CYCLING NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2416, 28 June 1900, Page 49

CYCLING NOTES.

BY DEMON.

Messrs E. Howlison and S. R. Stedman returned to town last week from a few days' ride in Central Otago, and advise me that their trip was altogether a very enjoy- | able one, and that given the same fine, frosty weather, a bicycle ride in Central Otago at this time of the year is highly recommended. They covered over 600 miles, and found the roads in good all-round order. In some ! places where the sun's rays did not get to melt ! the frost the roads were like iron, and it was | i bump, bump, bump continually when riding, j and where the sun did have effect the roads ; had a general stickiness; but, taking them | all round, they were good. A. fair amount j of the travelling was done at night, when the | light sent. out from an acetylene lamp almost j made night into day. Mr' Howlison tho- j roughly tested a free wheel, and thinks that j it is eminently adapted to our roads, and likely, once tried, to become popular. The idea of a reception to Trooper Seelye, of the No. 1 New Zealand contingent, on his return home from active service in . South Africa, when first mooted by some of j the office-bearers of the Dunedin Cycling Club, ,

took at once, and little difficulty was expe- \ rienced in disposing of the roquisite number I of tickets. Preparatory to the proceed- • ings of the evening on Tuesday, a knot of . early comers were gathered round the cheer- j ful fire at the Shamrock Hotel dining room, j chatting on different matters, and the entry '. of Trooper Seelye attired in uniform was the ! signal for three hearty cheers being given for i the returned soldier, who had left our shores only a few months ago a novice in Avarfare, I but who now ha? returned a trained and tried \ soldier, and a unit of that vast body of men, our Imperial Army. A first glance at him \ gives one an impression that he has grown ' taller, filled out more, is better set vp — that ; the military training has left its mark on him, — and his appearance piits into shape our ideas of a soldier. Of course handshakes and congratulations were the order of the day, and hi 3 fellow club members were all anxious for a word and an opportunity of showing their

pleasure at his return. After a few minutes e'rt&t dinner was proceeded with, and then the conviviality of the evening came on. While Trooper Seelye has many other impressions that will long linger in his mind, the ] events of Tuesday evening must remain and s become, as time rolls on, a pleasing memory. ■ The fervour of the strains of "God save the Queen." sung in harmony by over 60 voice?, the telling speech in which his health was proposed by Mr Scobie ' Mackenzie, t listened to with an attention that was at once a : worthy'! tribute to the toast itself and to the neatness and delicacy with which the whole speech was delivered, the impassioned words of the chairman (Mr Gallaway), who. in proposing the toast of ''The New Zealand Contingents," gave an object lesson to all pro-Boers of what the British Empire is doing and what it will go on doing as a civilising and colonising power, and of the beneficent rule and ! lasting peace that 1 comes after a conquest; \ the response of Captain Myers, who eulogised the wort of Trooper Seelye's commanding officer, Major Robin ; the excellent musical items and recitations given — these all went to make an impress-ion on all present that was more than passing, and when Trooper > Seelye thinks that all our efforts were made • to assure him of our esteem, and to welcome him back among us, he must indeed feel that ho is back again among his friends. In his response to the toast of his health he was not at his best, but a few minutes' chat after the proceedings of the evening had closed gave him an opportunity of speaking a little of his life in South Africa. As , Mr Mackenzie aptly puts it, we proposed his health^ that was all we could do : he himself must look after it ; and I hope he may long be spared to look as well as he was on Tuesday evening. The idea of a cyclists' rifle corps, proposed by the League of Victorian Wheelmen, did not meet with encouragement at the hands of the Defence depai'tment. So the project has been allowed to drop. The world's cycle championships, which will be run off at Paris during the Exposition, have been fixed to take place on the following dates: — Sunday. 12th August; Thursday, 16th August; and Sunday, 19th August. The Dunlop Tyre Company, Melbourne, have made arrangements with their Parisian representatives for the results of these championships to be cabled out as soon as they are decided. Four championships have to be decided — viz., the one-mile amateur and professional, and the 100 ' kilometres (62 1-3 miles) amateur and professional, the longer distance

event to De paced.. The difference of opinion as to whether or not the cycle would be useful in time of war has narrowed down remarkably of late, simply because the experiments and trials to which it has been subjected, as well as the actual tests during the present war, have demonstrated its practicability and usefulness in an unmistakable manner. The Boers were not the last at comprehending its utility, for in 1897 a conference was held in Pretoria between several of the Boer leaders, including • Kruger, at which it was decided to start a cycling corps in preparation for the struggle now progressing. It is estimated that there were about 500 cyclists ir the Boer Army, ' and these were sent out just before the war '_ was declared to warn the burghers, after which they were Used for scouting and messenger work. It was further stated that many of them were mere boys, much too young to bear arms, and this is borne out by the re- j port of the commandant at Estcourt, which read that two youthful cyclists, aged 12 and 14 years, were captured near that town, but were released when they stated that they were j only schoolboys, who had ridden out to see i the Rooineka. It is scarcely necessary to j say that the information the}' .vere enabled i to give was just of the requisite kind for | the Boer leaders. That hard working but j much-maligned British office ~, General Sir Redvers Buller, has also a few cyclist scouts under his command, and in one of his dispatches he paid a tribute to their good work. The world's record for a mile from a standing start has been reduced to lmin l 39 2-ssec by J. Platt-Betts, on the Crystal Palace track. He was paced by the Dunlop pacing tandems, and to cut out the distances j in that time shows that all arrangements must have worked smoothly. It is not only a mat- '

ter of pace, but of judgment also, because he must away at the exact moment in order to catch the pacers as they flash around the track. Necessarily he must so time his start as to get full speed up the instant the pacing machine is abx-east of him. Previous best wa3 by J. Green, lmin 40 l-ssec, August 2, 1899. Latest English information states that the great 1000-mile motor trial was taking place. As many as 74 cars started. Every known class of automobile vehicles being represented, from monster ca.rs of 12-horse power down to waggonettes, phaetons, victorias, voiturettes/ quadricycles, and tricycles. The tour is not to be a race, but simply a trial of endurance, although the pace attained will in every instance be recorded by the officials. Great interest was being taken in England in the ride, the London daily napers devoting considerable space to chronicling the doings of the trial. The famous French rider, Bauge, has broken another record, covering IP miles in 15min 46 l-ssec, a speed equal to about 40 miles an hour. Bauge was paced by a powerful motor tricycle. There is even an art in removing dust and dirt from a bicycle, though, of course, it is a very simple matter. In doing so, the cy-

clist should observe a little pains not to rub the dust into -the crevices of the bearings, but so to manipulate the cloths as to wipe the dust clear of them. With, regard to mud, the same exactly may be said, but this substance is much easier removed before it is allowed to dry and harden. If the wheelman u&es his machine regularly in almost all weathers, it will Tie worth his while to give those tubes and others portions of the machine ■which collect the mud a thin coating of oil or other greasy substance, when the mud/ even if allowed to dry, will be found to come away readily. The first motor cycle match between American and English-made tricycles was recently decided at Philadelphia, and resulted in an easy win for the English machine, ridden by Wridgway, the well-known London cyclist. The match was for a stake of £60, and the time one hour, in which time Wridgway covered 38 l-3rd miles, and established a new Am.efiean record. It is affirmed by medicos that smoking while riding is very injurious, and the stronger the tobacco the more injurious it is. The reason given is that nicotine, the alkaloid which constitutes the active principle of tobacco, is one of the greatest depressants of the heart's action. There is always a certain amount of strain upon the heart in the exercise of cycling, particularly when riding rapidly or climbing hills, and therefore anything which depresses the heart's action cannot fail to be harmful. The issue of that interesting booklet, " The Story of a Remarkable Ride," has gone through three editions of 10,000 each, and as only a few hundred copies of this readable narrative of Arthur Richardson's cycle

ride around Australia are left, cyclists who desire a copy (which is supplied gratis by the Dunlop Tyre Company) are advised to send along a postcard to the Dunlop depot, Christchurch, to ensure obtaining it, as no further editions will be issued. - — Extremes of heat and cold and solar light are very injurious to vulcanised rubber, and quickly ruin it. Oils and grease, too, have a very -prejudicial action upon it. Indiarubber articles of eyery description should be kept in a cool, dark, dry place. Tyres and tubing in general should never be folded, but should be laid flat down or hung up on pegs of large diameter. An American rider at New Orleans is reported to have ridden a mile straightaway, on the road in lmin 12 2-ssec, behind a motor tandem. The rider is appropriately named Bolting. Record-breaking of this description is merely a matter of traekfiurface and pacing, hence this latter feat" suffers by comparison with Murphy's train-paced mile in 57 4-ssec. Probably Murphy could have done no better than Bolting under similar conditions. Even Murphy's record is not considered finality, for one Nat. Butler, a prominent racer in the States, is of opinion that he can better 57sec behind a locomotive and on a specially prepared board track. It is an interesting fact that the American makers have been steadily increasing the \veight-of their machines for years past, and one hears nothing now of the feather-weight mounts which were so gushed about a year or two back. In reality chains require two kinds of lubricants — one for internal and another for external parts. A simple way to effect a thorough lubrication is to rub the chain as clean as possible, and then apply a thin oil — neatsfoot, sperm, or even salad oil — after which allow the machine to stand over night. On the- following morning wipe off all the superfluous oil — indeed, rub the chain as dry as pospible — after which process apply a heavier lubricant in. the shape of pure tallow, graphite, or other like substance, which, having the property of- losing much of their tenacity when impregnated with dust, and, falling off just at the moment their usefulness ends., tend to keep the chain, under ordinary circumstances, comparatively clean.

The University had all Uie worst of the W& days' play, scoring 174 (11. N. K. Blaker 78)1 and 36 for one wickei, against their opponents? 487 (K. S. Baajitsinhji 158, J. R. Mason 137 i' H. D. Levesoa-Gower 73, 0. L. Townsencf 58). Hampshire is greatly handicapped this yeafl owing to the absence of all its noted Garrisorif amateurs — Major Poore, Captain Quintolty Colonel Spens, arid others — on active service in South Africa, and a very weak team was' defeated by Lancashire on, May 8 by 265 riuis« Lancashire made 91 and 269 (Ward 80, A. 05 MaoLaren 44, A. Eccles 34, Cuttell 32) to Hampshire's 37 and 58. ' Cuttell took eight' wickets for 46, and Webb eleven for 41 for, Lancashire.

A match, at Lord's between the M.0.0. and! Ground and Leicestershire under th,e expert mental rules of the M.dlC. was won by the club by nine wickets. The County mada 174 (J. Brown not out 53, L. Brown 31) anc| 183 (0. J. B. Wood 73), while the Club scored; 278 (K. J. Key 101, A. P. Lucas 95), and 81 for one wicket (O. B. Fry not out 33, Trotf not out 32).