288/684).
- Report by 'Jonah' on the N.J. Division L.A.W. annual meeting at Orange on July 4: Chief Consul Cooley's address, Robinson Pound re-elected Secretary-Treasurer, resolutions thanking Governor Hill for signing the bicycle bill passed unanimously, a proposed cinder path from New York to Philadelphia referred to committee, and a dinner at Music Hall where guest Thomas Stevens quipped that Washington vs. Cornwallis 'was a race of professionals against amateurs, and the amateurs won.'
- Race results from the Roseville track, Orange, N.J. on July 4: Jesse W. Powers Jr. of New York surprised the field by outsprinting A. B. Rich over the final lap to win the five-mile L.A.W. championship in 16m. 26⅘s., while C. A. Stenken of Jersey City won the one-mile state championship in the day's fastest mile of 2m. 46⅜s.
- A Washington letter describes the monthly informal race between the Western Union bicycle boy and the Baltimore & Ohio pony messenger, both dashing from the Department of Agriculture with crop and cotton reports released on the 10th of each month; on the most recent occasion the pony balked, the bicycle won easily, and the pony was later found chewing geraniums in the agricultural grounds.
- New Orleans column by 'Bl.' reporting Lieutenant R. W. Abbot's first-ever century ride in Louisiana (June 6, over fourteen hours on a 48-inch New Rapid), a failed attempt by Abbot and Pelican Fairchild to ride 115 miles from Baton Rouge to New Orleans ended by a missed road, Fairchild's twisted ankle, and a torrential rainstorm, and Chief Consul Hodgson's mail campaign for new L.A.W. members.
- Letter from George R. Bidwell announcing the New York Board of Park Commissioners' July 6 resolution formally admitting bicycles and tricycles to Central Park drives without requiring uniforms or special permits, removing the final obstacle to New York wheelmen riding in the park following passage of the bicycle bill.
- Poem by G. Frederick S. of the Citizens Bicycle Club, New York, celebrating Governor Hill's signing of the New York bicycle bill granting cyclists rights on public roads and in Central Park, tracing the political battle against Mayor Hewitt's opposition and the petition of twenty thousand wheelmen that ultimately prevailed.