The Wheel: Journal of Bicycling, Vol 9, No 11
Articles in this issue
- Wide-ranging short items covering L. D. Copeland's planned England visit with his steam bicycle, Elsie Von Blumen's 400-mile endurance ride at the Buffalo rink (completed in 39h 45m), T. W. Eck's quarter-mile tricycle record of 42 2-5s. at St. Louis, and cycling news from Toronto, Chicago, Denver, Kansas City and New Orleans.
- Boston correspondent C. S. H. argues at length that the Boston and Massachusetts Bicycle Clubs must have equal representation on the management committee for the upcoming L.A.W. league meet, dismissing a Boston Herald column that portrayed the two clubs as bitterly hostile; also notes Munger's return, Rhodes riding upwards of 6,000 miles in the season, and a forthcoming revised road-book from Consul A. L. Atkins.
- Preview of the Massachusetts Club's December 16 carnival at the Olympian Rink, featuring a costumed parade on wheels, fancy riding by W. S. Maltby and the Wilmot double-riders with new unicycle tricks, an exhibition spin by amateur champion W. A. Rowe, a polo match on Star bicycles, and music from the Salem Cadet Band and Dahlgren G.A.R. Post bugle corps.
- Report on the Boston club's recent meeting: Mr. Dean's committee confirmed the 100-mile road race course ran approximately 96 miles (three miles short due to a missed turn at Boylston Street), clearing Captain Harrison of accusations of false statements, while new committee members were elected and plans for a large new club house were acknowledged.
- Frank A. Elwell of Portland, Maine invites American cyclists to join a 20-day Bermuda tour departing New York March 2nd aboard the steamer Trinidad, at $90 including passage and two weeks at the Hotel Hamilton, praising the island's hard coral roads, perpetual summer climate between 60 and 75 degrees, and the precedent set by last winter's party for smooth customs handling.
- The editors respond to a demand from attorney H. A. Sperry, acting for D. H. Renton, for a retraction of the prior 'Renton vs. Aaron' article, defending their original reporting with a tart editorial note and offering only a partial apology for language describing Sperry's courtroom motions.
- Brief report on a bicycle-vs.-skater race at the Olympian Rink in Cleveland where Rob. Ruck (cyclist, riding three miles) lost to skater I. J. Mittleberger (one mile) after a final-mile burst gave Mittleberger a quarter-lap winning margin over Ruck.
- Detailed account of S. G. Whittaker's 50-mile bicycle record at the St. Louis Fair Grounds on November 26th, made without pacemakers and lowering G. M. Hendee's American record by 2m. 19 2-5s., with a full split-time table from miles 26 to 50 and notes on a two-hour delay finding officials and cramps at mile 34.
- Report on the Colorado Wheel Club's Thanksgiving Day entertainment at the Mammoth Rink, including a half-mile dash won by W. B. Felker Jr. (1:30), a two-mile won by Dorner (6:07), a fancy-riding gold medal awarded to C. C. Hopkins as Colorado champion, and a disputed one-mile title bout between Colorado champion Van Horn and M. N. Donaldson, time announced as a questionable 2:37.
- Authentication documents for W. M. Woodside's 50-mile professional bicycle record at the Washington Rink, Minneapolis, on November 27th, including a surveyor's certificate from F. L. Straw, sworn timer testimony from O. W. Smith, Jas. Alger and E. A. Savage, and confirmatory letters from Minnesota Division Chief Consul S. F. Heath and Tribune sporting editor C. W. Ryder.
- Reprint from the English journal The Cyclist defending its editorial independence and its decision to question American race records made at Springfield, dismissing American accusations that it is a trade paper controlled by makers such as the Humbers, Rudges and Hillman and Herberts, and quoting a supporting note from Lacy Hillier of Bicycling News.
- Comic poem signed 'Georgius' in which the rider overhears his bicycle's front wheel taunting the rear ('You're bigger but you can't go half as fast as me!'), with the rear retorting that neither wheel has gained ground on the other.
- Club notes covering the Owl club (New York) reinstating suspended Captain Jno. W. Bell after charges were disproved, the Citizens club rebuilding their wall and planning a new ground-floor wheel room, and the newly organized Bellerophon Wheelmen of Westfield, N.J., founded December 2 with eleven members and Dr. Fred. A. Kinch Jr. as Consul.
- Notes on Bull & Bowen of Buffalo's home trainer (stationary bicycle) recently supplied to Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania gymnasiums, with a description of its brake-scale resistance gauge, distance cyclometer and quarter-mile bell; the item notes that N. H. Van Sicklen won seven prizes at Chicago after training exclusively on one.
- Sentimental cycling poem signed 'Secretary,' in which the narrator urges his bicycle 'Josephus' to fly down a moonlit hill to a riverside trysting place, only for the romantic idyll to be broken by a voice calling the beloved indoors from the dew.