CYCLING

Otago Witness, Issue 2394, 18 January 1900, Page 49

CYCLING

BY DEMON.

I Matters in .connection with the Otago Cycling Club's race meeting at the Caledonian grounds on Saturday, 27th inst., are progressing favourably.. It is anticipated that good entries will be received,. and that the public will be afforded some splendid struggles for places in the various events to be run oft during the afternoon. The League of Victorian Wheelmen have subscribed 200 shillings to i cyclists' patriotic fund. A race meeting is to be held l the League for the benefit of the fund. Percy Beauchamp, the winner of the season's Austral Wheel Race, has met with a serious accident when riding at Talbot on Boxing Day. He and another rider collided, with the result of a broken collar-bone to Beauchamp. From California comes the story cf a rocker-tricycle, in which the sanguine im«ntor sees a fortune. Instead of the ri.ier using his arms or legs to operate levers, or pedals, as the case may be, he is now bolstered \ip in a rocking chair, and rocks himself back and forth. The motion of the rockers, which rest on springs, is translated into a rotary motion, which operates the driving wheel in the rear This latest achievement of inventive genius will at least aid in developing the abdominal muscles, which are usually sadly in need of exercise. The following entries have been received in connection with the Otago Cycling Club's annual sports meeting, to be held on the 27th inul. : — Otago Wheel Race.— E. Wall, T. Clarkson, Jno. Grant, Christchurch ; M. Bennet, Dannevirke; A. W. Humphreys, Christchurch; G-. G-. Body, Canterbury ,A.C. Club; A. Stocker, j Tenmka ; J. Koppert, jun., Herbert ; W. Blackwell, W. E. Anderson, Kaiapoi; W. E. M'Keich, Lawrence; D. Bray, Dunedin C.C. ; A. Houston, H. Holland, C. Wills, Ashburlon; J. Kirkwood, Wanganui; J. M'Mullin, H. Gunthorpe, P Ralston, A. Ralston, N. Ralston, A. Sangster, A. E. Randell, M. C. Eliott, E. Crawford, Otago. A committee meeting of the Otago Centre of -the League of New Zealand Wheelmen was held on Monday evening ; present — Messrs J. M. Gallaway (in the chair), Begg, Townsend, Matthews, Crow, Boot, Long, Scott, Duncan, Bell, Sullivan, and Alloo (secretary). Apologies for non-attendance were received from Messrs S. 'S. Myers and H. B. Courtis. A large amount of routine business was transacted. The permit fee for the patriotic sports was refunded to the Patriotic Sports Committee, considering the object of the meeting. The application of the Dunedin Cycling Club for a permit for the sports meeting to be held in February was granted. The following ■notice of motion was givon for the next meeting of the committee: — "That, ! considering the unsatisfactory relations existing between the Council of the League of New Zealand Wheelmen and the Otago Centre, the time has arrived when a change should be effected." On November 15, in Chicago, Major Taylor, the coloured American rider, accomI plished a marvellous performance. Taylor came out on the track with his big steam j motor "fitted with large V-shaped wind shields, and succeeded in placing the figures for a flying mile at lmin 19sec fiat. It was the third attempt of the afternoon, which was raw and windy. In the first trial the coloured rider did lmin 30sec for the mile; in the second lmin 26aec. After an alcoholic rub down, he made his final attempt at about 4.30 in the afternoon, in the presence of about 300 people, with four timekeepers timing the ride. His pacing machine worked splendidly, and when a start was made it flew round the track with the speed of an express train, but as noiselessly and smoothly as a ship glides through the water. The crew sat motionless with their feet on the rests, and the exhaust steam rolled in miniature clouds on the track. Through these the coloured rider drove his machine, geared to 121 in, with marvellous rapidity, though with apparent ease. The half mile was caught in 39sec, and with no diminution in the speed he began the second circuit of the track. Taylor shiok to his pacing machine like a postage stamp to its envelope, and flew over the mile tape two seconds faster than any living man had ever done before. One watch caught the time at lmin 18sec, another lmin 18 4-ssec, a third lmin 19sec, and the fourth at lmin 19 l-ssec. Therefore lmin 19sec was agreed upon. Two days after this wonderful ride Taylor was again after records, and he succeeded in 1 breaking the third and half-mile figures held by M'Duffie at 27 2-ssec and 40 2-ssec respectively. With the same pacing machine and wind shields he took a fifth of a second of each time. Taylor left Chicago with the following world's records to his credit: — Quarter mile (without wind shields j. 20sec; third mile (with wind shields), 27 l-ssec<; ''half m/ile (with w£nd shields)}- 40 l-ssec; one mile (with Avind shields), lmin 19sec. Could Sir Redvers Buller have his way, a cyclist corps would be found attached toevery department of his military forces when in the field, whether at manoeuvres or upon active service. Although not a wheelman himself, for the British Commander-in-Chief in South Africa is a brilliant horseman, Sir Redvers takes a keen interest in everything appertaining to the pastime. He has been, and still is, a staunch supporter of several of the Devonshire syoling clubs juear- to k.ome

at Crediton, and has over and over again expressed an opinion that upon anything approaching open ground a cyclist despatchbearer would beat a horseman in nine cases out of ten. Were he at the head of affairs, military cycling would "jump" at once. A certain war correspondent was not long in discovering what an advantage a cycle gave him when engaged near the front during the earlier part of the Transvaal campaign. By dint of securing a so mounted messenger, he was enabled to beat his opponents time after time in the race for the wire after the censorship upon news had' been exercised. His 'dispatches of the one day were published in London on the next, and his competitors wondered how it was done. Now and again he would scout round himself upon his wheel, and with A powerful field gIaES frequently picked" up material for his paper. Cycles will undoubtedly take the place of the horse' in a war correspondent's outfit after this experience of their usefulness. All attempts to introduce chainless bicycles have ended in failure. Why such is the case it is hard to say, but it is undoubtedly true. The leading French motor car manufacturers have orders already booked sufficient to keep their works going for 12 months. There is a way of riding against the hardest wind that blows which leaves you the victory. Crawl. Fighting is foolish. If you stamp and shove your hardest, you'll only come to grief and stop. Curl up, \ie low, and crawl, take the eight an hour home as a set-off against the unmentionable velocity of the outward journey, and so you can not merely endure, but actually enjoy, a hurricane ahead for a change. — F. T. Bidlake,, in Bicycling News. By his victory over Jacquelin on November 12 last, at Paris, in a 50 kilometres race, Ed. Taylor has completed a remarkably successful season, and can, without the least hesitation, be styled "the world's hour champion." Besides having beaten the hour record on two occasions (now holding same), he has met and defeated successively every middle-distance rider of note, including Linton, Bouhours, Bor, Walters, Champion, Palmer. Huret, Jacquelin, Digeon, Simar, etc. Taylor commenced his season's successes by securing a 100 kilometres race, Huret being secpnd, and Champion third. This success he followed- up by winning the two clays' race at Paris, Walters being second, and Bouhours third. On May 28 he beat Linton over 100 kilometres, at Paris, his next important win being the 100 kilometres professional championship of France, Bouhours being second and Bauge third, and shortly after this he won a 50 miles' race at Paris, Bor being second, and Bauge third. Then came his first wonderful hour's "record- ride, when on August 3, at the Pare dcs Princes track, Paris, he wiped out .Harry Elk's long-stand-ing record, and covered 35 miles 698 yds in the hour. On August 13 he beat Palmer in a 100 kilometre race at Amsterdam, and on September 3 he won a 100 kilometre race at Anvers. The best performance in his career was accomplished on September 11, when, at Paris, he rode 36 miles 1.144 yds in the hour — now best on record. In his series of matches against Tom Linton over 50 miles and one hour he scored three more victories, and on October 29 he won a four-cornered hours' match at Paris, beating Bor, Champion, and Bouhours, finishing up the season by beating Jacquelin in ■%, 60 kilometres race, as above mentioned. Taylor should have an exceptionally' bright time before him in the cycling world, if he does not use himself up too quickly. Major Taylor, the speedy coloured coon from over the Atlantic, recently wrote to an English firm offering terms for a season's engagement in England and Continent. Unlike the majority of the racing men, Taylor's request was not a barefaced one. It was to the effect that his. travelling expenses should be paid, he -should be -provided with the services of a - trainer, and he should be allowed a month in England 'in order to become accustomed to the climate. He would require al2 months' agreement, and would accept 30dol weekly during the time he. was in the firm's employ. For every fresh record he must be paid 50dol, and all prizes, naturally, he would keep. - These terms were refused, a fact, that ! explains the reason why he has determined to ' sail for Australia, where he will make his I headquarters at Melbourne during the next year or 18 months. During the first week in November M'Duffee, the American crack, essayed several short-distance paced records, at Chicago, from a flying start. Herewith results: — M'Duff's Times. Previous Best. -JMile ... 21£ sec 21Jseo by Platt-Betts tli Mile ... 27gsec 27f,tec by Johnson | ti Mile ... 415 sec 44? sec by Platt Betts t World's recoule, In accomplishing the above times M'Duffee was paced by a steam tandem, which, on this occasion, was not fitted with wind shields. Rust, upon the inner side of the rims, is a source of never-failing worry to the cyclist. Many punctures are laid at the door of protruding spoke heads, when in reality it is not the fault of the maker at all. Aftei a cycle has been ridden lor a month or two the covers do not fit the rims tightly at cS^h edge, especially if they should be of the wired-on variety. Consequently, water finds its way through and rapidly attacks the steel. A good plan, after purchasing a machine, is to remove the tyres, and over the usual layer of tape place a second strip of webbing. The latter should be an inch in width at least, the edges running up to meet the edges of the cover. If this is done rust cannot attack the inner tube. A butcher named Frank Burkill, of Kingsland, England, surrendered to his bail at North London Court recently on a charge of being drunk while in charge of a trotting horse and buggy, and running down a lady cyclist. He was fined 40s for furious driving, with £10 compensation, or two months; and for being- drunk while in charge of a horse, 40s or Cf.ie month — £14 in all, or three months in the second division. I — — Every lover ajud frequenter of Nature's

nooks, whether he be a cyclist or .■ noni> cyclist, must have noticed how everything seems to become aware of the approach of of storm. The cattle walk about evidently in a troubled mood, and the overcast sky is the signal for all the birds of song to redouble their efforts t» make Nature's music. There is a generally windy stillness, if such a thing can be. The treeE are shaken by a wind that is hardly felt on the ground, and everythingseems awaiting the attacking wrath of the elements. In an article dealing with the Secret Service department, Cassell's Saturday Journal vouches the following information : — The spy, well paid for 1 the news he brings, remains, it possible, almost right up to the moment of' attack within, or in touch with, the enemy's lines. Of what he sees he makes no notes ;he takes no photographs and pencils no drawings. In his head he carries information too valuable to have its loss risked on the finding of an incriminating ■sketch or memorandum. Often he is a cyclist, and to his silent steed, lampless, and stripped of c.very ounce of superfluous weight, he relies for escape at tht eleventh hour. Cycles have done an enormous amount of military work in the Transvaal, information of much moment being continually brought in by wheelmen, some of whom, sustaining punctures, have gone on on tho deflated trye, and finished the journey actually riding upon the bare steel rim of the wheel. . N - Some of the police regulations in Germany are exceedingly practical. A' cyclist sitting smoking at his window in Berlin was one afternoon disturbed by -a knock at his door. A burly policeman entered the room in" response to his " Come in! ""and presented' a cigar stump with the laconic remark,' " Three marks, please." To the astonished" culprit he' explained that this was the fine for throwinganything out of the window. There was no arrest, no inconvenience of any description beyond that of handing over the amount of the fine to the policeman, who happened to see the bit of tobacco falling, and had the authority to collect the specific fine for this offence. At the present time the uniform freight on bicycles on the leading English railways is as follows:— l2' miles, 6:1; 50 miles, 1b; 200 miles, 3s. — - — ■ The American manufacturers have practically got the control of the South African cycle trade. Most of the fox hunts in the old country are now attended by a large numben of cyclists, many of whom manage to be in at the death. The Daily Telegraph (England) has the following on the railway .qufestion : — The companies have shown themselves inimical to the cycle traffic, and will do nothing until great pressure is applied. At the advent- of cycles they seem to have remarked, unanimously, "Hullo, here's a novelty; let's overcharge it"; and there their attentions have ended, except for periodical grumblings at the trouble which cycles give in railway transit. But the trouble is due to the fact that the railways have made no proper provision to cope with the traffic. They used to carry passengers' luggage on the roofs, as on mail coaches, until they found that special vans 1 ought to be_ provided. Cycles only- require simple fittings placed in the present van?*, and then the difficulty of conveying them safely would be at an end. According to the Indian Sporting Times, the introduction of the cycle in India. marks the advent of a civilising force which appeals without distinction of caste or creed, to all communities. Most of xis have read Mr Kipling's story about the " devil machine," but the days of the " devil machine " in India are practically numbered with the; past. In the districts remote from the line of rail the " Heaven-born," the P. AY. D.' Man, and the Irrigation- Wallah are a spectacle as familiar on the wheel as they are off 'it. So, too, with the missionary. As for the native himself, whether Hindoo or Mohammedan, he has taken kindly to the wheel, and if the proverbial slowness and apathy of the East where physical action is, concerned are ever to be eradicated, we may be quite certain that the cycle will have its full share in bringing about this great revolution. A large number of bicycles are being used on both the British and the Boer side in the Transvaal war. For reconnoitring they are especially useful, and have been largely employed by the Boers for this purpose. Many of the British war correspondents have taken their mouiyts with them, and will doubtless find them exceedingly useful, whilst several of the officers of the Com-mander-in-Chief's staff have provided themselves with machines. The bicycle is eminently suited to scouting purposes, especially when ridden by men who know the country. A cyclist makes a far smaller target than a horseman, and is in addition lees likely to betray his presence. " " Free weals again," murmured the tortured youth over whose body a sturdy parent had freely wielded the family strap; • The use of wood in the constriction of bicycles has been tried, but success does not seem to have attended the experiment.' Perhaps the best known instance would be the bamboo cycle which was- brought - out a fewyears ago, and^ although much interest wa"s evinced in this unique departure in cycle construction, it failed to make very much headway. An American inventor introduced a bicycle, the frame of which was made o£ old hickory wood. Besides this, another attempt was made to introduce a bicycle having a bent wood frame, but neither this nor the previous attempt came to anything. It seems, therefore, that steel is never to be superseded by wood in making bicycles. The War Office has now under practical consideration the question of the adaptability of the bicycle to warfare over rough country, and yesterday afternoon a most interesting demonstration in this connection was carried out on the Horse Guard Parade (says the London Daily Graphic of November 15). The smooth surface of this well-known gravel stretch was made into a miniature campaign country by slabs of timber and small heaps of bricks being laid down here and there. In the presence of a number of War Office officials, with members of several of the chief Government departments, a practical test of some specially-constructed machines was made. Soldiers, Government officials, and employees of the manufacturers rode the bicycles at varying rates of speed across the pieces of -timber and over the loose bricks, with every appearance of ease and safety. The cycles used had rigid frames hung on springs, in the same manner as a locomotive and its tender are hung — that is, with the hubs of the wheels sliding in grooves. The makers claim that the rigidity of the machine is as perfect as that of the best machine yet constructed, and would stand the" test of rough country in South Africa. One of the machines had a rifle attached when ridden over the bricks and timber. The bicycles appeared to stand the test well, going smoothly over the rough obstacles, without breakage or any very, no-

clceable vibration. The principle on which these machines are "built is such that when the springs are compressed to the utmost on passing over any obstacle the distance "between ihe saddle and the pedals remains the same. The general appearance of the machine put under test was similar to that of the ordi^aty 'jsafety bicycle. * \ It is a curious thing, but there are Riders who are continually in trouble with their tyres. No matter what make their Cycles are shod with, they are pumping up jßvery now and again, little thinking that in 3nany instances they nave caused all the trouble •by their own carelessness. The valve very fre■quently is in fault, owing to the tightning nut, to use a simple term, being screwed iar 'too tightly. When replacing a valve rubber ithere are many who use their wrench in order *o tighten things up. The result of this is 3to clip the rubber tightly, and in a very short jfcime it cuts through. Nothing save the fingers should be used in tightning the valve. 'If the cap does not fit closely, a few strands v ,of cotton upon the "thread" will cause it to Jbite tightly, and to hold. i When a. man dismounts from his biJcycle and sits down hurriedly on the road, ihe first thing he does is -to see whether the machine has suffered by the sudden stoppage. fcWhen a woman talkes an involuntary dive, Jtlfe first thing she does is to look round to see Sf anybody saw her. This is one of the distinguishing traits between man and woman. " An Early Rationalist .—lt is interesting jbo know that the "Fighting -Fifth," -who are jbaking an active part in the Transvaal war, jis one of the very few regiments in which a jwoman fought for many years side by side [■with the men. On the tombstone of her igrave -at Brighton, which is kept up by the 'officers of the regiment, is the inscription, /"In memory of Phcehe Hessel, who was born aw Stepney in the year 1713. She served 'dor many yeaTS as a soldier in the sth Rgiaant in different parts of Europe, and in the Wear 1745 fought under the command of the [Duke of Cumberland in the battle of Fontemoy, where she received a bayonet wound in j jher arm. Her long life extended from the creign of Queen Anne to that of George IV, Vrom whicb monarch she received comfort and support in her later years. She died at , (Brighton, December 12, 1821 ; aged 108." One of the most tiresome of the many little things that are liable to go wrong with j a machine during the ride is a pedal wLich j twill keep working loose. If it is on oae of ,the older machines with a, projecting nut, -; ■ even a novice will find it easy to soraw it up [[tightly if the thread of the scrsw is not [stripped. It will require two wrenches, as frfchs nut on the outer side of the pe.lal irnst ! <be held firmly with one wrench wMle the other j taut is tightened. If the thread is stripped, ! [it is "almost waste of time to try to tighten it, j Wd an experienced cyclist will fii «1 little [difficulty in riding home without the pedal, and getting a new screw fitted. But 'there are 'sseveral "ways of trying to make the nut bite Of you feel nervous about riding with only bne foot; the screw can be touched with a little solution and then dusted over with some pi the road sand, or the pedals can be changed, 5s the right pedal seldom works loose. | — Never allow a machine to stand to rust after riding through rain or in a damp atmos- | {phere, as this will inevitably spoil the. plated , .Work. " j