Cycling.

Free Lance, Volume II, Issue 96, 3 May 1902, Page 6

Cycling.

Gcoigt Sutheilaiid, the well-known pedalhst, is now running a hairdressing and tobacco business at Christchurch. New icoruits to the ever-increasing army of cyclists would do well to note that there is a happy medium between too much attention and utter neglect of a bicycle. The rider who will go over his machine occasionally, and see that all is right, but without unscrewing nuts 01 taking out the bearings just "-or the sake of • monkevmg," will get. \ far the best results. The immense Dun lop rubber mills, at Montague, Melbourne, the fitting up of which cost close upon £20,000, are now turning out something like 400 Dunlop coders and tubes per day, besides large quantities of solid lubbor \ chicle tuos etc A Router's cablegiam bungs woid *>f an armed motoi car having been •subnutted to the Knghsh War Office b\ the gieat artilleiv manufactuieieis, Vickers Son and Maxim. The car, which is aiimouied. is adapted for held use and coastal defence and carries a Viokeis pom-pom a ma.xim, and several smaller machine guns. There is little doubt that the near future will see gieat strides m the matter of armed automobiles. Osmo'iit, a crack Fiench tncvchst, leoenth covered a hundred kilometic-(sixtv-two and one-eighth miles) in one hour sixteen minutes fiftv-hve seconds Thus wonderful ride was accomplished on wet roads, the last half of thecoui-e thirty -one miles — being co\eied in •'he remarkable, time of thirty-six minutes 01 close upon a mile a minute. Osmout rode a De Dion motor tricycle. The first case under the Victorian 'Sports Betting Suppression Act" wa^ heaida,t the St Kilda Police Court reoenth , when a civil servant, named A Whrtt\ was charged with making n wagar with a bookmaker at the recent Wa.lker-Moigan match, held on the ,"t Kilda track After hearing the evidence the defendant was fined £5. The bookmaker was also charged with a feimiLa.i offence and fined £2 and costs. A few more such eaies as the above, and betting on Melbourne bicycle racing tiacks will become a thing of the pa 3 t. Tlie New South Wales Cyclists' Union are now making arrangements for the holding of a big amateur road race from Goulburn to Sydney, a distance of one hundred and thirty-two miles. The Sydney League is also

talking of 1 mining a race for cash prizes over the same course, but nothing deit*v lias been announced yet. Tho question of amateurs being allowed to ride in the big Dunlop Road Rate, from Warrnambool to Melbourne next September, without losing their amateur status,, was to have been oided last week. It remains for the \ ictoriaii Amateur Athletic Association and the Victorian amateur wheelers to give their decision on the matter. The Victorian League of Wheelmen will offer no opposition to the two bodies competing in this classic road contest, as they recognise that the race itself !■, practically an amateur one. Amateurs and professionals annually compete together at the World's "Championship Meeting, so that the Victorian amateur governing bodies have a good precedent to work on. Racing men training on the St. Kilda track, Melbourne, had an opportunity recently of having a spin behind E. Beauohamp's locally made motor cycle, but none of the cracks had a hope of trailing the cycle, which cut out a mile in one minute thirty-six seconds without any apparent trouble. How the mighty have fallen A few years back English cyclists usually accounted for a couple of the World's Championships, but of late years England's representatives have done very little good This year there will be no English representative competing at Rome, when the world's classic events in cycling are being decided next June.

London ' Daii\ Nc\\b " which is lie most valuable new spapei piopoit\ m England, with the exception ot Ihe Times." is helping to put down "ambling Up to last mouth it printed daih ten columns ot tvi f news Since that time, the gieat daih ha-s been puigcd ot am lefeience to the spoit ot kings * * * Grand Mastei John McLeod ot the Manchester Uiut\ ot Oddfellows, \\li'> was in Wellington the othei da\ , is looked upon in Auckland as one of the conuiiQ, men Tin 1 Ob^eivei " I see .says it will not be at all surpused w Ikmi the geneiaJ elections take place if he i^ not elected In the populai and hiendh societies \ ote as one of the membeis oi Am kLand C'it\ . B • • Sn Joseph Waid has on en tlicTen'h Contingent a comphmeiitan nicknani'' At the send-oft- to the Soutli Island battalion he lctei-icd to them a.s The Tiust\ Tenth " But fioni the C'hiistchurch public tho\ lia\ c a,lso leconed tlie name of Tlie Thirsty Tenth " It is v-aul that on then piogiess, In ti.un to L\ttolton, they strewed the line with dead maimes. • * * Theie is a stoi\ floating lound touching a prominent citizen's smgulailv bald head He is a frequent \ isitoi a<" the housio ot a fnond who has t onic cluldien with ob^ei\ant faculties well developed One of them staitled tlie eompam the other evening by lemaik1112, to the bald-headed visitor in the

painfully distinct tones always used -y the enfant terrible," ' 'Oh, Mr. Blank, I piayed to God last night that He would send you a hair mattiesys." * * * Austialia has decided to spend 130, 0<J0 upon hei share ot the coionation demonstiations m London, and CjOCO locally It that there is a lot ot squibs and ciackeis and illuminating material left over from Hie Commonwealth lejoicings, and ") 000 will pa\ foi lotting off the hieworks and tuinnig on the gas again. They don't \\a.nt to- let the constable got +00 close to them I see that some lxieveient newspaper scribe is using boiax at the expense of that eminent" citizen Mr. Robert Banniste. Actually says that a depiuar tion oi newsboys a.id chicken tlealois held an mipiomptu meeting for the purpose ot asking Mr Bannister to stand foi the navoialty, but it was decided pot to d> so owine, to the state of his health His corns are said to be still tumbling him " Dear me I leally hope Robeit is taking something for them if tlie\ alO so bad as all that. Ann Castles will be piettv well suifoited with gush" bv the time s>he 1 cachets Wellington Tlie local critics will ha\e to find some new figures f speech foi the Australian papeis have used up all the old ones One panel, I notice says hci voice is a& soft as a baby's cheek, and as musical as the note of the feathered lovers in the forest "