New-York tribune., 1895-10-27
PART iii.
PAGES IS TO 80.
IN THE CYCLING WORLD.
A SURLY RAILROAD EMPLOfE.

w. AND -wHEELMEN ARE BE-
COMING A POWER IN PoLITICs-THE PAVING
OF BROOKLYN THOROuGHFARES.
,r,erber , Of the L. A. w. in this city, who does
,ot wish his name mentioned-his number is
sou1-in speaking of his experience while on
onnr tour last week. says: 81 embarked
,hs II A. m train from this city. and handed up
my wheel to the baggageman. as usual thanking
rim courteously as he took it from me. The car.
hvthe-way. was nearly empty When ] was
about 10 leave the train at Elizabeth the brake
man of my car remarked TO me- with a sort Of
devlish glee You fellows will have to pay %
cents and get your wheels checked after the 25th
of this month Then we shall have to patron
ize some other road l answered That won't
do YOU any good: all the roads are going to do
the same thing. This thing is getting played
out: on a Sunday there'll be as many as fifty or
sixty wheels on a train But don't they see l
remarked. that they have fifty or sixty passen-
gers they would not otherwise have and they
could well afford to make special arrangements
10 accommodate bicycles"
"When ! took my wheel from the baggage
master thanked him again. and was walking
away, when he screamed after me, You felers
have got to pay for your wheels after the 25th,
and I'm glad Of il. when a mans too mean -
give the baggagemaster anything did not re-
ply as | might have done that in simply thank
ing him for the very small favor ne nad done me
] had treated him as an equal. His impertlnence
must have been encouraged by the railroad.
however as otherwise he would scarcely have
ventured in the presence Of twenty people, official
and otherwise. to insult passenger FOR not tip
ping him.
The Cycle Path in Brooklyn is so badly crowd
ed particularly Sundays and on Saturday
afternoons. that many riders and some vet
eran wheelmen have abandoned the idea Of rid
dav The widening Of the path has
helped TO relieve the crush little, but the new
surface is rough and uneven. and wheelmen stick
10 the centre Of the path. except when the crush
forces them over to the side. Eighteenth-aVe. is
now in good condition, ard one can take this
road and ultimately reach Fort Hamilton. Bay
Ridge and BensOnhurst, a description OF the route
will interest many. The new road leads off the
Cycle Path at Jopperts, and the route TO take is
as follows Leave the Cycle Path at Eighteenth
ave. (the red brick church on the right going
easD. out Eghteenth-aVe. to (abouo SiXty-seV-
enth-st. "a real estate office is the only structure
on the corner. right and follow sixty
seventh-st TO trolley-car tracks cross tracks and
turn right two blocks to SiXty-ffth-st. turn left
on Sixty-fifth-st.. passing the gashouse. TO its
junction with Seventh-ave.; turn, left out Sev-
enth-aye following il until the extreme end of
macadam road is reached; follow the dirt road
on left-hand sidepath into Bath Beach. thence
returning to Cycle Path through either Eigh-
teenth or Twenty second ave, the former being
much the better road.
Isaac b. Potter's position the racing ques-
ton is a sensible one" said well-posted wheel
man yesterday When Potter says that racing
does not do aly good for the League Of American
Wheelmen he hits the nail squarely on the head.
] remember when a syndicate offered $500 year
10 the L. A w. to run the racing, but the L. \. W.
refused the proposition The L. \. W. loses about
$50 a year on the matter you see that the
L. A. w. can count itself out about $500 every
ri1 Is
now. Then, these three classes are all wrong
anyway and 1t is only a matter Of time before it
viii have TO drop Class b and come down 10 NE me
purely amateur and the professional No. the
L. A. w cannot throw the Class B men into the
professional class. many people seem TO be-
lieve When Glass 3 is abolished these riders
will he put back where they came from-ints
Glass A. OF cours Q, practically all Of them would
Immediately turn professionals. The Class Is
men. a whole. have committed no blunder;
they are simply the offsprings Of foolish l. A. W.
rulings"
The writer. in his pilgrimage among the deal
ers last week, a new wheel which had just
left the factory The wheel was built for a wheel
man who weighs over three hundred pounds, and
the maker guarantees 1t for one year. with the
same degree of confidence he would guarantee
a wheel Weighing twenty-five pounds to a man Of
l4O pounds The machine looks like ordinary
bicvcle except that there is cross section Of
tubing running through the centre Of the dia-
mOnd. Then the forks have been strengthened by
cross sections of steel plates inside. The handle
bars are OF course. high. as the rider is not
likely TO be scOrcher. The wheel is fitted with
changeable gear. from "a to "a, and. including
tool kit and all II weighs only twenty-eight
pounds "DouOting Thomas present, VINO
weighed 250 pounds. was not impressed, ana the
dealer asked him to mount the wheel and TO
bounce up and down as hard as he could An
other present was asked 10 climb up be-
hind the 25O-pOunder the combined weight on
that twenty-eigh pound wheel being 800 pounds.
Naf tha with
and the machine seemed TO be as solid as a rock
The politicians are showing the liveest interest
IN the good roads question just now. and their
solicitous inquiries about the rights Of wheelnen
show which way the wind is blowing The
wheelmens vote he's become power in the land,
and the politician who stands in the way Of good
road legislation will probably be sorry for 1t after
election The Good Roads Association, of
Brooklyn has sent circulars To the political candl-
dates across the river requesting thelr views
upon the good roads question and on other mat
dear the heart of cyclists. The replies re-
oeived to date 10y President Angel are most en-
cOuraging James Taylor the candidate for Sen
ator In the With Senate District Of BROOKLYN
spoke TO the members Of the south brooklyn
Wheelmen in their clubhouse. No 4IS Ninth-st,
Wednesday night His speech was such surIlhS
one that a resolution was passed unanimously
that the club would support Taylor IN the cam
pagn.
The Cabanne- Murphy Titus suspension case
continues to furnish lively topic for wheslmen
who are interested in racing. When the charges
against those riders were first made. that they
had "jockcyed" in race in St Louis, 1t looked
bad for the Class men. Recent developments,
however, put the matter IN an entirely inherent
light, and those in position TO know believe
that II will be a difficult matter for the Racing
Board to make anv case against these men. u
the riders are victorious they Will call for the re
tTement Of Mr. Robert the 81 Louis member Oi
the Racing Board who made the charges.
The god uork Il L @ Pald on the National