New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-03-08
IN THE CYCLING WORLD
BROOKLYN HAS IT'S SHOW THIS WEEK.

,,ooKLYN HAS IT'S SHOW THIS WEEK.
,os-1y ENGINEERING MISTAKE OF LONG AGO
,pAy AS A REMEDY FOR A PUNCTURED TIRE
NEW WHEELING ROUTE IN BROOKLYN.
The riders of the wheel of Brooklyn will have
rare treat this week. thanks to the enterpris-
,rs Cycle Club of that city. This club has Won
me distinction of being the social cycling or
sanitation of Long island. and the cycle show
"a he held at the old 18th Regiment Armory be-
Ginning tomorrow night, promises to be an I'M
usually interesting exhibition. The show will
continue throughout the week. and while 1t will
not be as pretentious the National Show
held In this city recently, 1t will nevertheless
contain many interesting features. Special
club nights have been arranged and the attend
ance is expected to be large. The armory
building has been decorated handsomely, and
this with the electric light effects the richly
furnished booths and the music, ought to fur
nish spectacle which will interest the visitor
even If he has become one of the mighty army
Of cycling enthusiasts.
An engineer who was discussing the problem
Of the overcrowdng Of busy city thoroughfares
by wheelmen. said: 1T was a great pity for the
sport that so radical mistake was made by
the engineers who laid out New-York above
Fourteenth-st That in $685. they could
hardly have been expected anticipate the
needs Of cycling. Their idea that the
streets running east and west would always be
the main arteries of travel and traffic Com
MERGE they thought. would be chiefly by water.
and so they made the streets 200 feet apart and
the avenues 600 or 800. But the introduction Of
new methods of land transportation set the
trend Of traffic north and south. Consequently,
the avenues are overcrowded and the streets are
comparatively little used. If the future could
only have been foreseen the cross streets would
have been laid out distances of 600 or 500 feet
and the avenues of 200 feet or so. Then New
York. instead Of some eleven avenues. would
have nearer forty. Some of these would be
paved with granite blocks and used by trucks:
Others would be covered with asphalt and used
for cycling and driving. There would be still
others for rapid transit routes and surface
roads"
The figures Of the growth Of the League Of
American Wheelmen in February indicate that
the most sanguine expectations of the increase
In the number Of wheelmen this year will not
overshoot the mark much. The number of new
members 1853 while in the corresponding
month Of 1895 it only 1o4. The accessons
were therefore just about fifteen times nu-
merous last month as in the previous February.
And yet last year saw cycling advance in pub
lio favor by leaps and bounds.
by a rider who unfortunate enough to get
a bad cut in one Of his tires when off on
country road miles away from the nearest rail-
road station. He obtained lodgings for the night
with a farmer near whose house the mishap
occurred The farmers acquaintance with pl-
cycles was limited, and he took the greatest IN
terest in the travellers machine, examining all
its parts with unconcealed curiosity Wheh ire
rider explained the nature of his misfortune the
farmer expressed establishment at learning that
there was air In those things around the
wheels" The rider further pointed out that II
II had been an ordinary puncture. he could have
repaired it, but with cut of that size ne was
unable to cope with the repair outfit that
he carried with him. He also said that he
would have to walk to the railroad and trundle
hia machine all the way unless he could get
CONVEYANCE hoping. of course, that the farmer
would offer to carry him. But the latter SAID
nothing though ne looked wise. After break
fast the next morning the traveller repeated
what he had said about walking to the rail-
road whereupOn the farmer remarked: see
here l don't know about that. You come out
10 the barn with me after breakfast Won
dering what was going to happen the rlder
showed his wheel out 10 the barn. When inc
farmer brought out bag Of bran and proposed
THAT they fill the tire with IL. Inc operation
took some little time, but finally il was accom-
plished and the cut was plastered up as well
as II could be: and then the cyclist had tire
which if not pneumatic, was at least rldabie,
and he managed 10 make his way TO the rail-
road without serious difficulty. leaving a fine
trail of bran behind him on the road cyclst
to whom this experience was related remarked
that ut was a bran new idea Possibly IL may
prove useful to some other riders who md them.
selves in serious trouble on the outskirts OF
civilization.
The problem Of making repairs to tires is
being smplifed from year TO year. There is
now a quick repair outfit which can be used in
mending puncture in any hose-pipe tire, which
Is simpler than any of the arrangements In
volving the insertion Of plugs with stems at
tached Simple fiat patches. about the size or
a cent-or larger If needed-are used. and by an
easy operation the patch is carried to the in
side of the tire directly under the puncture. 1t
Is held there by the instrument while cement
Is poured on it, and as soon the cement has
time to become "tacky" the outer part Of the
fire is pressed down on II. and the patch ad-
here's covering the puncture The tire Is then
pumped up, and the air pressure docs the rest
In making repairs in the case or large cuts an
anparatus has been arranged whereby vuicaniz-
Ing can be done in few minutes, ana IL ~ eh
pected that most repair shops VIII De equ'Ppeu
with IL this year. In the windows or some re-
pairers the sign can already be seen: Nui-
canizing done in eight minutes
Attention was recently called in this column
70 the fact that rupture had been caused De-
tween a minister and his congregation In IN
diana because the former had contracted the VI
cycle habit That incident is called 10 NINA oy
one that has happened nearer al nome Ger
tain minister preached not long ago as ca"o'
date" In q church in Brooklyn, buy ne was no.
chosen 70 the pastorate, and II appears that the
committee decided against him because OF 'hres
things. namely. that ne played WHIST, SMOKE .so
and rode A bicycle. There Is nctninS IN tHe