The Wheel: Journal of Bicycling, Vol 13, No 11
Articles in this issue
- The Manhattan Bicycle Club has leased the New York Bicycle Club's building at 302 W. 58th St., an arrangement concluded by Messrs. Pendleton and Sheehan of the Manhattan Club and Messrs. Shriver and Roy of the New York Club; working drawings for a new Manhattan club house on West End Avenue are being prepared.
- The editor argues for forming a Roads Improvement Association independent of the League of American Wheelmen, funded by manufacturers and wheel firms, calling on a strong club or city to take the initiative and organise it with cash and business methods.
- A pointed editorial urging cycle manufacturers to cease paying professional riders to ride specific makes in 1888, arguing that the practice of maintaining salaried teams has caused the decline of race meets and turned professionals into paid hirelings unable to attract large crowds as English professionals do.
- The club celebrated its move to the old New York Club house with a group photograph on Riverside Drive shot by artist Fredericks; a special December 4th meeting raised monthly dues to $1 to cover club-house expenses, and J. W. Sheehan completed a season mileage of 3,000.
- A letter from Manhattan Bicycle Club secretary Chas. A. Sheehan and First Lieutenant Edward Newgass correcting a previous report, clarifying that unattached riders — not club members — performed trick-riding in front of the Central Park Casino, and that the club's lieutenants present spoke to the offenders.
- Account of the South End Wheelmen of Philadelphia celebrating their first anniversary on December 5th with decorated club house, fireworks, a floral bicycle presented by music publisher J. W. Pepper, a band serenade, and a medal to J. J. Bradley for racing honours at the West Philadelphia A. A. races; the club has grown from 6 to 40 members since organizing on December 4, 1886.
- Reports a League of American Wheelmen Rights and Privileges Committee victory at Oil City, Pa., where supplying C. E. Pratt's legal opinion and precedent cases persuaded city authorities to repeal an ordinance prohibiting bicycles within city limits — the League's third such victory within a month.
- Miscellany column with a letter from a New York club member in Berlin describing strict police restrictions on cycling and surveillance of visitors; notes on the Harlem Wheelmen's pool tournament, John R. Williams and Wm. Newman of the Buffalo Bicycle Club sailing to Europe, and R. W. Creuzbaur of the Kings County Wheelmen departing on the s.s. Nueces for a ride across Texas and Northern Mexico on a 56-inch Expert.
- Brooklyn correspondent 'Alert' covers Ilderan Bi-Club entertainments including W. F. Miller's illustrated lecture 'Timeas Timpkins on a Wheel', a Kings County Wheelmen Thanksgiving paper chase through muddy roads, the Long Island Wheelmen's new club house, and a mock trial planned for December 21st.
- Minneapolis correspondent L. B. G. writes with mercury at 14 degrees below zero, reporting upcoming professional races at the Washington Rink for the Newsboys' Home benefit and lamenting the collapse of club organisation in Minnesota, with its two local clubs having held no meetings in so long that officers' names are forgotten.
- Correspondent V. P. E. praises the smooth shell-paved streets of Portsmouth across the river from Norfolk as superior for wheeling, notes the Norfolk Cycle Club's Thanksgiving day run and group photograph by ex-captain Dr. Barrett, and bemoans road hogs who have demolished several machines near Portsmouth.
- Correspondent 'Ralph' reports on the awakening of Baltimore's League meet committee — set to decide December 7th — considering a grand race meet, lantern parade, and ball estimated at $500–$3,000; recounts a road-hog confrontation on the shell road where League wheelmen horse-whipped an aggressive driver, but argues legal action through the courts would be more effective; lists newly elected officers of the Baltimore Cycle Club and Centaur Cycle Club.
- Correspondent 'Keystone' argues against allowing non-League members to purchase the Massachusetts Road Book, praises Pittsburgh's fine League hotel offering one-third discounts to members, and describes G. A. Hays's summer tour through the Shenandoah Valley on a bicycle, collecting antique hall clocks, candlesticks, and andirons while also shooting amateur photographs.
- Detailed history and description of the Buffalo Bicycle Club — the city's oldest, founded February 22, 1879 by four riders including Dr. H. T. Appleby — now building its own club house at 132 College Street designed by architect F. W. Caulkins, with a 50-by-23-foot gymnasium, locker and bath rooms, card rooms, and a billiard attic; formal opening expected at the annual meeting on December 13.
- A touring correspondent ('Art') recalls encountering a bizarre five-wheeled, 150-pound cycle belonging to a dealer near Horsham, England, then reflects on the variety of British machines from featherweight racers to carrier tricycles and on navigating London's wood-paved streets safely in heavy traffic on a light roadster Facile.
- Short items column: Jack Prince is running a saloon in Omaha; Fred Wood is in financial straits in Australia with an English subscription started to bring him home; William Woodside may retire from racing after his father's death; Pope Mfg. Co. acquires Stoddard Lovering's Rudge stock on January 1; racing news from Moscow sees Grossman beat Prince Dolgorukoff by one second in the 10-mile championship (41:01); a two-mile handicap is to be held at the Twelfth Regiment Armory in New York.
- Third instalment describing Detective Cameras disguised as hand-satchels for candid instantaneous photography, the bicycler's camera outfit that clamps to the handlebar with the bicycle used as a tripod (as employed by Thomas Stevens on his round-the-world Columbia ride), and a survey of single achromatic, wide-angle, and Rapid Rectilinear lenses with notes on the Waterbury lens by Scovill Mfg. Co.
- Minneapolis correspondent L. B. G. reports that professional races rescheduled to December 9–10 at the Washington Rink will feature F. A. Dingley attempting 350 miles in 24 hours paced by Knapp and Whittaker under Eck's management, a 3-mile professional race between McCurdy and Whittaker, and Eck going for the 50-mile Gormully & Jeffery Safety record; Victor agent F. A. Leland's sporting-goods stock was seriously damaged by water from a building fire.