The Wheel: Journal of Bicycling, Vol 13, No 13
Articles in this issue
- Editor F.P. Prial offers seasonal greetings and urges Brooklyn cycling clubs to raise funds for a cinder path from Prospect Park to the Ocean, praising the Binghamton Wheel Club's success in building a nine-mile path and drawing a lesson from wealthy New York horse-owners agitating for a Central Park drive.
- Report on an evening smoker and pool match between the Harlem Wheelmen and Morrisania Wheelmen at the Harlem clubhouse, won by the Morrisanias in the twenty-first game near midnight, with entertainment by Bryan W. Quinn on banjo and piano and dancing by Harry Hanford.
- A news item about Edward A. Lawson, Deputy Auditor's agent in Louisville, whose bicycle frightened a horse owned by Wm. Zable, prompting a possible damages suit; the editor notes that the Supreme Court has repeatedly affirmed the bicycle's right to the road as a carriage.
- Notes on the rapidly-growing Manhattan Club, which has taken over the New York Club's old house, admitted ten new members at its Monday meeting including C.P. Fry and G.T. Steinan, and is planning a reception at the Lexington Avenue Opera House in February.
- E.H. Towle of the Binghamton Wheel Club details the construction of a nine-mile coal-ash cycle path from Binghamton to Union, begun in August 1887, funded by $400 raised through club subscriptions and outside donors, with contractor John Schultz building five bridges and a spring top-dressing still needed.
- City letter by 'Claw Hammer' covering the possible dissolution of the Chicago Bicycle Club, the Owls' gymnasium events and tug-of-war victory over the Union Athletic Club, the Lincoln Cycling Club's minstrel benefit plans for Madison Street Theatre, the Illinois Club's December euchre party, and a petition for the reinstatement of Phil Hammel, suspended since 1885 after a cash-prize race at Minneapolis.
- Correspondent 'L.B.G.' confirms that Dingley's 350½-mile 24-hour track record on a 53-inch Champion Light Roadster is genuine, vouched for by scorer S.F. Heath and judges John Nicholson and O.W. Smith; the dispatch also reprints the full articles of agreement for a $2,000 five-mile race between S.G. Whittaker and A.A. McCurdy at the Washington Rink, Minneapolis, January 9, 1888.
- City letter by 'Keystone' describing cycling routes around Pittsburgh to Braddock's steel mills, McKeesport's iron-tube works, and Murraysville's natural-gas fields; includes a note on Clarence Reisinger's European tour meeting Henry Sturmey, and on W.P. Chambers, who rides a Star bicycle expertly despite an amputation below the knee.
- Brief report on the annual meeting of the Northampton, Mass., Wheel Club held December 5, listing officers elected including President L.L. Campbell, Captain A.A. Chabot, and Secretary-Treasurer H.R. Graves.
- City letter by 'Ralph' on the Maryland L.A.W. Division committee meeting of December 7, where members discussed bidding for the League Meet; the correspondent argues Baltimore can host it for under $1,500 and that the Maryland Division will remain neutral in the Wells vs. Board of Officers dispute in Pennsylvania.
- Follow-up letter from 'Ralph' to the editor reporting that despite a snowstorm and rain, twenty Baltimore Division members attended the December 20 general meeting and showed strong enthusiasm for hosting the League Meet, with a new meeting postponed to January 7.
- Account of the Binghamton Wheel Club's special meeting on December 15, at which members surprised Copeland & Harris — who had donated use of Liberty Hall — with a $50 silver water service, presented by A.H. Saunders at a supper at the Globe Hotel.
- Notes that the New York Club's trustees are reviewing plans for a new clubhouse on West End Avenue (construction deferred to spring), that a stag reception and supper is planned for December 24, and that monthly general meetings have been abolished in favour of trustee governance.
- Satirical editorial item mocking Mobile, Alabama authorities for reportedly hiring men to assault wheelmen who ride on the shell road, noting the L.A.W. Rights and Privileges Committee will investigate.
- Letter from Gormully & Jeffery M'f'g Co. in Chicago reporting that Judge Gresham has assigned January 26–28, 1888 for final hearing of the five patent-infringement cases brought by Pope Manufacturing Co., the summer injunction motion against Gormully & Jeffery having already been denied.
- Miscellany column covering: the Massachusetts Road Book due in January; W.H. Milliken's claimed season record of 6,104 miles; H.H. Griffin appointed editor of Sewing Machine and Cycle News; G.P. Mills sleeping only four and a quarter hours in five days on his Land's End-to-John O'Groats record ride; the Bristol County Wheelmen's cyclometer race won by Captain Bliss at 4,000 miles; the Rovers' Cycle Club annual dinner at the Tremont, Boston with L.A.W. officers Abbott Bassett and Herbert W. Hayes; and the New Bedford Cycle Club's proposed 20-mile Memorial Day race for a $50 prize against the Taunton Bicycle Club.
- Fifth instalment of the magazine's photography series, covering Gundlach Optical Company's Rapid Rectigraphic, Wide Angle, and Perigraphic lenses made in Rochester, N.Y., followed by detailed instructions for loading dry-plate holders in a dark room, positioning and focusing the camera outdoors, and making a timed exposure.
- Letter reprinted from The Cyclist in which a British rider argues that a Dearlove 'Rational' 54-inch ordinary with 22-inch rear wheel outperforms safety bicycles on muddy winter roads — chainless, cleaner, and faster in the mud — and predicts an upcoming large-rear-wheeled ordinary will beat the safety in road races.
- Report reprinted from the Ironmonger on the Midland Cycle Company of Wolverhampton's 'Easthope' spring-frame safety bicycle, designed with all-straight-piece construction to eliminate neck breakage, fitted with extra-thick rubber tyres for American roads, and intended to be shipped to New York in parts to avoid import tariff.
- Travel narrative by 'Free Lance' describing a rainy April cycling tour through the English Midlands: a visit to Gloucester Cathedral, flooded roads across the Severn plain with a burst bridge, and an overnight stay at a cosy inn in flood-stricken Upton-on-Severn among cheerful farming folk.
- Letter reprinted from The Cyclist from a rider of eight years' experience who switched from an ordinary to a Rover-pattern rear-driver 18 months ago and, after retrying the ordinary at a friend's suggestion, returned to the rear-driver as the superior machine for all purposes, especially winter business use.
- Report reprinted from The Cyclist on T. Redman of Bradford's patent duplex spring fork for a rear-driving safety bicycle, which absorbs kerb impacts without affecting steering; tested over rough frozen gorse-land and ditches, it outperformed a springless machine with larger wheels.
- Second miscellany column of the issue covering: over 100 League application blanks taken weekly from the Pope Co. Warren Street store; the Elizabeth Club's January 11 election; a farewell dinner at Riccadonna's for Messrs. Peoli and Breyfogle of the New York Club before their California departure; the Centaur Cycle Club of Baltimore's Christmas open house; Thomas Stevens' globe-girdling bicycle now on display at 12 Warren Street; Joseph Huggins's Brooklyn wedding supper with 600 invitations; and the Morrisania Wheelmen's split producing the new Excelsior Wheelmen under Jason Rogers.