CYCLING.

Otago Witness, Issue 1885, 6 January 1888, Page 26

CYCLING.

WlWh JWTES.

By Demon.

| Wood was very successful at the Christphurch \ mieeting. Our local riders who went up did not themselves. There is some likeli>s<s .of a meeting being arranged here in _,L,, L , tckifff next with the view of getting Wood to let) * C °Th l c #^k "ders are quite pleased with the „ „ x l ns€iat they have received on all hands kind treai »-„,-. ■, . v , • • •I.- kew Zealand, and they speak in since visitn , , » „ „ j r " . , , -tiomng terms of the kindness of SSt ya-'y a- -«* - - "JW. C. m - Ca^Sbnry CoUege, •» * «»"> of the Nelson 8.C., have suco «** '■> ™*.Dg the m-er-laod journey ou a bioyek' *« Chmtchurch to Nell by way way of t> Wes Coast. The £S Coast, aud «ompleted the $m 4 tr»p of

650 miles in less than three weeks. After reaching Nelson Mr Marshall pushed on to Blenheim, the other two machines having broken down. After crossing Cook Strait on oue of the steamers, he intended riding his machine to Wanganui and thus complete a journey of nearly 1000 miles. A remarkable performance was recently executed by W. S. Maltby, of the American team of bicyclists at present in Aberdeen. Malfcby rode on annicycle, which is jusb the large wheel of a bicycle, from the lighthouse on the North Pier along the sea wall to the uper end of the pier. This is the second time he has accomplished the feat. While working his way along the top of the sea wall, Maltby and his machine were photographed by Mr Morgan, Market street. There were about 300 people present, who gaye the daring and skilful cyclist three ringing cheers when he finished his feat. Maltby was dressed in light racing costume so as to be able to swim in the event of his falling into the sea; and Morgan, Temple, and Woodside were at hand to give assistance in the event of its being required. A bet of £5 was on the feat, which of course was gained by Maltby. According to the Dundee Advertiser, cycling must have had a longer existence than many think ; for in the village church of Stoke Pogis, Devon, there is-a stained glass window which bears the representation of an angel on a dandy horso. This curiosity was discovered a short time ago by Mr J. B. Marsh and Dr Cooke, Fellows of the Society of Cyclists, who had their attention drawn to the fact of their being such a window by a passage in an old volume of " Notes and Queries," and in which the subject is described as " a young man on a bicycle." The Athenzeum of 1869 also has the following statement with reference to the same window: — "Among the ancient painted glass in and about the once noble church at Stoke Pogis may be seen the representation of a young fellow who is astride the mute but active horse. He is working his way along with the air of a rider who has introduced a novelty, and is being looked ah by admiring spectators. It is one of the most curious illustrations of ancient times in the painted glass windows of this interesting church." The Cyclist, commenting upon this very interesting discovery, said i— " The window contains at the top a bird, a name and date— l 643 —two coats of arms, and then a circle ; at the top of the circle is a duck, below a horned satyr, and lower down the dandy horse, while the bottom of the circle is filled in with a shield borne by a dragon. The piece containing the angel and the dandy horse measures 7£in in length by sf in in depth. The angel, naked, and without wings, represents a rather robust youth with curly hair ; in his hands he holds a long trumpet, and by the distension of his cheeks he appears to be sounding a vigorous call. He is astride a genuine dandy horse ; the front wheel is very small and the rear one large. The trumpet passes through a cleft in the curved head of the horse. At the top of the square are rays of the sun, and out of them a cord passes through a sort of pulley, and is attached to the rear wheel. This is evidently significant of the Divine mission of the youth, and the whole may have been intended as the artist's notion of sounding the trumpet at the Resurrection. The feet are represented in motion ; the right foot striking a cloud, and the left foot being raised for the downward stroke. The other fragments contain such curious figures as a man with a fiddle, another smoking a pipe, and the dresses are those of the Cromwellian period, We have little doubt that, in the future, Stoke Pogis church will be the Mecca of cyclists." The experiment made by the Summer Hill Bicycle Club, Melbourne, of holding a race meeting by electric light at Ashfield may be considered as fairly successful, and with the extra I attractions of a skating rink and fireworks brought together a good attendance. It is hardly likely that electric light meetings will supersede daylight meetings; but the experiment may certainly lead to occasional races in conjunction with other events to make up an evening's amusement. The sensation of the week at Home just before the mail left had been the six days' contest between two cowboys, and an unlimited supply of horses, and R. Howell and W. M. Woodside on cycles, Seeing that for a short distance the horse is always faster than the wheelman, this match looked very one-sided ; but the aged and groggy screws, dubbed "mustangs" for the nonce, did not enable the cowboys to get very far away from the riders of the steel steed. ■ It would be almost impossible to make a fair match on the merits of the case between horses and cycle riders, for for six days of eight hours each the cyclists would run away easily, provided the horsemen were limited to, say, four or six horses in all. The match was not completed when the mail left. Trick-riding formed a feature in the programme, Ralph Temple and Maltby performing many good tricks. Temple (says Land and Water) is very good indeed, and does his share of work ; but Maltby takes the premier place, possibly because "little Temple" has been giving his mind to defeating Dick Howell and making " reccurds." Maltby, who has been round the world performing, is a singularly effective figure on the wheel ; and his taste in the matter of costume has, without doubt, very much to do with this feature of his performance. Neat, elegant, and by no means "gassy "in his manner, the circumnavigating cyclist makes a mark at once. He would be a bad man to beat in an open contest, for the professional trick championship, always provided that grace of movement was judged in addition to executive skill.

An Invercargill correspondent, from whom I will be glad to hear occasionally, sends me the following notes:— At the Cycling Club sports on Monday, 26th ult., the Onemile Maiden Bicycle race was won by G. B. Brown, One-mile Combination by J. F. Wilson, while Murie (on whom the handicappers looked very leniently) secured the Three-miles, Five miles, One-mile Roadster, and the Threemile Club Championship, T. Brown closely following him home in every instance. George Morrison won the 100 yds and 22,Qyds Flat races from scratch, and D. M. MfPherson, the Quarter-mile and Half-mile, also from scratch. The wind being exceeding boisterous the time for each event was not up to the usual, so I do not think it necessary to give them.