The Wheelmen's Gazette, Vol 3, No 7
Articles in this issue
- Pope Manufacturing Co. announces that after months of the factory running overtime, all sizes of the Columbia Light Roadster can now be immediately shipped, with Veloce, Tandem, and Surprise Tricycle orders also now being fulfilled promptly.
- A teaser advertisement announces the Warwick Perfection bicycle is coming to the American market, claiming more genuine improvements than any wheel on either the American or European market.
- The Springfield Bicycle Mfg. Co. reports that J. Harry Shurman of Lynn, Massachusetts climbed Eagle Rock Hill twelve consecutive times without dismounting on a 50-inch Springfield Roadster, witnessed by five named observers.
- At the L.A.W. meet in Baltimore on 19 June 1888, Springfield Roadsters won three events — the two-mile safety, half-mile dash, and three-mile handicap — and two of only three wheels to surmount a notoriously steep hill were Roadsters.
- A. W. Gump and Co. of Dayton publish a numbered price list of over eighty second-hand bicycles ranging from Victor and Expert Columbias to Rudge, American Safety, and Rover-type safeties, priced from $25 to $110.
- Coons and Graham of Indianapolis offer Gazette subscribers special accident insurance rates through the Equitable Accident Insurance Co., which has paid over $200,000 to accident sufferers with 52-week indemnity coverage.
- The Kingston Knitting Co. of Boston advertises a complete line of bicycle and athletic garments in worsted jersey, including jerseys, tennis coats, sweaters, knee tights, and full body tights with matching trunks and hosiery.
- Clark Cycle Co. reports the Quadrant Tricycle No. 8 won the one-mile L.A.W. tricycle championship at Baltimore on 19 June 1888 with a road mile in 2 minutes 38 seconds, promoting the full range of Quadrant models.
- The Club Liar tells how a five-squad Indiana tour was ruined when each squad's own bugler refused to yield, leading to a rebellious chorus of clashing bugle calls that ended in a chase, a stand-off at a tree, and the tour being called off altogether.
- By J. J. Bliss: reports the Bay City Wheelmen's 104-mile century run from San Francisco to San Jose and back on May 20, the rain-postponed Oakland race meet, and the second San Leandro Triangle road race won by Elwell of the Bay City Club.
- A list of United States patents issued on bicycles, tricycles, velocipedes and attachments from April 24 to June 19, 1888, compiled by solicitor Jos. A. Minturn of Indianapolis.
- A list of English cycle patents granted from late March through May 1888, covering steering gear, pedals, saddles, luggage carriers, and an electric motor velocipede.
- Previews the upcoming World's Tournament at Buffalo, reporting that manager Henry E. Ducker has spent over $10,000 on the meet and secured nearly all the leading English and American racers, with a diagram of the new half-gravel, half-clay track.
- Summarizes the League of American Wheelmen's newly adopted constitution from the Baltimore meet, explaining the new Division and sub-Division structure, revised officer titles, representation scale, and the National Committees including one for road improvement.
- A state-by-state and foreign roundup of club news, races and tours from June 15 to July 15, 1888, plus a list of coming events including the Buffalo World's Tournament program.
- Describes the first heat of the U.S. amateur hill-climbing championship at Kimmswick Hill, Missouri, where Hal Greenwood beat John A. Wells of Philadelphia after Wells' pedal broke on his first attempt.
- By "Phoenix": a correspondent's account of the Illinois Division's July 3–4 meet at Springfield, covering the races, lantern parade, business meeting in the Senate chamber, and a controversial refusal to prosecute a driver who struck a non-League club member.
- By "Punch": a rueful account of the rained-out, poorly-run July 4 Crawfordsville Ramblers race meet, including a track ruined by rain, a postponement dispute with visiting Terre Haute riders, and a collision between Hollingsworth and Hay.
- Practical advice on handlebar and seat height, posture, skirt length, and mastering the side mount for women learning to ride a bicycle gracefully.
- Recommends avoiding alcohol on hot rides and gives a recipe for a refreshing tartaric-acid-and-lemon drink for cyclists.
- Full results of the June 18–20 L.A.W. annual meet and races at Baltimore's Arlington Driving Park, listing the new officers elected (President T. J. Kirkpatrick) and every race winner and time.
- An essay urging beginners to build up cycling gradually as a health tonic, citing Dr. Richardson's writings and warning against overexertion, especially for enthusiastic lady riders on tandems.
- Surveys suitable outdoor exercise for women — cycling, walking, swimming, boating and ball-tossing — praising the tricycle and bicycle as safe, healthful recreation for young and old alike.
- Reports the Canadian Wheelmen's Association's Dominion Day meet at Belleville, Ontario, with a 236-wheelman parade, a hill-climbing contest at Meyers' Hill, and races before over three thousand spectators.
- By Joseph J. Bliss, continuing the second day's account: crossing sandy roads and an Irish woman's roadside bar past Salinas, meeting curious well-wishers, and arriving at Monterey's Bay View House with a cracked saddle and uncertain directions for the road ahead to Santa Cruz.
- Reveals that the mystery "celebrity" from the June issue's guessing contest was "Curl," Karl Kron's late bull-dog, and reprints a long collection of press notices and reader letters praising the biographical chapter on Curl in "Ten Thousand Miles on a Bicycle."
- Lists the full three-day schedule of amateur and professional bicycle, tricycle, tandem and Rover safety races for the September 4, 6 and 8 World's Tournament at Buffalo, including the world's professional championship heats.
- A collection of comic verses on cycling courtship and mishaps, including "Midsummer," "At Riding School," and "The New Preacher's Tricycle," the last a dialect poem about a rural congregation's dismay at their new minister's three-wheeler.