The Wheel: Journal of Bicycling, Vol 4, No 10
Articles in this issue
- The L.A.W. Railroad Committee reports that over 40 railroads now carry bicycles free when accompanied by owners on first-class tickets, detailing successful negotiations with western lines such as the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul and the Michigan Central, and noting eastern holdouts including the Chicago & Northwestern and Delaware, Lackawanna & Western.
- The L.A.W. Membership Committee, chaired by Edward K. Hill of Worcester, unanimously rules that Albert F. Edmans of Troy, N.Y. is a professional after he received money for racing at Hoosick Falls, sustaining the protest against his admission under Clause h, Rule 25.
- Publishers Oliver & Jenkins formally offer to supply every L.A.W. member with The Wheel at fifty cents per year as the official organ; the Committee on Rules and Regulations recommends acceptance, and the League votes to make The Wheel its official organ.
- About fifty wheelmen gather at the Mansion House in Orange, N.J. on Decoration Day, May 30, 1883, to form the New Jersey State Division of the L.A.W., electing Harold Serrell of Plainfield as Secretary and Fred Provost of New Brunswick as Treasurer pro tem., with 80 charter members from clubs including the Hudson County Wheelmen of Hoboken and the Brunswick Club.
- Representative wheelmen from across Michigan meet at the Michigan Exchange Hotel in Detroit to organize the Michigan Division L.A.W., electing J.E. Beal of Ann Arbor as President, W.C. Marvin of Ovid as Secretary, and C.D. Standish as ex-officio Executive Board Chairman, with provision for annual meets and State championship races.
- L.A.W. President N. Malon Beckwith offers a personal prize—a diamond L.A.W. badge worth $75—to the wheelman who recruits the greatest number of new League members (excluding renewals) during the current League year, urging unity and growth toward doubling the League's strength.
- Transcript of the L.A.W. annual banquet speeches, with Charles E. Pratt presiding as toastmaster; C.K. Munroe recalls founding the League at Newport three years prior with 150 men, and outgoing President Miller recounts defeating Ohio's anti-bicycle 'Green Bill' and lauds the League's social and legal benefits.
- A New York gossip column signed 'the Owl' on the trade and clubs: 'Meteor' giving way to 'Rex Piraticus' at the South Boston Enquirer, an interview with veteran Captain Pitman in Central Park, the Ixions' new club dog 'Patsey Ixion,' Rood's racing wins, E.A. Thompson nicknamed 'The Dude,' and the Rev. Hugh O. Pentecost taking a Thirty-fourth Street church.
- H.W. Higham of Nottingham, England, styling himself Champion of the World, formally challenges John S. Prince, American champion, to race any distance from one to fifty miles for any sum up to $500 a side, enclosing a $50 deposit as evidence of good faith.
- Standing notice of the Cyclists' Touring Club (founded 1878 as the B.T.C.), inviting amateur riders into its roughly 10,000-strong international membership through Chief Consul Frank W. Weston of Boston, listing new applicants and announcing the 1883 Hand-book available from Secretary E.R. Shipton in London.
- Announcement of the Cyclists' Touring Club's Seventh Annual North of England Meet at Harrogate on August 6, urging American members travelling in Europe to attend, with the Cunard steamship 'Cephalonia' (sailing from Boston on July 21) noted as the last available passage.
- An editorial note confirms that proposed amendments to raise the L.A.W. annual dues have been withdrawn by their sponsors, and dues will remain at one dollar per member through May 1884, as a fee increase was judged likely to reduce membership more than it would benefit the treasury.
- The editors comment on the Railroad Committee report, arguing that a uniform bicycle tariff is a more realistic goal than universal free carriage since Eastern roads refuse free circulars; they quote committee chairman Burley B. Ayers endorsing a reasonable standard rate and noting that the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western has already revoked its free circular.
- Club news and upcoming race fixtures include the formation of the Cattaraugus County Cyclist Club in Randolph, N.Y. with nine members, and a detailed account of the Genesee Bicycle Club's first run in Rochester on May 18th, with members in blue knickerbockers riding alongside the Rochester Bicycle Club through the city streets.
- Results of the eighth annual N.A.A.A.A. amateur championship bicycle races at Mott Haven, New York: George M. Hendee of the Springfield Bicycle Club wins the one-mile (3:36 2-5) and two-mile (6:47 1-5) events, while Roland G. Rood of the Ixion Bicycle Club wins the five-mile in 17:37 after a collision eliminates Reed and Thompson.
- Springfield correspondent Liggins praises the L.A.W. Meet, notes Hendee's 55-inch Sanspareil racer weighs 22 pounds, and reports plans for the September Tournament with Prince, Woodside, Frye, Decivry of France, and Howell of England expected; the club offers a $500 prize for 25-mile and $300 for one-mile tricycle championship races.
- Short news items covering the Germantown Club joining the L.A.W. in a body, the Kings County Wheelmen's first annual race meeting at Williamsburgh Athletic Club on June 23rd, and the six-day professional race in Chicago where Mlle. Louise Armaindo finished first with 843 miles against Morgan's 820 and Woodside's 723.
- A contributor signing 'Amateur Athlete' reflects on the breadth of the recent L.A.W. meeting, predicts the League will spread its championships to cities such as Springfield rather than concentrate them in New York, and urges the N.A.A.A.A. to adopt League racing rules after the disputed foul in the five-mile championship race.
- A humorous poem set to the tune of 'Three Fishers,' composed by 'F. Pluribus Penstock,' recounting three club wheelmen who ride west into Castleton, discover their pooled funds amount to only thirteen pennies, and find they cannot afford drinks at the Homoseen House.