The Wheel: Journal of Bicycling, Vol 9, No 13
Articles in this issue
- Christmas editorial surveying the issue's advertisers — Overman Wheel Co., Royal Mail, Bull & Bowen Home Trainer, Coventry Machinists' Marlboro' Club tricycle, Columbia — with seasonal commendations and brief trade notes for each.
- The regular news-in-brief department covering Henry P. Lord's death in Albany, the N.C.U. record dispute over Adams' 24-hour ride, Woodside and Eck's upcoming Minneapolis 50-mile and 26-hour record attempts, the New Jersey Wheelmen's Belleville Rink entertainment, the Oregon law requiring cyclists to stop 100 yards from any team, and scores of other club and racing items from across America and England.
- Boston correspondent's full account of the Massachusetts Bicycle Club's first fancy-dress cycling carnival at Mechanics' Building, drawing nearly 3,000 spectators; describes the costumed parade led by Lt. Peck and President Williams, prize-winners (Bert Thayer, John T. Williams as Mercury, Lawrence Land), the Brockton Club drill, and the financial result of breaking even on tickets while clearing $250 on programme sales.
- Investigation into Joseph Butcher's fraud charges against Alfred A. McCurdy's 24-hour road record, with statements from McCurdy denying wrongdoing, Pope Manufacturing's Mr. Pattison pledging a full reply, and Butcher alleging that pace-maker Woodman rode ahead of McCurdy and returned, adding roughly an extra mile to the registered distance.
- Boston local notes: Dr. W. G. Kendall's season total of 4,840 miles (4,163 on bicycle, 677 on tricycle), the Nonantum Cycling Club's officer elections for 1886, and the Massachusetts Club carnival ticket-selling prize — a nickle-plated Expert Columbia — awarded to Harry F. Williams, who sold no tickets to club members.
- Second instalment of a serialized reminiscence recounting the New York Bicycle Club's first public road run on Washington's Birthday, 1880 — thirty-five riders in improvised costumes battling mud, drizzle, and snow from the American Institute to Kingsbridge and on to Yonkers, where they stored wheels at Elliott Mason's bicycle school before returning by train.
- Reprint from the British cycling paper The Cyclist acknowledging that the L.A.W. has officially accepted the Springfield tournament times, while noting that since all those times have since been beaten, the acceptance is largely moot.
- Letter from G. Lacy Hillier of Anerley, London, sardonically cataloguing the conflicting reports in American papers — Wheeling and Bicycling World — about who served as timers at Springfield, and questioning an interview with Fred Wood that Wood categorically denied in the English cycling press.
- Brief notice listing the newly elected officers of the Star B.C. of Harrisburg, Virginia, including President F. L. Harris and Captain G. W. Kibble, with a membership of about thirty-five.
- Interview with Harry Corey of Stoddard, Lovering & Co. on his return from England, covering the booming Safety bicycle trade (Rudge Safety and Rover leading), tricycle trends toward the Cripper and Quadrant types, Dan Canary's sensation performing on a single wheel in London, and the expectation that English professionals will flock to the Springfield and Hartford meetings in 1886.
- Review of the Pope Manufacturing Company's 1886 desk calendar: 365 daily slips with cycling quotations and notable events, chromolithographic art by G. H. Buek of New York depicting moonlight bicycle spins and a lady tricyclist.
- Correspondent's letter (signed Scube) reporting T. W. Eck's five-mile victory over W. M. Woodside at the Washington Rink on December 17 — Eck holding the outside to win by a few feet in 15m 44s — and previewing upcoming 50-mile and 26-hour record attempts and a planned six-day open professional race featuring Prince, Armaindo, Woodside, and Eck.
- Letter from L.A.W. member No. 6854 F. disputing The Wheel's ranking of the six amateurs capable of riding 20 miles inside the hour, arguing Van Sicklen — who has defeated Whittaker in multiple open races — deserves fourth place ahead of him.