CYCLING.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 11534, 21 September 1899, Page 6

CYCLING.

(Br Demon, in tub Otago Witness.)

From a, recent conversation with a well-known bicycle manufacturer I gathered that the cycle trade in Dunedin is in a solid «tate, and that the trade will be done now £y the trade. Although the business done by outside firms last year must have effected a diffe;,^" in no small degree to the receipts of the \K -c trader proper, they found that business "last year was good, and with people more inclined this season to deal with the trade and leave outside houses severely alone, there seems a good prospect of a busy season. —The following officer-bearers have been elected in the Mimiro Cycling Club:—President. Miss Browning; vice-presidents, Mrs Woodhouse, Mrs C. Ferguson, Mrs Butterworth ; captain. Miss J. M'Kinlay; deputycantain, Miss Muir; secretary, Miss Canie-

-The following lines, taken from an article in the Aberdeen Free. Press, suggest themselves to me as worthy of reproduction from an incident that came under my notice [ last week. From a confusion of mind between a lady pedestrian and a cyclist, as to which should go on or retire, (here was a mix tip, and although neither was hurt, there might have been a serious fall for one or both. An observance of these lines would tend to minimise the risks of accident: — " There would be fewer mishaps if a pedestrian crossing a thoroughfare would continue his former course when he sees a cyclist coming. The latter usually expects it, and takes steps to avoid a collision; but the man (or woman) who stops suddenly and makes feints in several directions-simultaneously must be n source of great bewilderment- to the rider. Briefly, then, the blame for accident does not rest with any oue class of road-users, but is shared by all—cyclists, and after'them drivers of vehicles, being the chief culprits. "Non-observance of the rules of the road, furious riding, and want of presence of mind on the part of those concerned are the immediate causes of disaster, and until the first two are severely dealt with wherever, met with and the last more generally learnt, there will continue to be a number of cycling accidents, increasing with.the number of vehicles, and especially cycles, using the roads." Mr J. S. Murphy has been. appointed secretary to the Invercargill Cycling Club. An attempt is being made to form a Ladies' Cycling Club in Melbourne. C. Forbes, .the New Zealand cyclist now in Melbourne, is recovering from an operation recently undergone. . Varicose veins have been troubling him for some years, and he decided to have them removed by the knife.

Regarding the condition of the cycle trade in Victoria, " Philibuster," of the Australasian, has the following:—"There is un>; doubtedly a great improvement in the business from what it was 12 months ago. The prices of'certain classes or grades of machines have fallen materially, and in a good many, instances it is not so much a reduction of prices as a levelling of values. Auction sales, though not so prevalent as at this period last year, are still with us, and serve in a great measure to upset and disturb ordinary trading. And while the prices obtained at these auctions cannot, except in a very few cases, be taken as true estimates of the machines' market value, yet the prospective buyer will tell the expectant salesman that he will not go to £20 or more when he can obtain- machines for half that, price, or. even less. The fact'remains that good bicycles have been and still can be procured at auction at moderate prices, and this is one of the pvime causes of tardy sales of the best imported machines. Another cause to this effect is that good reliable bicycles, constructed of the best English parts, are built to ones own order (and 'there is a charm about this -with certain people) aat prices which are a little higher than'the best grade of wheels imported "from England and America. Man:,; of the smaller business places have been satisfied to retail this specially-built machine at a figure which merely covers the cost of materials and the actual *" time " spent upon the job, and such! things as the wear and tear of tools and machinery, fire and lighting, and interest on the capital, expended are never taken into account. Needless to say, it is all paid for somehow, and perhaps very dearly, but it is this method of business which necessarily "cripple^ the larger houses, with their much greater proportionate expenditure. Hence, although the trade has improved somewhat, and the prospects of an early season are almost assured, inquirers at the depots look askance at the figures quoted, which contrast so unfavourably with those of the small dealer and auction-price cycles. From this it would appear that the settling-down process is not yet completed, and until then it isdifficult to say. what class of trade will predominate. Whatever sells there will be a big increase of the riders this spring to that ° Here is a Boston idea; it is not patented,'neither is it a pioe. dream, nor is'it a Tom Eck phantasy. The object of bicycle pace-making is chiefly to create a -partialvacuum in front of each contestant. But nace-making by the old method was frightfully expensive. - It is as yet uncertain whether by the new- method, that of using motorcycles, it will be satisfactory to spectators and participants. If not it will be in order to try our new plan, which is this: -Build an enormous glass dome over the race track Hermetically seal the dome to the ground. .Let two contestants enter through adoo^ made for the purpose, but without any impediment of pacing men or machines. Hermetically seal the "door. Apply a gigantic air-pump and make the inside of that dome a vacuum. There being no longer a resistance of the air ! to be overcome, there will be no need of pacing and the riders can break all records _ As for the little matter of their own breathing, nothing could be simpler. Each one will, have .trapped on his back, and suitably connected with his nostrils, a receptacle containing a sufficient quantity of liquid air.—The Wheel, New York. American agents and dealers are attributing some loss of business, according to the New York Herald, to the prevalence olthe scorching evil in their respective localities. Their argument is, that although considering the total number of bicyclists accidents are rare, timid-riders decline to go into the question from the actuarial standpoint, and in numerous instances do not buy bicycles because they are afraid of getting knocked over by the fast rid' srs. At the same time, it is admitted that the favourable testimony of fast road riders greatly helps the sal- of any machine, and the trade is usually slow to endorse measures looking toward the enforcement ofsped regulations. The trade would undoubtedly gain by organising a campaign against reckless riding oF all sorts, and favouring properly sanctioned road racing, or the setting apart, \mder the local option which rests with most city and town authorities, of certain roads or sections of roads for speedways. This has been done in the States in a number of cases to the satisfaction of both wheelmen and the public. The old wooden bicycle on which the immortal Blondin gyrated across a rope stretched over Niagara Tails was recently bought by a collector of curios at an auction sale in Paris for three francs. And yet that ride was one of the wonders of the world. A penny-in-the-slot inflator placed in a public street in Chicago is said to have yielded £9 in three months. * It is said that time waits for no man, and yet almost every wheelman stops a minute now and then. Caniille Jenatzsy, a Belgian, has invented'a. " torpedo " bicycle, which, it is said, will do better than a mile a minute. The machine is pointed fore and aft like a cigar, with polished sides and apertures at- the top Ihrcmsrli' which the heads of the crew poke up as if rising out of a coffin. The steel cone is for the purpose of protecting the men who guide the machine fro-.n the rr.sh of hir, which at the pace the machine .-is capable of is not only terrifying, *but dangerous. The motors are entirely concealed inside of the cigar. The riders have pedals with which to start the machine in motion. The motors a:o electric, but what contrivance if employed to secure the necessary power for the fearful speed at which the bicycle travels is not made public. The test was made on a straightaway level highway, from St. Germain to Constans. The queer-looking shaft of steel flashed by with such rapidity that the judges were almost too frightened to snap the watches. When they did all timepieces agreed on SoVec for the second kilometer. This is equivalent to 65 miles 1404 yds for the hour. Only the fear of encountering another vehicle and the horrible result of such an accident prevented Jenatzsy from proceeding faster. He declared that the maximum speed had not been readied when he slowed down, and if lie so desired lie could have gone on for an hour at tho same almost incredible gait. During the past year the American bicycle trade lias been productive of combinations aggregating 174.000,000d01. Tliey include the following lines of trade:—Rubber tyre '.manufacturers, with a capital of TO.OOO.OOOdol: tubing manufacturers, with a

capital of 6,000,000clol: saddle makers, with tin aggregate capital of 3,000,000clol: partsmakora' trust, capitalised at lfl.OOO.OOOdol: bevel gear makers, with a capital of 5,000,000 dol : and the bicycle combine now organising, capitalised at 50.000.000d01. and highways such as I have ■described." ——A German has invented an ingenious device whereby acetylene gas lamps may be lighted without the rider being forced to dismount and using the ordinary method. Placed in the burning chamber there is a paper cap and hammer, as in toy pistols, which is put into operation by pressing a small lever; the explosion ignites the gas immediately.