The Wheel: Journal of Bicycling, Vol 9, No 24
Articles in this issue
- The editor uses the confirmed death of English champion H. L. Cortis from causes unrelated to heart disease to rebut the 'you-race-and-you'll-die-of-heart-disease' argument, while cautioning riders with organic weaknesses against competitive racing.
- Reports on a proposal by England's National Cyclists' Union to form an international federation of cycling bodies from England, America, Germany, France, Ireland, and Australia in order to organise international championship meets.
- The editor of Wheeling presents an imagined defence speech by a 'maker's amateur' (a manufacturer-sponsored rider), arguing that his consistent honest racing and contributions to the sport's records outweigh the case for suspending him from the amateur ranks.
- Regular news column reporting Phil Hammel's 5-mile rink win over Grant Bell in Minneapolis, the death of Peoria cycle agent Geo. W. Rouse Jr., Scranton B.C. annual elections, the Orange Wanderers' entertainment programme, L. D. Munger's night road attempt with improvised lanterns, the C. W. A. Executive Board spring meeting in Toronto, and other club and trade items.
- A letter from inventor 'Nobody' (care of The Wheel, P.O. Box 444, N.Y.) describing the 'Pendulous Tricycle,' a machine built on an oscillating-ball principle intended to require less muscular effort while exercising the whole body, with liberal terms offered to interested cycle makers.
- A brief humorous poem by 'Jonah' about stealing a kiss from a young woman while riding a tandem bicycle together on a moonlit night.
- Boston correspondent's column covering the Pope–Overman patent suit as a chief topic at local club houses, contrasting the long fast runs of the Massachusetts B.C. with the leisurely short rides of the Boston B.C., and reporting unusually keen rivalry over the L. A. W. Massachusetts state officer elections, including the formation of the new Everett Wheel Club and a Tufts College bicycle club.
- Chapter 5 of a serial by Harry Myrtle, in which Percy Harrington proposes to cyclist Ethel Clayton, who at first refuses on grounds of social inequality but eventually accepts after Percy offers to give away his inherited estate to remove her objection.
- Report on the 1886 Stanley cycling exhibition at London's Royal Aquarium, highlighting the dominance of the automatic front-steering 'Cripper' tricycle and front-steering tandems, new safety bicycles from Bayliss, Thomas & Co., and Humber & Co.'s exhibit including an improved safety tandem bicycle developed from Rucker's prototype.
- Dual account of the March 5–6 Providence Circuit Court hearings in which the court denied Pope Manufacturing Co. a permanent injunction against Overman Wheel Co. for tricycle patent infringement while also refusing Overman's motion to reduce $73,000 in attachments.
- A letter from Charles E. Pratt, attorney for Pope Mfg. Co., correcting erroneous newspaper reports of a demurrer ruling, clarifying that the Pope–Overman litigation comprises multiple suits in equity and at law and that the cases remain active, with $45,000 in attachments still standing.
- Announcement of the American Wheelman's fifty-mile road race on a smooth gravel turnpike near Clarksville, Mo., on April 24, with a gold medal and $150 bicycle offered as first prize and western road riders expected to challenge the existing road record.
- Report on New York athlete Frederick E. Van Meerbeke, who departed City Hall on March 1 on a Columbia bicycle for a 150-day cross-country trip via Philadelphia, New Orleans, El Paso, and Los Angeles to San Francisco, carrying luggage on carriers fitted to his machine.