The Wheel: Journal of Bicycling, Vol 4, No 22
Articles in this issue
- Wide-ranging editorial column covering the build-up to the Springfield tournament (2,000 wheelmen and 50,000 spectators expected on the 18th), 1,300 new League members since the Meet, and news items including a new Serrell Alarm bell, the H. B. Smith Machine Co. planning to manufacture 5,000 American Star bicycles next season, and Dr. Coleman's missionary work for the League in the west.
- Official listing of 79 new applicants for League of American Wheelmen membership as of August 31, 1883, organized by state division and club, including unattached riders and clubs such as the New Haven Ramblers, Pequonnock Wheel Club, and Whirling Wheelmen of Baltimore.
- Official list of 25 membership renewals for the week ending August 24, 1883, covering members from New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, and other divisions including the Chicago Bicycle Club and Fremont Bicycle Club.
- Listing of newly appointed League Consuls and designated League Hotels throughout Massachusetts, spanning towns from Pittsfield and Gardner to Boston, Salem, and Haverhill, along with locations for bicycle repairs.
- Chief Consul Geo. Sanderson, Jr. announces newly appointed Pennsylvania consuls — W. S. Wilhelm at Reading, B. Frank Herr at Columbia, W. C. Brown at Washington Boro and others — together with new League hotels at Marietta.
- A short poem in praise of the bicycle by Davy Derby of Landisville, Pa., celebrating the light-winged, silvery-spoked machine that makes the cycler feel as if borne along on wings.
- Chief Consul O. M. Anderson reports on the organisation of the Kentucky State Division on August 10th, with A. S. Dietzman of Louisville elected Secretary and Treasurer, and announces appointed Consuls and League Hotels in Frankfort, Lexington, Louisville, and other towns.
- H. S. Livingston, Chief Consul, lists newly appointed Consuls for Ohio's Southern and Northern divisions, with designated League Hotels including the Stockwell House in Painesville offering meals at reduced rates.
- Detailed preview of the First Annual Meet of the Pennsylvania Division, to be held September 29 in Philadelphia, covering transport arrangements on the Pennsylvania and Philadelphia & Reading railroads, storage for 1,000 machines at H. B. Hart's riding schools, and hotel and reception committee progress.
- Description of the Columbia Bicycle Prize Cup offered by the Pope Manufacturing Company for the Springfield 20-mile amateur race — a solid silver and bronze vase designed by artist L. S. Ipsen and made by Shreve, Crump & Low of Boston at a cost of $1,500, currently on exhibition at their Washington Street store.
- Calendar of upcoming cycling fixtures for September 1883, including race meetings of the Kings County Wheelmen, Fulton and Binghamton clubs, the L. O. W. Meet at Columbus, the League of Essex County Wheelmen seventh meet at Marblehead, and the Springfield tournament on the 18th–20th.
- Race results from August 17th at Medina, Ohio (half-mile won by J. D. Pugh in 1m 45s; five miles by T. S. Beckwith in 20m 21s) and August 23rd at Ashland, Ohio (three miles by Asa Dolph in 10m 30s) and August 24th at New London, Ohio.
- Full account of the bicycle tournament at Richfield Springs, New York on August 11th, where about 40 wheelmen competed; A. B. Prince of Pittsfield won the five-mile race in 20:26, H. J. Hall Jr. won the fancy riding contest with 170 points to Sidney Nicholson's 141, and the Pittsfield relay team defeated Utica to win the silver cup.
- Preview of the Kings County Wheelmen's race meeting scheduled for September 1st at the Williamsburgh Athletic Club grounds in Brooklyn, featuring a 25-mile scratch race in which Pettus and Hale are expected to challenge the outdoor record of 1 hour 43 minutes, with $250 in prizes across four events.
- Practical arrangements for the Springfield tournament camp, including wall tents at $2.50 per man per day covering meals by caterer Harvey Blunt of Boston, baggage transfer from depot to park, and a safe for valuables; full race programmes for all three days listed with events including the $1,000 Columbia Prize Cup 20-mile race and a horse-versus-bicycle match.
- Detailed report of the hill-climbing contest at Corey Hill, Brookline, on August 25th under the Boston Bicycle Club, where Bert Pressy of Smithville, Pa., on an American Star was the only competitor to reach the summit of the 2,300-foot hill (average grade 1 in 11.41), while W. W. Stahl on a Victor tricycle came second at 2,100 feet.
- Letter from League President N. Malon Beckwith calling the fall Board of Officers meeting for the morning of September 20th at Springfield, citing the large gathering of the fraternity there as the opportune occasion and urging full attendance to transact necessary business.
- Editorial warning wheelmen to avoid Jersey City, where an 1874 ordinance prohibiting velocipedes on streets or sidewalks remains actively enforced, with recent arrests of New York wheelmen; the paper calls on the Hudson County Wheelmen and the League to have the law repealed.
- Editorial clarifying the conditions of the Columbia Bicycle Prize Cup competition at Springfield: entries must be filed at The Wheelman's Boston office with a $5 deposit, the cup is not won outright on first victory but must be won three times by the same rider (or once with a sub-one-hour 20-mile record), with gold medals awarded for each individual win.
- Witty gossip column by 'The Owl' covering club social life in New York, including Huss's difficulty finding a partner for his Sociable tricycle, ribald commentary on 'Campanini' Newman and 'Jumbo' Sterry's training antics, praise for the new cycling paper The Cycle, and President Beckwith's conversion to tricycling.
- Announcement of the Fourth Annual Meet and Races at the New England Fair in Manchester, N.H., on September 4th under the Manchester Bicycle Club, offering reduced railroad fares, free entry for participants in cycling costume, and dinner at 11:30 before the races.
- Editorial from The Mechanic protesting the exclusion of an American Star bicycle rider at the Medina, Ohio races despite an official telegram confirming League rules applied; the Star rider was barred after other competitors refused to ride against him, yet in an impromptu race the Star posted a time of 3:11 against the best crank time of 3:16½.
- Letter from Chief Consul Llewellyn H. Johnson of Orange, N.J. correcting a previous correspondent's complaint about being overcharged for bicycle transport, noting the published League rate is 25 cents for 50 miles, and taking issue with a New York writer's lobbying in New Jersey affairs.
- Account of Colonel Albert A. Pope's return from his summer tour abroad, including his participation in the Harrogate Meet where he and Frank W. Weston rode near the head of the procession carrying the American flag; Pope rode from Leeds to Harrogate with Lacy Hillier and later visited Fountain's Abbey, and his Expert Columbia bicycle attracted great admiration from English cyclists.
- Letter signed 'Marietta' illustrating the practical value of League membership, recounting how two non-League tourists were treated courteously but could not get lunch at local hotels, while League members are known and welcomed; also describes a police dispute over bicycle whistles in Norfolk and Lancaster.
- Club news reports covering the formation of the Monmouth Wheelmen at Red Bank, N.J. (with Dr. G. F. Marsden as President), the new Whirling Wheelmen of East Baltimore with 13 members, and elections at the Detroit Bicycle Club where R. R. Lansing was chosen President after long-serving President Bates declined re-election.
- Brief narrative of a moonlight ride on August 21st by a group of Newark and Roseville, N.J. wheelmen through the Oranges, covering about fourteen miles; James P. Downs on a British Challenge and Robert D. Mead on a 48-inch Harvard were the pace-setters, with Mead having the better of it.
- Announcement of the Seventh Meet of the League of Essex County Wheelmen at Marblehead on September 3rd, with the day to be spent in picnic style at Goodwin's Grove; members are asked to appear in knee-breeches, report to Officer of the Day Capt. J. Rob. Schoff, and purchase dinner tickets at 50 cents from Treasurer Chinn.
- First-person account by a lady tricyclist (A. A. M. of Surrey, England) of a 46-mile Bank Holiday ride from Surrey to Brighton on a Sociable with a companion who had barely ridden before; they descended the steep Reigate hill in darkness, had their chain tightened at a Sunday blacksmith's, and returned home at 7 p.m. after a thoroughly enjoyable day.