CYCLING.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXXI, Issue 10335, 22 June 1896, Page 4

CYCLING.

(Notes by " Hub.") Very aoon th?re will not ba a einglo " oiowced head " In Europe who does not ride a 'cycle, the only distinguished exception now being Qneen Victoria. The { latest converts ore cne Prince of Wa?ea, the Queen Regent of Spaiu, and the German Emperor. Tho Empress of Ans- ' iiia has taken to the wheel, and do has King Alexander of Servia, who is a regular "crack" among royalties, 'ifhe ' Czar of Russia, his unolo Prince Waidegrave of Denmark, his cousin Prince ' Christian, the eldest son 'A the Crown Prince of Denmark, Kld^ Humbert and < Qneen Marguerite of Italy are all 'cyclist?, and so is Kin;? Leopold of Balgium, who, however, has been rather unlucky in his [■ riding, having experienced several falls. Among the lesser royalties almost evary : ons rides, as will be seen by the numerous ' pictures ia tho illustrated papers, nnd "■' certainly they seßm to eDjoy it). The v Ameer of Afghanistan has lutsly ordered several bicycles for the use of the ladies I at hU haicm, A gtoup at tha recjnt royal wedding ia Germany shows the j- • hereditary Prinoeß of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and Hobanlohe-Langenbnrg to- ,. , gechei with three Princesses all mounted ; .■ on bicycles, ■ Napier can probably olaim the youngest . ■ 'cyclist in the Australian colonies in ohe 1 son of Mr F. Howard,' of Emerson-atreet, ,: who has taken several short ridsa on a v miniature bicycle imported into Napier. E He is only two and a half years old, and' H should tnin out a regnl&r Zimmerman if P- is perieveres. The annual ball of the Wanderers' ;*• Blcyole Club, to.bs held on the Bih of l : next month, is likely to prove a great <v ■ aucceas, jadgiog by the interest taken in f° it. Strong committees are beiDg formed '■•' to eneare its success. •:■, The extraordinary success (saya the C v Field) which has attended the operations ':. j . of the Pnaumatie Tyre Company ia unexampled In the history of bicycling. The - company was started in ISB9 to work the ;;,-' patent granted to Mr J. B. Dunlop for his ._-. ■ adeplation of the pneumatio principle to -■> - the tyre of the blcyole. Ib commenced #. •' with a capital of £25.000, and paid 8 par v cent the first year, In 1893 the dividend )~ ■ had risen to 200 per cent. The amonnt of (■ . ahare capital subscribed reaches a total of :, £260,000; against this the shareholders V have received no less than £653,123 in ■ ' dividends. An extraordinary meeting of ,'', . the company waa held In Dublin on April : ' : 13th for fcho purpose of placing before the VJ, shareholders on offer received to purchase "; the entire property of tha company for >:-- • , £3,000,000, and the parties making the Q ' offer deposited fIOD.UOO. The chairman i esplalnnd that if the proposal were ac--5 ' csptad there would be a sum of £2,887,500 !•'-. to divide amongst the shareholders ; and ': thi?, in oddition to the dividends already / received by them, would give a total of :. . £3,615,623 In exchange for the 2260,000 eubuoribed by them aa capital. One '*■'• geatlemun woa ungrateful enongh ta say :■_■ thai £3,000,000 was not enough ; but the i; . resolution was carried. The purchasers ; . have now formed an ew company with a I capital of £5,000,000 to take over the fj patents, so tlint they have made a profit] X of £2,000,000 by thia little operation. -,:' v Madams Melba has, it ssemr, b?en i" endeavoring to add to her other accom- •/ • plishmentß b mastery of the bike. Ac- ; cordiag to the Daily Neios B. o'clock in J,. R.he morning, in Michigan Avonne, ..{■.: Chicago, was selected for tho first ij- attempt, but the secret had not baon !>. , v kepr, and the faces of members ot the L' ; ;-'- \Opera Company peeped from behind p ,; window purtttlos. It was a wonderful f<;--, dress disclosed when the maid drew the f!^ Jong cloak from Madame'a shoulders— ''< " not bloomers, nor skirts, but n sort of hdif-and btilf, in dark brown, with large grotesque figureß." The bicycle wan in ',", the centre of the road, for operatic artists ft 1 take no chances on kerbstones ; the in- .-{'• stiuctor gave tha word, and tho maid flew y f for safety. The wheel turned askew nnd pf,, was speedily astride Madame Melba. The -'v , excitement grew intense, and at the $?'.•'■ various windows were revealed Madame f\\ CftlviS, 'the Da Reezkes, Nordic 3, ft- and others, beaides Manager Gran, ■4.' wrung hia hands, declaring fc. hia. prima donna wonld break her J-' "- boues on the road. Bad Madamo Melba !|; ; plnokily persevered, though once the j^.: wheel went backward and nothing could i, ' stop it but 0 fence. But she conquered kT ; and rode triumphantly home, MrJfchntz % nogallantly declares madame fell off forty ■1- • times, the instructor says sir, and madama &'•.> admits (jwice, while Meadames Calve" and f^: " Nordics say they counted sisty-one times. p- But Madame Calvd started 'oyollng nest L <p,- day. ■ |i " Mr C, H. Jones, who In conjunction £.-• with Mr F. G. Simpson, recently rode a *;-.;. quarter of a mile in 29seo and halt a mile |V;' las7seo on a "Swift" tandem, intends §t' *\ . going Home on a racing tonr shortly. '§':'■' The latest invention is a '-sooiable" ' ;!' ■■; :■:■ bicycle, which, by the fixing of a very in'f™£-'- 8 8n 'P n ' appliance to an ordinary machine, 'jf ; V enables two persona to ride it instead of fc'-.one. They ride side by side, and a 1536 M-;-. man and c 7«t boy can rids the same b&v.biachtas as parfeotly balanced as people of y&£- equal weight. A company with a capital Ht; -of £90.000 iiaa bsen formed to put the *&?.;{ coptrtvancaonthe market, :: - A yonnß-Denver rider named Malvin O. '^g -pennis k credited with having ridden one Ip^yinile Ia the phenomenal time of lmin 11 IjM 3 6tU«c.^ Needless to say, there was a g|:tho^liD.B bnrrlcane of wind blowing behind fflrapi'blni ftnd some idea, of lta strength can be Ipl Icrm'ed when, lU? stated that the fine sand gKivon fch& road' was blown so hard through the ifpijrair thaKit (Co'nrjSd.-.the enamel otf the pja nlaqhina.ip places, '.'Dennis lost his voice M&-nsiatVyAinr the. time and for days if iergreatly with his throat. ■ Mm-fife'em not iratprlsed.