Bicycle Races at the Fair.

New York, 1895

The board of managers of the Agricultural society are going to make bicycle racing a prominent feature of the fall fair. The one mile novice race, open to class A residents of Long Island, prizes worth $25, $15 and $10, will take place on Wednesday, September 25. The one mile handicap, open only to residents of Queens county, prizes worth $25, $15 and $10, will be run on Thursday, September 26, and the two mile handicap, open to all class A riders, prizes worth $50, $25, $15 and $10, will be run on Friday. Races will be run under League of American Wheelmen rules and sanction.

—The Long Island Farmer, Jamaica, NY, June 28, 1895, p. 1.

Jolly Coterie Boys Getting Ready.

New York, 1895

The jolly boys of the Springfield Coterie are getting ready for their annual festival. August 7th is the day fixed upon, and Phillips' Sea Side Pavilion is the place. Get your bibs and tuckers ready, girls. Special train and clambake, dancing all day, and a moonlight ride. Make a note of the date — August 7.


Militiamen on Bicycles.

Capt. Frank N. Bell, of the Seventeenth Separate Company of the National Guard, of Flushing, has a squad of thirty of his men mounted on bicycles. Drills are held every week. Bugler Charles Mowler executes the different calls.

—The Long Island Farmer, Jamaica, NY, June 28, 1895, p. 8.

Mustn't Ride Wheels to School.

New York, 1895

The teachers in the public schools at College Point, especially those who ride bicycles, are aroused over an order issued by The Board of Education forbidding them to ride their bicycles to school. The board declares that the minds of the teachers are concentrated more upon their wheels than upon their work at school. They further declare that wheeling tends to create immorality.


Burglars at Sag Harbor.

Burglars got into the dwelling of Capt. Robert Hanna, U. S. A., at Sag Harbor, just before midnight Thursday night. Their entrance awoke the servant, who gave an alarm, and the burglars fled. The house was searched and the family silverware was found in a heap in the dining room, ready to be lugged off.

—The Long Island Farmer, Jamaica, NY, June 21, 1895, p. 1.

Found a Stolen Bicycle.

New York, 1895

Curtis DeGrass, aged 13 years, residing on the Merrick road, Jamaica, was arrested Tuesday by Constable Ashmead on suspicion of having stolen two bicycles, one from a son of Oliver Baylis, of the Merrick road, and the other from a boy named Victor. The boy confessed to taking one of the wheels, and it was found in the woods near his home. Some time ago Curtis, with an older brother, stole a number of articles from Union Hall Seminary.

—The Long Island Farmer, Jamaica, NY, June 14, 1895, p. 8.

Bicycle Riders Fined in Flushing

New York, 1895

The dingy old court room in the Town Hall at Flushing resembled a secondhand bicycle establishment Tuesday morning. Standing about the room were bicycles of all makes and ages. When the hour for opening court arrived seven young men, owners of the wheels, appeared and were fined various amounts for riding through the streets at night without bicycle lamps.

—The Long Island Farmer, Jamaica, NY, May 24, 1895, p. 8.

Aged 72, Cycles 30,000 Miles

1920

Has Just Finished Ride From California to Blair, Neb.

BLAIR, Nebraska. — John Warner, 72 years old, of San Diego, Cal., who is visiting friends here, has just completed a bicycle trip from California.

When he found himself near the 70-year-old mark, and in poor health, he took up bicycling as a recreation and as a restorative of health, and has ridden more than 30,000 miles on the bicycle, on which he made the journey to Blair.

He says he feels younger than he did ten years before he began the practice.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Aug. 7, 1920, p. 5.

A Track For Cyclers

New York, 1895

THE QUEENS COUNTY JOCKEY CLUB HAS A BIG SCHEME ON HAND.

Proposing to Build Half and Quarter Mlle Tracks at Aqueduct and Make it the Racing Centre of Eastern Wheelmen — Their Plans.

Cycle racing will probably enjoy a big boom on Long Island next season. Arrangements are being made to make it the cycling centre of the east, and if the plans of those interested in the movement do not miscarry there is little doubt that the attempt will be successful. The necessity of having a thoroughly equipped bicycle track near the cities has been made apparent during the past season, owing to the numerous injuries sustained by riders on local tracks, and the inability of crack men to do anything approaching record time. Attempts to interest capitalists in ventures looking toward the construction of a track up to the present-time have been in vain.

John S. Johnson has succeeded in finding men who are willing to take the chance of making bicycle racing in the East a success, and they are almost prepared to go ahead. The men whom Johnson has succeeded in interesting in the matter are the officials of the Queens County Jockey Club, whose track is situated at Aqueduct, in the town of Jamaica.

It is intended to make the track the fastest in the world, and have trials for records made on it. Training quarters will be established at the track and every facility offered racing men to prepare themselves properly for contests.

—The Long Island Farmer, Jamaica, N.Y., Jan. 4, 1895, p. 1.

Note: The article ends early because the page is ripped and the rest is missing. These details can still be gotten from the dangling half-paragraph: David Holland was vice president of the Queens County Jockey Club. "Our idea is to construct a track that will eclipse either the Waltham or [Fo——] Ferry tracks."

Flying Bicycle Given Test; It Works Great

1915

Latest Air Traveler Is Triumph of Chicagoan's Genius — Goes by Foot Power or Motor

Now comes the bicycle of the air — a noiseless and engineless flying machine operated by foot and hand power.

A. C. McClaughry of Chicago, son of former Warden I. W. McClaughry of the Federal penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kan., discovered the craft and its inventor in a basement on the Northwest Side of the city. The identity of the inventor is kept secret. McClaughry is now interested with the inventor in the welfare of the new type of flying craft. He has brought the matter to the official attention of army officers in the Federal building, and before representatives of foreign governments.

Col. H. O. S. Heistand, adjutant general of the central department, turned McClaughry over to M. A. Loosley, master signal electrician of the army, who will inspect the new craft. McClaughry said the first one tried out by the inventor was a success, but that it was torn down and a new one is now being built, which will soon be ready for official tests.

"There is no doubt but that we have a flying machine that can be operated without any power other than that produced by foot and hand and that the craft can be sold dirt cheap," said McClaughry.

The inventor figures that one of the machines can be put up for less than $500, and that in quantities they can even be turned out for $200 each. The craft, for which patents are now pending is operated much like the old fashioned bicycle. A farmer boy can take one of them and he and his lady friend can saunter away thru the air as easily as they can travel on land in an automobile.

"If one wishes he can buy a $50 motor and use it to alternate with foot and hand. In his first test the inventor remained in the air more than half an hour and traveled at a speed of forty miles an hour."

—Saturday Blade, Chicago, Dec. 18, 1915, p. 9.

Ostentatious Humor of the Day

1896

Little Brother — "Do you know what 'ostentation' means?" Little Sister — "The way other people show off. — Puck.

The sun never sets on the British dominions, and it rises occasionally in London. — Puck.

The great grief at forty is the discovery that eye-glasses are not becoming. — Atchison Globe.

An egg and an office-boy differ in that one is best when it's fresh and the other isn't. — Philadelphia Record.

Border — "I never eat shad." Wyld — "Why?" Border — "It always reminds me of boneless codfish." — Puck.

The Professor (awakening) — "Is there anybody in this room?" The Burglar — "No, sir." The Professor — "Oh, I thought there was." (Falls asleep again.) — Life.

"Fannie, I have told you time and again not to speak when other persons were talking, but wait until they stop." "I've tried that already mamma. They never stop." — Texas Sifter.

First Woman — "I was suffering untold agony." Second Woman — "Dear me! What did you do?" First Woman — "Oh, a neighbor happened in just in the nick of time and I told her." — Detroit Tribune.

She — "I hope, dear, you were not thinking of business in church this morning. You know your thoughts should be of higher things?" He — "Well, I was thinking of that $22 bonnet of yours. Is that high enough, think you?" — Statesman.

Absent-minded Professor — "I don't know what's the matter with me, doctor, I am perpetually limping to-day. Is it locomotor ataxy, I wonder?" Doctor — "Why, professor, you are walking with one foot on the curbstone and the other in the gutter."

Romantic Miss — "Have there not been moments in your experience when life seemed full of unsatisfied wants?" Mr. Hardhead — "Y-e-s, that's so." "At such times I always fly to music for relief. What do you do, Mr. Hardhead?" "I advertise." — Spare Moments.

"Some folks think this Venezuelan affair will be settled without trouble, but I'll dogon if I do," said Mr. Janson, as the crowd about the grocery store made room for the old man. "I never see one of these here line fence quarrels yit that didn't wind up in a fight!" — Indianapolis Journal.

"I don't know," muttered Rivers, picking himself up from the sidewalk and moving on with a perceptible limp, "whether there is any such thing as a bicycle face or not, but I am thoroughly convinced of the existence of the phenomenon known as the banana skin." — Chicago Tribune.

Ruth Cleveland, Daughter of Grover Cleveland

Here's a pretty nice illustration of President Cleveland's daughter. This was really small on the page, about 2 inches across. Click the scan for a larger version.

A Street Incident and Royalty

1896

A significant circumstance occurred during a visit of the Emperor of Germany to England. The kaiser was for one day the guest of the lord mayor, and the city of London received him and several of the queen's children on that day.

The old city was splendidly decorated, and set for a great public function. The streets from Buckingham palace to the lord mayor's mansion were lined with infantry and cavalry, back of whom was a solid mass of people.

Between these lines the royal carriages slowly passed. They moved in almost absolute silence, save for the perfunctory salutes of the soldiery. The queen was not present, and for mere royalty as royalty, there was apparently no popular feeling save that of curiosity.

When, however, the carriage of the Princess of Wales appeared, and her sweet, kind face was seen, the applause grew enthusiastic. Suddenly a burst of cheers was heard, as a low, black wagon came swiftly down the thronged street. It was the ambulance of a hospital, which has precedence everywhere, carrying some wounded man to receive succor. The crowd paid homage to charity in a sincere though inappropriate fashion.

In it was a hint which the scions of the ruling families of Europe present should have understood. Queen Victoria knows that her people pay allegiance to her more as a wise, good woman, wife and mother than as one of the House of Hanover.

"The divinity which doth hedge a king" must now have its bases in humanity and personal respect rather than in descent or etiquette.


Standardize the Bike

A proposition has been made recently by bicycle riders to several agents and manufacturers of bicycles that the manufacturers get together in a convention and agree to reduce numerous parts of their different machines to standard proportions.

Why the Bicycle Persists

1904

Prophets are the great speculators in "futures," and in that sort of gambling the "bears," who see calamities ahead, are usually losers. Nothing has been the subject of more pessimistic forebodings during the last few years than the bicycle, yet this spring the wheel comes out again, almost as numerous and as popular as ever.

Automobiles, it is true, have greatly increased in numbers, and they have been looked upon as the supplanter and successor of the bicycle. "Americans like to travel fast," said a man, recently, "but they don't want to work for it. That is why the automobile appeals to them." There is some truth in the remark, but the fact remains that most of us must "work for it."

The bicycle is the poor man's automobile, and a good one. It does not bother him about starting or stopping, does not often get out of repair, requires no outlay for fuel; yet it makes him master of a wider circle of country than he could possibly command without it, and pays him handsome dividends in health and strength for every pound of energy he spends in propelling it.

The time of the "scorcher" and the "century run" is past, and the era of sensible wheeling has come in. Those who own and buy bicycles now are those who use their wheels for exercise; for recreation and as practical vehicles. They would cling to their hobby tenaciously even if their own experience had not been enforced by medical approval, which is now overwhelmingly with them. The bicyclists for years to come will continue to outnumber, as they have in the past, the devotees of every other pastime. — Youth's Companion.

The Bicycle a Benefactor

1895

A reliable correspondent writes to the New York World that in Chicago there flourishes a club of young women bound by a vow to ride horseback astride henceforth and forever. These young women have abandoned the spine-twisting side saddle; they have lived down the ridicule which accompanied the inauguration of their reform, and, most important of all, they attribute the success of their movement to the beneficent influence of the bicycle.

Each day it grows plainer that we must add the bicycle to the list of humanity's great benefactors. Already tens of thousands owe to it health, strength and their first intimate acquaintance with outdoor life. It has helped the farmer who foolishly despises it, by advancing the fight for good roads. It has filled the pockets of languishing owners of country inns. It has made the country boy and girl acquainted with their brothers and sisters from the city. It promises to do away with the stupid fashion of long trousers — to restore to mankind the graceful knickerbockers of old. It promotes equality. It discourages the separation of the people into hostile classes.

The bicycle is a democratic machine, a faithful servant, a luxury and a necessity, great and cheap. It is a good doctor, a destroyer of the blues. It deserves the monument which it is building to itself in the shape of a healthier, happier people.

Handcuffed to Bicycles, Two Jackies Cross Continent

Handcuffed to their bicycles, two jackies are pedaling across the continent from Venice, Calif., to New York. When the handcuffs were locked the keys were mailed to New York and the keyholes sealed; these must be intact upon arrival at the end of the journey, which will re- quire five months. The idea is to stimulate navy recruiting; and the boys will re-enter the service. They are handcuffed to eliminate all suspicion of getting a "lift" while en route, from autoists or on trains. They expect to sleep with their wheels and to have their company at meals.

--Popular Mechanics, August 1919

Keep Your Own Secrets

Never tell your resolution beforehand. -- Seiden
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Just So
It is not every bicycle rider who can lower the record, but it s a poor bicycle that cannot lower the rider.
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Spider Builds Strong Web
Spiders are met with in the forest of Java whose webs are so strong that it requires a knife to cut through them.
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Hatpin in Cow's Heart
In the heart of a cow that died at Tamworth, New South Wales, was found part of a hatpin 5 or 6 inches in length.
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Red Headed Dwarfs
In the Valley of Rebas, in the Pyrenees, is found a race of dwarfs. They all have red hair, broad faces and flat noses.
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Talk Less and Listen More
"In the multitude of words there wanteth not transgression, but he that refraineth his lips doeth wisely." -- Proverbs of Solomon, x:19
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In a Few Words
The short and simple annals of the "bird man." Aviation, adulation, atmospheric agitation, pulverization, cremation, canonization.

--The Ellis Review-Headlight, Ellis, Kansas, 1911.