The Wheel: Journal of Bicycling, Vol 13, No 14
Articles in this issue
- The editor extends New Year wishes to regular contributors, shares a Capital Club member's appeal for cycling tour narratives, and reprints the Pacific Coast Wheelman editor's argument for League of American Wheelmen reform toward a federation of independent state divisions with the bulk of dues retained locally.
- Reports a Westchester County jury verdict awarding Reuben T. Pettingill $2,000 from the city of Yonkers after his wife died from injuries caused by a defective road, arguing the case sets a legal precedent that cyclists and others injured by poor roads could use to force municipal improvements.
- Members of the Ilderan Bicycle Club in Brooklyn, inspired by The Wheel's photography series, plan to form a camera club open to all amateur photographers, with a meeting set for January 3 to organise darkroom facilities, a printing room, and a photographic library at the club house; inquiries to H.C. Mettler, 71 Lincoln Street.
- The Harlem Wheelmen invite cycling friends to a festive "staggy racket" at their club house at 102 West 124th Street on December 30, with a one-dollar tribute per member and feast promised by officers F.L. Brigham, A.M. Pressinger, A.T. Steiner, and O.M. Emanuel.
- Correspondent "Bi." reports a December 19 meeting on a proposed lantern bicycle parade produced no firm commitment, as Chief Consul Hodgson estimated $300 needed and a seven-man fundraising committee was formed; the letter also covers ex-champion George Hendee's visit with his Springfield Roadster, C.H. Smith of Gormully & Jeffery stirring up the Mobile, Alabama road-access dispute, and the state of the New Orleans Bicycle Club.
- Reviews The Cyclist's 1887 Christmas annual titled "The Lantern," finding it rich in illustrations of English cycling events but otherwise unremarkable, with a front cover depicting a cycling photographic smoker, a calendar, Henry Sturmey's photographic article, and satirical sketches of Kennedy-Childe, Karl Kron, and Billy Rowe; published by Iliffe & Son, Coventry.
- Correspondent "Ralph" reports attending the Centaur Cycle Club's Christmas "At Home" on December 27, praising the young club's rapid growth from eight members in February to twenty, its well-fitted wheel room and cosy parlour on E. Lombard Street, and about two hundred visitors entertained; also notes the Maryland Bicycle Club's forthcoming New Year's reception.
- Correspondent "Keystone" notes a quiet Christmas with little riding due to snow, reports the Sewickley Valley Wheelmen's successful first smoker featuring Lt. Bleecker's ventriloquism and Secretary Richardson's recitations, and mentions Hugh Fleming of the Cyclers riding a home trainer through winter before switching to a pony Star next season.
- Tour narrative by "Vertical" describing a 400-mile bicycle journey in August from Chicago across Wisconsin to Winona, Minnesota, via Des Plaines, Woodstock, Harvard, Janesville, Madison, Devil's Lake, Baraboo, and La Crosse, averaging 40 miles a day on roads ranging from excellent ridge track to deep sand, with overnight lodging at farms for as little as 35 cents.
- Sixth instalment of The Wheel's photography series covering darkroom development of photographic plates, including opening the plate holder, mixing a developer from sal soda, sulphite of soda, and pyrogallic acid, flowing the solution over the plate, fixing in hyposulphite of soda, and the utility of the Russell Negative Clasp device.
- Reprinted from The Cyclist, this advocacy piece argues that cycling and amateur photography are natural companion pursuits, encouraging cyclists to carry cameras to capture scenic views on tour and instantaneous action shots at race meetings, noting the rise from five to nearly twenty amateur photographers at the Harrowgate cycling camp in four years.
- Department of commercial notes covering Gillott's steel pens, the Long Island and Harlem Wheelmen equipping billiard rooms with Brunswick & Balke tables, jeweller Jens F. Pederson's Maiden Lane store catering to wheelmen for medals and jewelry, and Devlin & Co.'s uniform contracts for clubs including the Citizens' Club, Harlem Wheelmen, and Ilderan Bicycle Club.
- Department column noting Jules Dubois's breakdown after 20 miles at Newcastle's six-day race with the American team paying his expenses, E.I. Halstead's 4,000-mile mileage record for the Harlem Wheelmen, E.M. Schaffner and E.J. Shipsey's planned Washington's Birthday race from Tarrytown to New York, the new Birmingham Midland Racing Cyclists' Association formed in protest against the N.C.U. Executive, and commentary on loafing tactics killing path racing.
- Essay by "Free Lance" evoking the character of English roadside inns encountered on cycling tours — their painted signs in hop-country Kent, low-ceilinged village pubs, stranded coaching inns on the great north road, farmers' market-day dinners at "The Rose" in Wokingham, and the hospitable landladies and talkative commercial travellers who welcome tired cyclists.
- Correspondent "Art." defends Stamson's cycling tourist pamphlet against Jo. Pennell's Bulletin criticism, endorsing advice on avoiding round-trip railway tickets, recommending July and August over spring for drier roads, and warning that many C.T.C.-listed hotels overcharge while coffee houses offer better value and less "haughty agony" for American tourists.