Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-09-05
THE UNITED WHEELMEN
An Organization That Aims to Promote the
Interests of Bicyclers.
What Has Already Been Accomplished
and the Plans for the Future
About the Officers.

The United Wheelmen, though only few
months old. are rapidly gaining in strength.
The real hard work has not been started in
earnest, though already the efforts Of the
organization have resulted in considera BILE
good to all Of the cyclists of the city. The
good work will be continued. and the or
ganization. it is expected, will Increase In
numbers solely upon its merits.
The need of such an organization has
long been felt. The movement to organize
such body really began last year, when 1t
was talked of among a number of prom
inent local wheelmen, all of whom were as
unit on the subject The crusade Of
this year against cyclists by the non-riding
public, and the threatening legislation,
which would cripple the privileges Of the
wheelmen to a greater extent than deem
ed Just, were the sole causes that hasten
ed the organization of this association.
The preliminary meetings were held at
the business place Of Mr. William Hayden
Henshaw, $40 nth street, one Of the en-
thusiastic men behind the scheme, who
showed his interest in the proposed union
by permitting the free use of his estab-
1fshment for these gatherings.
The preliminary meetings were well at
tended, and the best class Of wheelmen be-
came interested. and pushed the matter
prepared and adopted, and the organiza ton
was made permanent, with Mr.. Brainard
H. Warner as president, Mr.. William Ofi1ey
as first vice president. Mr.. William H.
Henshaw, second vice president; Mr. Fran
els E. Pratt. secretary, and Mr.. William
Gettlnger as treasurer. The board of d.
rectors elected consists Of Messrs. r. r.
ReviIl. w. s. Mexican. w. X. Larrimore
and Frank ]. WisSner. Full committees
on rights and privileges. finance and mem
bership were appointed to facilitate the
work.
The first notable event of the organlza-
ha trim n polt hol.l
June Z. Without doubt, the largest
crowd of blcyclists that ever left the city
went out on. that day Everything had
been arranged for the entertainment Of
neglect on the part of the Baltimore
wheelmen the dinner arrangements were
entirely Inadequate, which totally marred
the pleasure Of the trip.
The membership of the organization Is
over the 300 mark. The United Wheel
men in no sense of the word Is club or
ganization. On the contrary it recognizes
no club in its ranks. The idea in the or
tached wheelmen of the city, who outnum-
Der the club members by over 100 Der cent
Counting all the cycle clubs in the city and
taking their membership rolls. the total
ers. The estimated bicycle population Of
10000 '''
The aim of the association is to reach
this vast number of unattached riders, and
1t Is expected that this will be done before
long in the case Of majority of them.
The organization Is for the good of the
members, and as soon as this class of un-
attached riders. both male and female rec
ognize this they will lose no time, it is ex-
pected. In Joining. There is no initiation
fee. and the yearly. dues are only nominal
so cents per annum. All applications
have to be Endorsed by two members of
the association. this being done to regulate
the membership. Before a person is elected
to membership the application is referred to
the committee on membership, who exam
Ines the character Of the applicant. If IA
vorable, the matter is referred at the reg
ular meeting Of the board Of governors and
the application is acted upon
A project Is on hand to have a grand re-
union the early part Of next month of all
the club members and large number of
unattached riders. 1t Is proposed to hold a
monster barbecue. to be followed by a gen
uine cyclists meeting. at which there will
be speeches delivered by a number of
prominent local wheelmen. While not
definitely decided, the barbecue will in ali
probability be held at the Cycle Cottage
near Takoma Park. where there are excel
lent facilities for such an event,
The project was preached at an informa,
meeting of some Of the directors held dur