Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-11-15
GREAT RELAY RIDE
A Message to Be Taken From Her
to New York.
SCHEDULE OF TIE PROPOSED RIDE
Assistance to Be Had From Out
side PAGERS.
THE MILIT AIRY CYCLISTS

The military cyclists have just completed
arrangements for their great relay ride
between this city and New York, the pre-
parations of which have been going on for
the last four months. After numerous de-
lays 1t has at last been decided to begin the
race at noon on December l, which will be
Sunday. Nothing in the way Of natural
elements will stop the ride unless there Is
snow on the ground, which will be too
deep for the bicyclists to ride through on
their machines. Barring this the start will
be made rain or shine, though good weather
is earl estly hoped for on the occasion, as
it will materially tend toward having a
quick ride.
Intention of the Relay.
This Is the longest relay ever undertaken
in this country by military company, or,
in fact, any organization Of limited men,
bership The roster of the military cyclists
bears the names of but few over thirty
men, and most of these will be put in use
in the ride. The relay is intended to be a
practical demonstration of the ability of
cycle in case of war in carrying messages
from post to post OR command to command,
regardless of distance. The number of mill
tGry cycle companies in the country is lin
tied to two or three and the Washington
company takes the lead in the matter Of
enterprise in riding q relay Of the kind
contemplated. The use of such companies
for war purposes has not as yet been fully
realized, and just such rides as will be
taken by the local company are tending to
bring into prominence the value of a BIZ
cycle troop to an army as an auxiliary.
Gen. Miles is an earnest advocate of the
use Of the bicycle for such purposes, and
he has repeatedly recommended them not
only special occasions, but also in his
annual reports. With much foresight he
perceives that the bicycle is destined to
be valuable adjunct in modern warfare.
The proposed relay ride of the local COM
pany, however, originated entirely with the
members of the command, who were de-
sirous of pushing matters. To such pro-
gressive movement in this direction Gen.
ed the project. Gen. Ordway was not one
whit behind him in the matter, and he, too,
lent his aid and encouragement, and with
the fullest approval of their high superior
officers the company worked hard for the
ride. Official recognition has been given to
the proposed relay, inaSmuch as the men,
bers of the company will ride in pursuance
to general order issued from head
quarters
AS before stated, the ride has been under
contemplation for the past four months.
and things were partially arranged for
the event to come off last month, but
some little obstacle arose which pre-
vented 1t. AS a good portion Of the ride
will be after nightfall it was recognized as
being highly desirable for the aims and OBJ
jects Of the ride to have it occur when the
roads were well Illuminated at night with
the CLEANS of a good moon. According to
the almanac the next full moon will show
itself on the night of December l, and on
this account that date has been selected
for the relay ride. This may seem to be a
trivial affair, but its Importance and as
sistance to the ride can only be recognized
when 1t is taken into consideration that
the members Of the company in the ride
f,v Ito, TNt1N
of the country through which they will go,
and every little assistance is of value.
Schedule of the Ride.
pared by Capt. S. H. Virgins and Lieut..
Frank Libbey who have been in charge of
the ride, the distance is 2I9la miles, and
twenty three hours is allowed in which to
cover it. This is the maximum of time,
and allows plenty of margin for improve
ment. In some cases the men Will prob
ably take up all of the time allotted to
them for their relay, but in other cases,
where the roads are good, the ride Will
probably be made much lower than the
scheduled time. Only twenty men In the
company will be used in the ride, and they
will be stationed at the beginning OF each
relay. In all there will be ten relays be-
tween the two points, the shortest of which
will be sixteen and half miles, while the
longest will be thirty-five miles. The
schedule Is as follows:
Relay No. 1-Capt. s. H. Virgins and
Sergt R. P. Durfee; Washington to Column
bia 2S1s miles; three hours.
Relay No. 2-Privates Harry Gather and
W. r. Moulden; Columbia to Baltimore, 2Ol2
miles; two hours.
Fred Franz; Baltimore to Belair, 211s miles;
two hours.
Relay No. +Privates Robert Campbell
and Eugene Rva; Belair to Havre de Grace,
20 miles; two hours.
Relay No. 5-Sergt. H. 4. Gibson and Pri-
vate Theodore Michael; Havre de Grace to
Glasgow, 16la miles; two hours.
Relay No. 6-Sergt. Arthur Bennett and
Private F. NJ. Willis; Glasgow to Whining
ton. II miles; one and one-half hours.
Relay No. corp. A. Alexander and Pri-
vate Ball; Wilmington to Philadelphia, 2S1a
miles; two hours.
Relay No. S-Privates Joseph DeSilver and
George Frech; Philadelphia to Trenton, 80
miles: three hours.
Relay No. 9-Privates ]. V. Tierney and
George Pryor; Trenton to New Brunswick
80 miles; three hours.
Relay No. 1O-Lieut. Frank Libbey and
Private Bert Pitkin; New Brunswick to New
York, 35 miles; three hours.
The time schedule is as follows: Leave
Washington, December 1, 1895 at 7-o'clock
a M; leave Columbia at 10 o'clock am.
leave Baltimore at ~ o'clock noon; leave
Belair at 2 o'clock pm; leave Havre de
Grace at o'clock pm. leave Glasgow a G
O'clOck Pm, leave wilmington at
o'clock pm; leave Philadelphia at 9:3G
o'clock pm; leave Trenton at - o'clock
midnight; leave New Brunswick at 3 o'clock
am, December 2; arrive at New York G
o'clock a.m December 2.
Condition of the Roads.
The condition of the roads for the dis
lance is as follows: From Washington to
Baltimore, fair road, the average ridable
public highway; from Baltimore to Belair
about the same. if anything, slightly worse
from Belair to Havre de Grace, only fair
with plenty of hills; from Havre de Grace
sandy and In extremely bad condition (this
stretch OF road at one time was considered
unreliable for BICYCLES; from Glasgow to
Wilmington, slightly better, with less hills
and sand, but still a bad road; from Will
mington to Philadelphia, extremely good
surface, though rolling, remarkably good
from Chester to Philadelphia; from Phila-
delphia to Trenton, excellent, like a parlo1
floor. with no hills: from Trenton to New
Brunswick, very good path riding in day
time, with only one bad hill, though not SC
good for nighttime riding; from New
Brunswick to New York, good roads, with
no hills though the passage through the
large cities of Newark, Elizabeth and Jer.
sey City may slightly retard the relay
riders.
Assistance of Outside PAGERS.
Arrangements have been made to receive