The Wheel: Journal of Bicycling, Vol 4, No 23
Articles in this issue
- Wide-ranging editorial notes covering Springfield entries closing September 10th, the Maryland Club's two-day meet at Oriole Park, an upcoming Racing Board meeting in Philadelphia, the marriage of Sam McClure of The Wheelman, and a new Bayliss, Thomas & Co. tandem imported for H. H. Post of Oswego, plus observations on railroad privileges, the New Haven Bicycle Club's October race meeting, and the Pope Cup eligibility dispute.
- Official list of 91 applicants for League of American Wheelmen membership received up to September 7, 1883, from clubs and unattached riders across New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, including the New Haven Ramblers, Morris Wanderers, Holyoke Bi. Club, and Akron Bi. Club.
- List of 54 League of American Wheelmen membership renewals for the week ending September 1, 1883, drawn from clubs including the New Haven Bicycle Club, Pequonnock Wheel Club, American Star Bicycle Club, Massillon Bicycle Club, and the Champion City Bicycle Club of Springfield, Ohio.
- Madison Square Garden in New York has been rented for the week ending October 13th for a 142-hour non-stop bicycle tournament beginning at midnight on the 7th, managed locally by Harry Brooks; the same organisers plan an 84-hour Chicago event at the Exposition Building from November 26th to December 1st.
- Correspondent C. E. Titchener reports that the Binghamton Bicycle Club has procured club medals and will hold fortnightly practice races open only to members under L. A. W. rules, and notes that C. H. Rogers recently completed a 250-mile three-day tour through Oneonta, Delhi, Cooperstown, and the Chenango Valley.
- Pre-tournament news from Springfield: Hendee's new 25-pound racing machine built by Wm. Andrews of Birmingham and imported by Sam'l T. Clark & Co. is described as the acme of racers; John Keen left England September 1st to ride all professional events; and Prince, Woodside, Higham, and Morgan have entered the horse-vs.-bicycle 20-mile race.
- Full details and instructions for the first bicycle and tricycle exhibition, to be held at the Skating Rink in Springfield, Massachusetts, September 18-20 in connection with the Springfield Bicycle Club's camp meet and tournament; exhibitors are invited through chairman J. S. Dean of Boston and Samuel T. Clark of Baltimore, with stall space at moderate charge and no commission on sales.
- Account of the bicycle race meeting held at Ovid, Michigan on August 24th, won overall by C. H. Smith of Detroit, who took the mile heat (3:18 3/4, the fastest time ever in the state), the slow race, and the fancy riding; Star riders Huber and Daniel competed at a disadvantage on their 61-pound roadsters against lighter crank machines.
- Narrative by 'The Man' (the League Secretary) of a three-day cycling tour to Milford, Pennsylvania with League President N. M. Beckwith - Beckwith on a tricycle and the writer on a Star - taking in Cuddebackville, Dingman's Ferry, and the Bluff House, with warm hospitality from landlord Sawyer and the local guests.
- Letter from H. S. Kidder of Morris, N. Y., clarifying that the N. Y., L. E. & W. R. R. does not appear on the L. A. W. free list (the listed Lake Erie & Western being a small Western road), and lamenting that Eastern wheelmen face particularly poor and irregular railroad carriage rates.
- Arrangements for the Pennsylvania Division parade through Fairmount Park on September 29th, including a grand free lunch at the terminus near the gentlemen's driving park where the Germantown and Pennsylvania Bicycle Club races will be held; a list of Philadelphia hotels with regular and reduced rates is published for visiting wheelmen.
- Frank A. Egan, President of the Ixion Bicycle Club, outlines a cooperative scheme to secure reduced group fares from Grand Central Depot to the Springfield meet on September 18th - from $5.00 for parties of 25 down to $3.30 for 100 or more - asking club secretaries to collect $6.50 per man and forward it to him for bulk ticket purchase.
- Two letters on the Medina, Ohio tournament of August 17th: judge G. W. Lewis explains that he dissented from the majority decision to exclude the Star machines and that fellow judge Beckwith later left the stand to ride in and win the five-mile race; J. H. Collister of the Cleveland Club confirms he delegated oversight to F. W. Douglass and awaits the Medina Wheelmen's explanation.
- Report on the first race meeting of the Peoria Bicycle Club held August 30th at the Shooting Park, where captain Charles F. Vail won the mile-heat club medal race in 3:32 over Hansel and Koch; the piece previews a coming mile race by electric light at the Fair Grounds on September 7th and notes Columbia, American Rudge, Facile, and Star machines appearing in Peoria.
- A humorous gossip column signed 'Blit' offering witty wheeling observations - the 'bicycle waltz' fad, President Arthur finding Yellowstone National Park free of anti-cycling laws, Burt Pressy's Kangaroo walk-over in the Corey Hill climbing contest, Treasurer Pool of the Citizens' Club, and warm praise for the Kings County Wheelmen's September 1st race meeting and President Beckwith's after-dinner remarks.
- Editorial arguing that the nine state Divisions established since the New York meet have been unambiguously beneficial, boosting membership and local activity without weakening the national League, which remains essential for uniform racing and membership rules, common sign-boards and hotel certificates, and settling questions of national importance.
- Calendar of forthcoming September and October 1883 fixtures, including the Maryland Bicycle Club's annual meet and state championship at Oriole Park (September 12), the Springfield Bicycle Club's three-day camp and tournament (September 18-20), the Albany Bi. Club meet (September 26), the Pennsylvania Division's first annual meet (September 29), and the New Haven Bicycle Club's October 10th meet at Hamilton Park.
- Tabulated results from two recent meetings: races at Maple Island, Albany, on August 17th (W. W. Cole first in 3:57 1/4 for the mile) and races at Wellington, Ohio, on August 30th (Asa Dolph first over Geo. Collister in two heats of 3:43 and 3:53 1/2).
- Full report on the Kings County Wheelmen's meet of September 1st at their eight-lap cinder track in Williamsburg, attended by over 1,000 spectators; Edward Pettus won the half-mile final (1:35 1/5) and Thomas Midgley took the closely fought 25-mile race in 1:36:14 4/5 over H. D. Corey and Pettus, though a disputed last-lap incident left the medal with League President Beckwith pending a ruling.
- Letter from W. H. Eel of New Haven describing the local scene - about 200 riders, 50 of them L. A. W. members, and the inactive New Haven Tricycle Club (the oldest in the United States) - and announcing the New Haven Bicycle Club's Fourth Annual Meet and Fall Races on October 10th at Hamilton Park for $700 in prizes, with evening fancy riding at the Skating Rink.