Evening star., 1896-10-31
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S O M E H GLE C H A T
ss a@rs xQI IA


Unless some radical change Is made, 1t is
hardly likely that the local wheelmen will
take hold Of the matter 1t will be remem-
Eered that at the last meeting of the United
Wheelmen the matter was brought uD. 1t
was special meeting called to consider the
matter. Mr.. Milner, representing the cap
1taiists, presented a general plan OF the
matter, and at the meeting special COM
mlttee, consisting of Messrs. Henshaw and
Collamer, was appointed 10 look more care
fully into the matter. This they have done,
and are now ready 10 make a report to the
United Wheelmen The next regular meet
ing of the organization is scheduled fer
Tuesday evening, but as THAT is election day
1t is likely that the meeting will be post
poned for one week.
According to the representations to the
committee the cost of the forty miles OF the
cycle path is placed at s10o,06o. A syndi-
cate of capitalists though only the name of
Ole was mentioned, stood ready and willing
to suppy money. A charter has been Sc
cured, and the state has granted the right
of way. The with of the path was placed
at something like nine feet, and it was
proposed to have three toll gates on the
lath, one near the entrance to each city,
and the other near the center of the path.
a toll of ) cents was to have been charged
make the round trip. What the syndicate
wanted Of the local wheelmen was the rails
ing Of certain sum. 1t would cost $500
to have the course of the path surveyed,
and the syndicate wanted the Wheelmen, as
a guarantee of good faith, to raise half Of
this sum. They promised to add the bal
ance and have the course marked S1f. No
assurance was given that the work of con-
struction would be commenced after the
survey had been completed. In fact, the
impression got out that the syndicate SIM
ply wanted to find out the situation OF at
fairs, and if the survey was satisfactory to
them they would begin the construction of
path; if not they would abandon the
matter. If the local wheelmen took the
pains to raise their share Of the advance
money, no guarantee could be given them
that the path would be constructed. If
they raised the money, turned it over to the
projectors of the path and then, after the
survey was made the scheme was dropped,
the local wheelmen would be that much out
of pocket. Under these conditions it is
hardly likely that the United Wheelmen
will ndorse the project, unless a different
sort Of arrangement is made.
There seems to be good deal of uncer-
tainty as to the holding of a cycle show
next spring. If one is given it will be con-
Quoted a different basis from the, one
last spring. The charges were too high,
local dealers thought, and the other ex-
penses footeI up so high that some of TIE
exhibits cost nearly double what 1t was
expected they would cost. At an Informal
meeting Of the dealers it was the general
opinion that they would not again enter
into an exhibition conducted upon such Il
plan. and that if they aisl. decide to have an
exhibition they would iqIln together and run
the show themselves. 1t is almost too early
to- talk of,anothera GYclsi show, No sane
ton can be obtained from the National
Board Of Trade of Cycle Manufacturers I'M
til after the national cycle shows are held
in February and March next year, when all
fha a.
bicycles and bicycle construction will be
brought out. Owing to this fact, none of
the foc2li dealers have given any thought to
the matter, and most likely their interest in
the''i6cAI exhibit will be influenced consid-
erably by tie SUCCESS of the national shows.
There is probably no part of a bicycle
that gives>a rider more concern than the
lamp, and It appears to be hard matter to
find one That VIII meet all requirements.
After nightfail the lamp is an essential
part of the bicycle. and it is to the. riders
interest to- keep his headlight In perfect
condition, Or otherwise he is apt to be in
convenienced in more ways than one. Many
of the lamps that have appeared on the
market this year have sold on the fact that
kerosene of could be burned. This was re-
garded as a long4felt want, though after
season of use it hardly appears that the
use of kerosene has been perfecteIy salts
factory in all respects; indeed, If anything
in majority of cases it has proven quite
unsatisfactory. To begin WITH In order to
keep the thin liquid in the reservoir, cot
ton packing is used to absorb the oil, the
wick Of the lamp drawing the oil through
contact with the saturated pieces. This
does not always work as we'll as expected
the cotton packing becoming solid as to
prevent the full absorption of the Oil. Then
again, if the flame is turned the least bit
high, the lamp begins to smoke and ruins
the inside Of the lamp. Another drawback
TO the use of kerosene is that when work
ing properly it becomes so quickly used up
the reservoirful hardly standing one full
nights use.
The writer has been using a mixture of
his OWL which he has found to give per-
feet results. and which burns freely and
steadily and seldom jolts out. The mixture
is made of lard oil and kerosene in equal
parts. This oil burns freely and is heavy
enough to last for some time. If a good
wick is used it will rot smoke but if there
is any trouble from this source a small
lump Of rcamphor put in the reservoir is
apt to remedy the matter
The superstition that the finding of
horseshoe indicates good luck is somewhat
discredted by bicyclists. The finding of a
horseshoe while riding bicycle is apt to
result in bad luck, no matter in what posi-
ton the shoe Is found. One young lady
rider while riding with escort recently
found horseshoe, the bend of which was
fronting her, and the man had scarcely
ridden two squares when the young lady
ran over broken lamp chimney glass and
cut HSI tue ICY oHu repair. A week later
the same young lady while riding with the
same escort found another horseshoe She
placed it Oh her wheel, and the next hill
she rode down her wheel became unman-
ageaDle and threw her, brusing her face
and damaging the wheel. The third shoe
was found by the same young lady a few
days later while riding alone on Pennsyl-
vania avenue. Ten minutes later she COL
NGed with man who was crossing the
street, but escaped with very little injury.
Remounting, she continued, and before she
had finished she collided with another rider
and had several other mishaps. Since then
the young lady refused to pick up a horse
shoe and has had no further accident
Another well-known local rider found a
horseshoe Sunday on the Conduit road, and
later he met with a collision. The two
riders rolled down the embankment and
beth were injured, and the wheels were
damaged. Another local rider, while going
down to Marlboro recently, found a horse
shoe in the middle of the road. which he
picked up and before he reached his desti-
nation the frame of the wheel broke
A good hint to the local bicyclists is not
to run over pieces of wood, stones, papers
or paper bags and their like In riding
over a piece of wood there may be a stub
Of a nail protrnding just high enough to
run through the tire. A paper bag NAV
contain sc me stuff that will accomplish the
same result, while stones and other bulky