The Wheel: Journal of Bicycling, Vol 13, No 10
Articles in this issue
- The editor ridicules 'wheel press' correspondents for infantilizing wheelmen, then defends Capt. Barkman of the Brooklyn Club for protesting Kluge's entry in the Inter-Club road race while questioning the L.A.W.'s policy of compulsory club membership.
- Editorial urging American wheelmen to form a dedicated Roads Improvement Association focused solely on road reform, distinct from the L.A.W., arguing even a dollar-a-year membership would fund practical change the League has so far failed to deliver.
- Secretary-Editor Bassett has found $2,000 lying idle in certain L.A.W. State Divisions while the League's own bills go unpaid, prompting debate over the fairness of dues distribution and whether surpluses should earn interest or be redistributed to active divisions.
- Dick Howell and W. M. Woodside on bicycles took on cowboys Marve Beardsley and Broncho Charley on horses in a six-day race at Agricultural Hall, London, November 6–13, with the horsemen ultimately winning 814 miles to 812; Ralph Temple featured prominently in the daily short races.
- The Wilmington Bicycle Club held its inaugural race meet at Union Street Park on November 24, with S. Wallis Merrihew winning the Half-Mile Delaware Championship in 1:42, J. S. Bertolette the Two-Mile State title in 8:26, and B. F. McDaniel dominating the handicap events.
- Fifteen riders started New Orleans' first Thanksgiving road handicap (51½ miles to West End) on November 25, with M. S. Graham winning on corrected time in 25:38 while scratch man C. B. Guillotte rode a Rudge to finish first overall in 24:17, edging A. M. Hill.
- The New Bedford Cycle Club's Thanksgiving races on French Avenue saw C. L. Dunham win the five-mile president's medal race in 21:23½, permanently claiming the medal from Wing, while Royland Smith swept both the half-mile and quarter-mile sprint golds.
- The Boston Bicycle Club's Thanksgiving hare-and-hound chase was largely foiled by high winds scattering the paper trail, with hares F. S. Wetson and W. H. Senter returning safely after 1:15 but most hounds coming in without catching them.
- Pre-race dispatch by correspondent 'Bi.' previewing the Thanksgiving handicap field of eighteen entrants, describing rough course conditions including fresh shells and a bad railroad crossing, and floating plans to attract professionals such as Whittaker or Dingley for winter indoor events at New Orleans.
- Correspondent 'Keystone' reports Pittsburgh wheelmen are hopeful a new city charter will bring asphalt paving to cobblestone streets, Thanksgiving runs were washed out by rain, and the Banker Bros.' claimed 116-mile road record is being disputed by a skeptical Boston correspondent.
- Correspondent L. B. G. describes fast riding on frozen Minneapolis roads, the arrival of professional McCurdy at the Washington Rink to challenge Knapp or Whittaker, and news that J. P. Bruce of the Tribune may inherit £40,000 in Scotland and leave the city.
- Second installment of the serialized guide to photographic apparatus, explaining the camera body, bellows, focusing screen, swing-back, rising front, and tripod in detail, with purchasing recommendations for the Ne Plus Ultra (~$10), Waterbury, and '76 cameras.
- Obituary for George S. Darrow, co-editor of the Wheelmen's Record and Wheelmen's Gazette in Indianapolis, who died of typhoid fever on November 20 aged twenty-four; mourned for his perennial humor, editorial promise, and resilience after the sudden death of his wife eighteen months earlier.
- Regular miscellany: Professor Alphonse King rides a marine bicycle a mile and a half on the Charles River before 20,000 Bostonians on Thanksgiving; the Rudge Company may open a U.S. agency under H. D. Corey; the Powers brothers prepare for the 12th Regiment Armory races on December 10; and Baltimore lobbies to host the 1888 L.A.W. meet.
- Detailed account of the Long Island Wheelmen's housewarming on Thanksgiving Eve, attended by nearly 300 guests from a dozen clubs including New York, Brooklyn, Harlem, and Kings County Wheelmen, with toasts by Chief Consul Bidwell, editor F. P. Prial, and Captain Luscomb.
- British trade report covering Rudge & Co.'s conversion to a £200,000 public company and planned U.S. agency, Singer & Co.'s factory expansion for Apollo and safety bicycles, the Hillman-Herbert-Sparkbrook joint workshops venture in Germany, and Rothgiessar's novel saddle-steered safety being tested by Coventry firms.
- Reprinted from Wheeling, drawing on John Browning's book 'Our Eyes,' advising all cyclists to wear folder spectacles — neutral-tint for bright roads, slightly concave for short-sighted riders — to guard eyes against wind, dust, insects, flint particles, and rain.
- The Dorchester Bicycle Club's Thanksgiving hare-and-hound chase started at the Adams Street clubrooms; hares Walter S. Doane and Arthur Benson took a ten-minute lead over a rough 16½-mile trail before Billy Rhodes caught them near the Blue Hills after one hour thirty minutes.
- The joint N.C.U./C.T.C. Roads Improvement Association reports a year of pamphlet distribution, provincial press campaigns, and pending legal proceedings to compel a Highway Board to repair a neglected road, while appealing to cyclists for donations and announcing renewed negotiations with Birmingham Corporation.