The Wheelmen's Gazette, Vol 1, No 11
Articles in this issue
- Pope Manufacturing Co. announces their 1887 catalogue of 52 pages and 48 engravings, covering the full Columbia range of Expert, Light Roadster, Standard, Safety, and Tandem machines, free on application.
- The Springfield Bicycle Mfg. Co. details the improved clutch mechanism of the Springfield Roadster, emphasising noiseless operation, no dead centres, and the ability to coast without danger.
- Rev. Homer A. King's lever-drive safety bicycle is promoted with testimonials from riders and cycling instructors praising its hill-climbing ability, ease of mounting, and superiority over crank-wheel machines.
- The merged Bicycle Herald and Evangelist paper is again advertised, offering a combination of cycling progress news and Christian life content for thirty-five cents per year.
- D. Rogers and Co. publish a faithful account of the Cunard Tandem's superiority, including a testimonial from T. J. Kirkpatrick of the L.A.W. praising its compact size, easy handling, and perfect balance in single and tandem forms.
- Stoddard, Lovering & Co. of Boston, sole U.S. agents for Rudge & Co., preview the 1887 line for American riders — the Rudge Light Roadster, Rudge Roadster, Rudge Bicyclette (the original 1879 Rover-type safety), the Crescent Tricycle, and the Humber and Crescent tandems.
- The Coventry Machinists' Co. advertises a new tandem record of 250 miles, 140 yards ridden on the Marlboro' tandem by a lady and gentleman, beating all previous tandem records by more than thirty miles.
- William Read & Sons of Boston advertise the Royal Mail bicycle's 1885 road record of 5,056 miles on one wheel and its Tidgwell jewelled ball head, good for 1,000 miles without oiling or adjustment, offering a small lot of factory machines on liberal exchange terms before the season opens.
- An editorial essay likens the "cycling world" to a miniature version of society at large, complete with its own politicians and editors, and cites the book "Wheels and Whims" as an apt title for this self-contained subculture.
- Editor Henry E. Ducker responds to a formal protest from the Brooklyn Bicycle Club over a December cartoon captioned "How it is suspected some of the Long Island road records were made," reprinting the club's letter signed by Capt. L. W. Slocum and W. I. Ticknor demanding a retraction.
- The Gazette accuses League tailors of overcharging for L.A.W. uniforms, citing Rochester tailor Reuben A. Punnett's offer of suits for $12 against the official $15, and calculates the League's tailors profited over $13,000 in a single year at members' expense.
- The Gazette dissects the League's official organ's finances, showing a $500 page of advertising cost $938 to produce against 484,150 copies printed in 1886, and tallies monthly losses that left the Bulletin with a reported $5,900 deficit for the year.
- A short editorial on the League's internal upheaval following secretary-editor Eugene Aaron's resignation and Abbot Bassett's election to replace him, and on the League's vote to hold its next annual meeting at St. Louis on May 21-22.
- A comic poem signed "T. W. E." describes club member Joe Grant and his wife Molly showing off his brand-new, fully nickel-plated bicycle, complete with two headlamps, which he has named "Joe" after himself.
- Karl Kron, writing from West Springfield, Mass., reports progress compiling the 3,482-town index and other indexes for his forthcoming 856-page book "Ten Thousand Miles on a Bicycle," promising its "X. M. Miles on a Bi." installment for March or April.
- Karl Kron compiles and annotates Thomas Stevens's round-the-world bicycle journey from Liverpool through Europe, Constantinople, Persia, Afghanistan, India, and China to San Francisco, defending Stevens against critics including the editor of the C.T.C. Gazette and the Bicycling World.
- In a Boston Herald interview reprinted here, Col. Albert A. Pope of the Pope Manufacturing Co. discusses the growth of American cycling since Columbia's 1878 start, credits paid racing teams for boosting the industry, and predicts a ladies' tandem tricycle and record sales for 1887.
- A table compiled for Cycling Budget lists world bicycle records from one to 300 miles, crediting W. A. Rowe of Lynn, Massachusetts, Frank F. Ives on the Springfield track, F. R. Fry at the Crystal Palace track, and L. A. McCurdy's 50-mile road circuit near Boston.
- Pope Manufacturing Co.'s multi-page 1887 catalogue synopsis covers the full Columbia line — the Expert ($125), Light Roadster ($130), Standard, Semi-Roadster, Safety ($140), Racer ($140), Racing Tricycle ($180), Two-Track Tricycles, and the new Columbia Tandem ($250) — plus accessories like the Ritchie cyclometer and Kirkpatrick saddle.
- A forthcoming illustrated book by George Moore, "Two Trips to Erin's Isle" — pairing "A Racing Trip to Dublin" with "A Touring Trip to Killarney" — is announced for sale from the Gazette office at $1.50, with a deluxe edition of 20 photographs available direct from the author in London.
- An unnamed "master" and "student" narrate their June tour on Star bicycles from Boston through Providence, Newport, and the Connecticut shore to New Haven and West Haven, covering 270 miles in 48 hours of riding time across 52 towns.
- Signed "J. W. S.," this piece traces the Brooklyn Bicycle Club's history since its 1879 founding by Charles G. Koop and W. F. Gullen and tours its St. Felix Street club-house, naming officers including President Albert B. Barkman and Captain L. W. Slocum.
- A Philadelphia correspondent signed "Chris" recounts the Pennsylvania L.A.W. division's uproar over secretary-editor Eugene Aaron's ouster at the New York board meeting, including a mass protest meeting led by Frank Read at the Philadelphia Bicycle Club and secretary-editor Abbot Bassett's contentious visit.
- Signed "Fred" and dated London, January 19, 1887, this letter reports a severe English winter curtailing riding, previews the upcoming Stanley Show at the Royal Aquarium, Westminster, and previews N.C.U. council debates on tandem-tricycle and dwarf-bicycle championships.
- A column of short items reports Cornelius Vanderbilt's purchase of a 54-inch Rudge light roadster from George R. Bidwell, W. J. Morgan's 236-mile non-stop riding record, and the King Wheel Company's order for 1,000 wheels from a Bridgeport, Ct., firm.
- Writing as "Stamson," the Stamford correspondent reports the "Solitary Club's" winter riding record of missing only nine days while averaging eight miles daily, and notes local businessmen taking up cycling after watching their neighbors enjoy it.
- Includes Thomas Stevens's letter detailing his travel plans from San Francisco through Chicago after finishing his round-the-world tour, the Brooklyn Bicycle Club's statistical resume of 1886 (65 members, 55,743 total miles, A. B. Barkman's 8,086-mile record), and a directory of new club officer elections from Allegheny, Pa., to Yonkers, N.Y.
- A list of U.S. patents granted for cycling devices, compiled by O. E. Duffy of Washington, D.C., including H. M. Pope's velocipede patent assigned to the Pope Manufacturing Co., plus new English patents compiled by Hughes, Eli & Hughes of Chancery Lane, London.
- A tale by W. J. Morgan, reprinted from the Lynn Bee, recounts professional racer W. M. Woodside's narrow escape from an angry father's bull dogs after a moonlit courting visit in Minneapolis left him locked out on a freezing porch.
- Sam L. T. Clark and Co. of Baltimore describe the full 1887 line of New Rapid machines, including the Safety in Rover style and the Quadrant Tricycle, all featuring true tangent wheels.