CYCLING NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2389, 14 December 1899, Page 41

CYCLING NOTES.

BY DEMON.

It is,- perhaps, as well that cyclists in Dunedin should know that the City Council contemplates considering several existing bylaws and making new ones. The matter of the regulation of c} r cle traffic is to come up, and if cyclists do not guard a growing propensity to scorching we may wake up some morning to find that our pace has become wofully restricted. . Last year the Dunlop Tyre Company published some 30,000 artistic souvenirs of past Austral Wheel Race winners. The company now announce that they intend issuing another souvenir of Australasian champions at this year's Austral meeting. It will contain photographs of Martin, Walne, Jackson, Sutherland, and Mutton, and will be got up in good" 'style. The souvenir will be distributed a£' the Melbourne Cricket Ground on the final day, a copj being given away with each programme. . Cyclists will also be able to obtain them by applying personally or by letter to any of the company's depots. At the East Melbourne Bicycle Club's sports th& club's Wheel Race was won by G. Sutherland (20yds) by three lengths, A. C. Middletoh (60yds) being third. The International Scratch Race, of 10 miles, was won by.R. Mutton (N.S.W.), R. W. Lewis being second, and G. Sutherland third. The time occupied was 23min 26sec, and the finish was very close, the three placed men being on one another's wheels.

A Melbourne cable states that Walne has "been, .disqualified for a month for his riding in the Commonwealth Stakes. M'Duffie, the -American pace-follower, always tests 1 his -pacing machines before accepting them.? With, watch in hand' he sent, them a 15-ijttilfc "srial trip, on October 5, and one in particular went many seconds faster than any other cycle track ma_chine in the world. The full 'time was 21min 47 l-ssec, an average of lmin 27sec to the mile. The fastest two miles (the ienth and eleventh) were covered in 2min 47sec.

A line of motor buses running between Kennington and Victoria, England, ,has proved an extraordinary success. The daily cost of oil, the motive power, is only 7s 6d, and the. wages of driver and conductor, 14s. The receipts show an average profit of £1 3s 6d per day. Calcium carbide is made from lime and coke or charcoal, which, mixed, are subjected to 7000deg of electric heat. Applying water to the carbide produces the acetylene gas, composed of 92 per cent, carbon and 8 per cent, hydrogen. The peculiar odour of acetylene gas is caused by sulphuretted and phosphoretted hydrogen, which is universally present with it in minute traces. These objectionable elements can be eliminated, and it is said that the pure acetylene has a not unpleasant ethereal odour. Corn rubber is a new article which is being substituted for pure rubber in certain lines of goods. This cheap substitute is mixed with equal parts of pure Para rubber, the corn part of the product being taken from the refuse of the glucose factory. This imitation rubber is 25 to 50 per cent, cheaper than the -pure article, but it has not been sufficiently perfected to displace the Para rubber. . .The .oil whjch is. .found in corn gives a pliability to the rubber compound that prevents it from cracking and breaking, as most cheap classes do.

If your tyre deflates without any apparent cause, take a look at the valve before proceeding further. This will save much labour in many cases. The valve rubber is frequently cut by the plug, while perishing is not uncommon.

When cleaning the chain incline the machine towards you. If this is done, the oil or dirt falling from it comes clear of the tyres. Always prevent oil from coming into contact with the tyres, its action upon rubber being deleterious, while it may lead to disastrous results.

By means of the latest "free wheel" device placed on the English market, the rider can by turning 'a small key make his machine a- " free wheel " or " fixed " instantly as desired. This idea should be particularly popular with cyclists, and should catch on with tourists who are fond of coasting.

During the coming winter classes are to bo opened for^ trained mechanical engineers at the Northampton Institute, Clerkenwell, England, in the construction and use of automatic tools for making interchangeable parts. This will be the beginning of a new and improved form of English competition with -some descriptions of foreign-made goods.

Cyclists who suffer from frequent headaches, and who in consequence dread cycling under a summer sun. will find a very effective remedy in a cup of black coffee (minus milk, and with only half the usual allowance of sugar), into which the juice of half a lemon has been squeezed. This forms a very palatable drink, and will also be found a capital " pick-me-up " on a long ride. Perhaps it is not obvious what a bag of oranges dropped from a train has to do with cycling, but it suggests a paragraph. The bag of oranges weighed 101b, and was dropped from the Irish mail train as it passed through Prestatyu station, North Wales, at over 60 miles an hour. It was dropped by a clerk, who intended it for a present to his wife, who was on the platform. Precisely what he thought the value of the oranges would bo after being dropped at that speed wo do not know, but no matter. The point is that the fruit gtr.uck a lady on the pl*t-

form with a force estimated at 7cwt, and the I episode cost the clerk £35. It would have been cheaper to hire a whole truck for the carriage of the oranges,~and deposit them in the usual manner. Now we come, says the Hub, ,to the cycling application of the matter. The I general public, in neglecting to make way ; for a cyclist, argues on the apparent weight of the rider, and fancies that the risk of in- j jury from collision is small ; but supposing ! a rider to weigh about lOst, and to be moving at a velocity of 10 miles' an hour, it will be . seen that -to. suddenly stop that weight by presenting one's body as an obstruction will j be productive of — well — considerable inconvenience to one's body. Of course, the rea^ son why cycle collisions are not more severe to the obstructing persons is because the cyclist is endeavouring to avoid the impact, and, \ therefore, the full force of the blow is not felt. If it were, no man could stand up against it. A daily journal once published a yarn to the effect that a lady, seeing a cyclist about to collide with her, simply turned her i back, stood firm; and cannoned the rider off, I herself escaping unharmed and smiling. Of j course, it was nonsense, because had the rider been proceeding at the rate given — about 10 miles an hour— the lady would have been sent flying. Another point which occurs to us ! is the -force of a blow delivered by a cyclist as he rides. We have seen a cyclist intending i to give a gentle tap to a friend as he rode past really deliver a sounding " skelp," as the Scotch say, because he forgot to allow for his own' pace. On one occasion, "as wo were riding beside a lady, a youth suddenly ran into the road after a ball right in front of 'i us. To swerve would have sent us into collision with the lady, so we elected to try to clear the youth out of the way ; therefore we j caught him under the chin with the flat of the j hand, and sent him sprawling, to his intense astonishment. Probably with a little prac- j tice, one could learnTto deliver a heavy blow { without fear of upsetting one's self from the ' machine, and the power would come in very useful at times in dealing with some of the ruffians who attempt to molest cyclists. The "fashion" amongst a certain col-lar-and-tie coterie of cycle riders in Paris at present is to have a gear of about 100, with racing tyres, and confine their trips to the parks. They have exaggeratedly upturned' handlebars, and ride btfvr-jlesrged, because that is the fashion juss" ,now> They are 'usually jSiccompanied'-'By young'*lady cyclists qf their Bet,i ( whd,aldb have upturned bars. These ornamental wheelera" never get beyoria "Paris— : the distance is too great!; j Cycle manufacturers have been studying the matter of free-wheel and backpedalling brake, wi,th . regard to the extra strain they put upon "the frame and spokes, • and find that when the brake is applied at the* hub, the upokes should be of a heavier gauge, as the racking strain is tremendous. Cycling is answerable for many things, and in some directions for material improvement and advancement. The following is an example. The need of a superior pavement to meet the finer class of traffic afforded | by the rapidly-extendingnise of the wheel and automobile has induced the German authorities to experiment in this direction. A new paving, which is giving splendid results, is made by mixing coal tar with sulphur, which is warmed thoroughly, and while in a semiliquid state chlorate of lime (chorkalk) is added. After cooling the mass is broken inter small piecea and mixed with glass or blastfurnace glass slag (Hofenglasschaum). This powder is then subjected to a pressure of 200 atmospheres, and reduced to the form or forms wanted. It commends itself through durability equal to that of many stone roads, resistance to changes of atmosphere, roughness of surface (giving horses a foothold), and finally, non-transmission of sound — this latter quality being one, if not- the chief, essential for the surface of city thoroughfares. Inasmuch as the space between the cubes or blocks is 1 very small, dirt is avoided, and cleaning iB an " easy matter.

They are searching at Home for a term to solve the difficulty of fixing a proper name' for the motor car, and have utilised the old Greek word, baine, meaning waggon. Hence i come the words autobaine, a\motor car ; autobaineer, one who uses, &c. ; then autobainess, autobaining or autobaineering, and so on.

WJien they were formed, the cycle companies ran the titled director for all he was worth (remarks the Westminster Gazette), but things have changed since then. For instance, the announcement has just been made at the annual meeting of one of the companies at Coventry that a noble lord had resigned his i chairmanship, and the new chairman added, with cruel bluntness, that the company would thereby save £450 per annum. We shall not be surprised to hear of other noblemen and persons of lesser title resigning from the boards of cycle companies. They were taken in to attract capital, and having served that purpose their practical value on the board is no more.

It is in the frame building that the big makers, with their'jigs and suchlike uncanny things, beat the small builder or assembler of parts, who, in a great measure, is obliged to build frames by the rule of thumb, and trustß to luck to get them true. JBut it is this lack of " tr.uth " in the framework which renders so many machines devoid of life, and it is only by, continual changing from one make to anoth.er that one feels the actual difference in the running.

The world's records for short distance marks -have-, recently been altered. E. M'Duffie, on October 10, in a run of five miles, covered a mile in lmin 21sec, two miles in 2min sQsec (the fir.it time that distance has been traversed within three minutes) ; and the five miles in 7min 12 3-ssec. Curiously enough, the last mile was the fastest, lmin 21sec, whilst the average per mile works out at lmin 26 2-ssec.

Soap is a useful preventive of blisters on the feet. -A good plan is to soap the feet of the stocking on the inside. If, after a good deal of -walking, a blistered heel results, a useful application may be made of a little yellow soap, made into a. paste with water, and laid on the place. For broken blisters on" the hands or feetj-zinc ointment is efficacious*

—^JWheu a foot-passenger is knocl'ed dowif by a cart the statement is that the victim "got in front" of the vehicle; but when a,' bicycle is concerned -it is reported that -tha rider "ran him down."

In N.ew York a firm of automobile manufacturers give a half-hour ride to anyi one who cares to apply to the chief. So sue* cessful is this method of popularising the new locomotion that applications are now made three days in advance.

! The following are the probable features of the Yankee wheels for next year, as gleaned from their cycle papers: — Weight r [ 231b to 251b — about Sib lighter than at pre- ! sent; 6£in to 7in cranks, and 70in to 80in I gearing. Sprocket wheels will average about" the same, the insanely large exceptions being fewer. Colours in variety, but a tendency to decrease the variety, while black will prevail. Saddles will be hard and springless, aa a rule. Saddle makers are pushing this type, and riders show no disinclination to drop it. Tyres of , l£in md- l|in will predominate, dividing the demand between them. Handlebars of the adjustable variety, of medium length, and upturned, will have preference. Even scorchers are using the raised bars. Automatic coasters will be popular.. Chains may be a shade wider — none less than threesixteenths of an inch. Tubing of lin and l£in will be more~ generally used. . Large section tubing has had its day. Flush joints will ob- | tain,, while the general appearance will be absolute simplicity. —Australasian. i r- 1 — Owing to Mr A. J. Sullivan resigning ! the position of secretary to the Otago Centre I of the League of New Zealand Wheelmen, Mr, A. E. Alloo has been elected secretary protern. Secretaries of clubs should address their • letters care of Otago Cycling Club, Octagon, Dunedin." i _____ SUPREME COURT CIVIL SITTINGS 1 Wednesday, December 6. (Before His Honor Mr Justice Williams and a Special Jury.) W. A. Scott (of Dunedin) v. E. J. Stout (Limited), of Bermingham, claim £229 2s lOd in i connection with the supplying of an order for i bicycles, the claim being based upon the j ground that the goods ordered and paid for I had been short-snipped, damaged, or of in- [ ferior quality' and workmanship. I Mr W. -A. Sim appeared for the plaintifl. and Mr Hosking for the defendant company. • The hearing of this case was resumed at 11 o'clock. 1 Counsel on both sides addressed the jury, and his .Honor then summed up. The jury retired at 3.30 p.m. and returned ai 4.20 p.m., and awarded the issues as follows: — 1. Was there an agreement' between the plain- * tiff and the defendant that the goods in respect of which over-charges are claimed should be ' supplied by the defendant to the plaintiff at prices not exceeding the prices quoted? — Yes. 2. If there was such agreement, what amount \ is the plaintiff entitled to recover in respect of such over-charges ?—£l77? — £177 19s lOd. | 3. Is there a usage of trado that in a trans- ' action of the kind appearing in the evidence, a commission agent should not be responsible for the. goods supplied not answering to tho description, or not being merchantable ; and (4) what, if any, amount is the plaintiff entitled to recover in respect of other items of tho claim? ."last > two issues /were answered; together as follows.)— Yes. The usage of tha. tra,da is that 'the, commission agent is"not re-; sp'qnsible, but in this case we find that ' the defendant company are vendors, and .that they; are liable for items 3, 4, 20, and 21, amounting^ - to £33 15s. * Items 18 and 19, amounting i to' £10 4s are disallowed. - - : Mr Sim formally moved for judgment. > His Honor gave judgment accordingly for £211 14s lOd; costs as per scale; lOgs each' day for two extra days; disbursements and | witnesses' expenses to be fixed by the registrar. Leave was aleo reserved to the • defendant to move in terms of rule 281, to enter judgment for the defendant in respect to all the items except 5 to 17 inclusive, overcharges; and on the application of counsel for tho defendant company his Honor certified for a special jury. TEXAS UP TO DATE. Away down on the Brazos, | Where the cotton^grows so tall That the pickers pick with airships, Or they cannot pick at all, A group of men had gathered On a somewhat sudden call. 'Twas early in' the morning — Such a morning as nowhere On earth except in Texas I Has that quality of air Which makes man's moral nature Seem to want to aot more square. ! - y I The group had come together i At a meeting of the ways, With a party in- the middle Whom they didn't stop to praise, : As they lied him with a tether And tendered him a raise. ' The last sad rites were over, When a stranger passed that way, Who was very quick to notice That the deuce had been to pay, And the party who had paid it Didn't have a word to say. " Stealin' hosses?" asked the stranger, As he turned upon his heel, And nodded toward the swinger. "Well, not hardly," said Tough Teal; " Thar ain't a hoss in Texas — The snoozer stole a wheel." —The Wheel (New York)..