The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-12-23

The Tribune presents below the lat
est news bulletin of the executive
committee of the League of American
Wheelmen. The object of issuing eX-
ecutive league news in bulletin form is
TO supply notes of general interest to
cyclists ana to save the necessity OF
interviews to which officers of the
League of American Wheelmen are fire.
ouently subjected:
League of American Wh9elmen mem-
hers during 1893 will have an advan-
tage not heretofore provided, in the
form of reduced subscription prices 10
many popular periodicals, magazines
and papcrs. FavOra ole Club rates
have already been granted by many
publications, and fun printed list with
stated discounts and subscription
blanks will shortly be sent tu the oiil-
GERS. of the several state divisionsI
The loan committee, created by reso-
luton Of the last National assembly or
the League of American Wheelmen,
ito provide ways and means for the
help of such divisions and ConSulateS
ir the league as may, from time 10
time. require financial aid" has rem
dered good service in the few months
of its existence. In March last the
COMMITTEES formulated rules and con-
ditionS governing loans and prepared
application forms which require ofIi-
GERS of a borrowing division to set
forth fully all facts which ought To he
considered in passing upon the applica-
tion. This application, (and in some
cases a writ al guaranty is executed
and placed before the loan committee
for it's action. Thus far only one ar-
plication has been rejected, and loans
aggregating several thousand dollars
have been made to seven divisions.
The national body of the league holds
a lien upon all future membership fees
coming rom borrowing divisions and
thus each loan is well secured.
A good bicycle with decent use will
last six seasons or more and pair OF
road tires Of fair weight may be ridden
from 5000 to 10000 miles on ordinary
roads. An English authority states
that a pair of tires in one instance was
known to run $4,000 miles ana still be
fit for use.
The General Council of the Cyclists
Touring club of England has accepted
the proposition of the l.. a. w. looking
to an interchange of benefits, and con-
tracts are now being prepared which
provide that an L. a. w. member may
Join the c. T. c. (when about To tour
abroad) and receive his membership
ticket. foreign tour books, maps, hotel
lists, etc, before sailing. This arrange
ment will enable him not only TO lay
, out the details of his trip before reach
ing Europe, but will insure to him the
benefits of discount rates at hundreds
of hotels in all the popular cycling dis
tricts of the Continent and the British
Isles.
A letter has been received from
President Plant, of the extensive
PLANT System" of railroad and steam
boat lines. covering several thousand
miles of land and water routes in the
southern and southeastern states, in
which the writer states that the entire
system has adopted the rule of trea-
ing bicycles as baggage that no extra
charge is made for this service and
that cycling travel over these routes
is in every way encouraged.
President Potter is in correspondence
with prominent members of the pres
. ent congress with the view of obtain
. ing the passage of bill empowering
the secretary of the treasury to admit
touring cyclists from Canada and from
transatlantic countries into the
United States without exacting the
payment or deposit of custom duties
on the wheels brought by such tour
lists for their personal use.
The use of toe-clips, even by lady
riders, is steadily increasing. They
make pedaling easier and the foot
pressure more uniform and more con-
stant; they keep the foot in place. pre-
vent the slipping of pedals at critical
times and save the rider many bad
falls and perhaps serious accidents.
Riding with toe-clips is vastly easier
than without and no rider who ever
used toe-clips continuously for a week
was afterwards content to ride with
out them.
In considering the application of Bos-
ton for the 1898 l.. A. W. meet the ex-
ecutiVe committee has been forced To
regard the hostile attitude of the New
England Railroad and Steamboat COM
DlHdtlon, ana tnelf Unpopular pfaCllCe
of charging an extra sum ranging from
ten cents to several dollars for each
bicycle checked as baggage over roads
running to and from Boston. An L.
A. W. meet at Boston would he vastly
popular and would probably add $3.50
600 in railroad fares and freights to the
New England railroads, but l.. A. W.
members argue that this sum, and
even more, might better he paid Ia
friendly roads running to some west
ern city than to enrich the Golfers OF
the New England combination. a let
ter has been sent by the executive
committee of the L. A. w. to the gem
eral passenger agents Of several east
ern' lines to ascertain, before final de-
cision Is reached, whether these lines