New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-09-27
IN THE CYCLING WORLD.

IN THE CYCLING WORLD.
THE LEAGUE OF AMERICAN wHEELMEN
ROAD MAPS AND BOOKS.
RECENT EXPERIMENTS WITH ELECTRIC LAMPS
BATTERY AND DYNAMO DEvIcEs-IM-
PROVED STREET CROSSINGS A
DANGEROUS FEAT-TEsTs
OF NEW TIRES
The vexatous delays in publishing the new
l.. A. w. road books are nearly at an end. 1t Is
believed. There have been various unavoidable
bitches and mishaps, which. Of course. the On
fcials regret much more than any one else cotlc.
A set Of six road maps. covering the whole
State. has, however been sent to each member.
In the future. that Is, after the present year.
charge will be made for the tour books and road
maps. 1t has been found that the cost of these
publications is too great to admit Of their being
supplied gratis. No member Of the League can
reasonably complain Of this charge. The 81
paid annually for dues Is certainly a moderate
sum. when the benefits are considered which 1t
secures. The Bulletin Is worth as much
that to most of Its readers. and the Leagues
work for cyclists rights and privileges and for
good roads has been Of the greatest benefit to
the wheeling fraternity. The passage of the
Armstrong act for which nearly all the credit
Is due the l.. A. W., has already saved bicycle
riders In this State. in all probability. much
more than their total contributions to the treas
ury Of the organization.
The accuracy and completeness Of the road
books and maps depends on the Information
volunteered by tourists. and earnest request is
made for contributions. It is pointed out that
lions will be of the greatest possible aid to
wheelmen There are eight books describing
the region lying within fifty miles Of each Of the
following cities New-York, Brooklyn Albany
Troy. Syracuse. Bnghamton Rochester and
Buffalo OF course only one will be sent to
each man-that covering the district in or near
est which he lives. Those who Join before these
books are issued will receive one. together with
a set Of the road maps
Among minor annoyances Of city riding is the
rough crossing on either side Of which Is a
smooth roadway. Usually cartracks add to the
discomfort Of these brief but unpleasant breaks
in the stretches Of macadam or asphalt. Fortu-
nately the city authorities are aware Of this In
reference with good riding. and have at least
begun to eliminate 1t. West Northumberland
sxth-st. has been the scene Of work Of this
kind. the formerly vile crossings at Amsterdam
and Columbus ayes now being Of asphalt, and
that at Eighth-ave. being nearly. III not quite
completed. These places were disturbance to
the smooth course between Central Park and
the Boulevard There remain. however many
similar spots which ought not to be. Thus
Eighty-sixth-st., at the Boulevard Is of granite
blocks. and gives a good bouncing to every per-
son riding up or down. The fine roadway Of
West Seventy-second-st. is bisected by rough
blocks at Eighth, Columbus and Amsterdam
ayes.
Another idea which the authorities are carry
ing out is the cutting away Of sharp corners
where the conditions make IL advisable to do So
Thus the corners at Mount Morris Park West
and One-hundred- and twentieth and One-h
dred-and twenty fourth SITS. have been cut away
and rounded. This greatly lessons the likelihood
of accidents here, for the two streets are narrow
and traversed by many wheemen. The same
thing is to be done at the approach to the new
at Seventh-ave and Ore-hundred- and fifty
ttird-st.
Further Improvements have been made In the
electric bicycle lamps. which indicate that by
next year their will be more or less common
So unsatisfactory many of the oil lamps that
cheap. effective and fairly brilliant electric
lamp is certain of wide sale when Its possession
of these qualities is noised abroad. Inventors
aware Of this. have been devoting much time to
experiments in this line One of them has pro-
duced lamp In which tiny dynamo connected
with one Of the wheels generates the current
This seems a sensible and simple device. but ex-
perts In electrical science fear that so large an
expenditure of power would be required as to
increase the riders task unduly. There have
been several wet battery lamps. some Of which
have been more less unsatisfactory. man
who has one of these broke a cap on It and can
not turn off the current, he let's the lamp burn
constantly. replacing from time to time the bat
terry material. The dry batteries are likely to
give less trouble they can be tightly sealed
In the others. air must be admitted to supply the
oxygen needed For some time there was diff
Guilty in making lamp that would give good
light with only small strength Of current This
has been overcome, and tiny globe has been
made which meets all requirements. The lamp
equipped with this is guaranteed to burn eight
hours. Used at intervals. 1t RECEIVERS some of its
efficacy and gives light several hours longer
There are four cells in the battery. If the cur
rent is taken from all of Them the light is bright
enough to illuminate small room In a measure
The intensity is one candle power The life OF
the battery varies. Of course with the amount
of current used. For ordinary city riding, two
cells will furnish sufficient light The battery
can be replaced at the small cost Of Is cents
Promise is made of an improvement in the quail
ty Of the chemicals. which will lengthen the ef
fective period to twenty hours. The total weight
is 215 pounds.
Every wheelman has come to learn the bother
of oil lamps. man who has bought six de-
clares that he can never be sure that even one Of
them will be in good working order when
wanted The filling of them Is a nuisance and
the cleaning a still worse Most Of them
leak especially when being transported in a
baggage-car Not only is your reservoir empty
when you want to ride at night but the oil is
probably smeared over your bicycle. The most
expensive have been known to catch fire. The
baggagemaster is likely at any time to knock off
part of 1t or TO twist and smash 1t. This might
of course. happen to an electric lamp. The only
safe course is to remove the lamp and carry 1t
with you In the car Many persons who have
been arrested for riding without a light will tes-
tify to the liability of oil lamps to go out The
ra,ipbtiup ia n difficult opera ton when the wind