New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-12-26
N THE CYCLING WORLD.
THE POTTER ELLIOTT ELECTION Gun
TROvERSY.

1JvEL1Esr ELECTION IN THE HISTORY of
Observation-Disclosures AND PENNsfL
,.,,. CONFINED AGAINST NEw-YoRK
AND NBw-JERsEY-THE USE
OF BRAKES
While the weather has not oeeh u INC 'o'
,r,re ont the riders Of the wheel IN paf'icu'ai
,aree numbers. It has not prevented 'fe e"'nu
s,ostic members OF the League OF Aiiie' i'1-'
uhaelrnen from taking the lvehest iH'e'e'' -,
,be coming National Assembly, Ing ", -.
,oeeting Of the League Will be heAu d. o. ,a
~ Enhr,,arv and it will bring together the lars
eat delegation OF cyclists ever seen a. ~. I'LL
s.So-,ng while many important matters VIII
,.u a,scnssion the presidential contest
,,rorn,ses TO be so keen that many OF 'He o'"e'
- ,,,, hA dvarfed into insignihcance IN CON
.,ooa The two candidates who VIII pa'''e
49, s,nraroacv are Isaac B. Potter, OF TINS "'a.e'
- George D. Gideon, of Pennsylvania MI
gideon himself has said nothing ana ne see'"]
disnosed 10 give his campaign INTO INC So,
sterling Elliott Of Massachusetts MI ..
Was beaten by Mr.. Potter last year 'nN
bic friends say that his only interest III 'ii7
,,on "a TO beat Potter. Whether ne VIII De
"a succeed seems improbable III INNS us.a
Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania appea ~ ,atter
entered into a combination, aIthoesr York and
Sac denies this at present NeM.itnr MIR
SawIersev will certainly stand toset.I'pt c'ng
Gideon made a popular chairman % - eva favor
Board in 1896, and his candaaGy t me- riatforn
With many racing men. MI. fottet : - lives
,u-aynT viii not be built upon any suCi mi! mi,
potter has made his record IN gooo a.
and in building up the mem sa, and his virtues
49, His energetic work In securing VIC pnnA
ase Of the Free Bicycle baggage oiLl in'n1rv
him TO every rider OF the w. ~. raring there
II the issue is good roads against racing s, Re ma
"a No Doubt as 10 which side viii get me iia
tority Of votes at St Louis in February. lnoIan.
apolis will probably secure me Na''0"a'
meet without any further uouo4V'
rba exn.rinoen, started by the Manhat'a"
Railway Company on April % in running spy
cial b,cvcle trains on the Ninth-aVe' ms o''
SUNDAYS. is regarded by the manageHic'' DC
success. at least from some points ol VIC"
q Is expected that it will he renewed heN' yea"
This service was discontinued IN NoFeH'''i' q"
Ter a weeks notice. and on the Ias' 0uiu''
bicvcle trains were run hardly more imam 'o0'S
or wheels were carried. "Of course there wa"
NO money in 1t for the company, salo ueiei"'
Manager Fransiol, few days ago, Out VIC aie
willing to do something 10 obllge peoPle "''
do not care TO riGe long way through the oi'S
on their bicycles. We carried several lhousahu
.cycles in the course Of the season. put II was
as a matter Of accommodation that we oio It,
7 presume we shall do the same thing next SEA
SON although there are getting to be so many
GOOD roads now that there is less demand LOT
the privilege of taking bicycles on trans lhai.
there would otherwise be. Pracucdl! oi'e 'aI'
ride all the way from the upper enc Oh (Iie Is
10 the Battery on smooth pavements. coming
down Eighth-ave. and the strips on HUDSON
at he reaches West Broadway, and can ride
on asphalt along Greenwich-st. and Dey-st' 10
Broadway. From there he can take the caOie
slot II he chooses, or, going one DOCK GOWN
Broadway he can turn through MAIDEN Ldne
TO Nassau-st., and go on smo"th paFei.ei, az al
the way TO the Produce EXohange Anu All
these streets are comparatively clear on sun
days. when most of the riding is done StlI we
found that our trains accommodated con-
siderable number of riders, especlaly when
they were caught in rain.
Some interesting statements have lately been
made about the use of brakes. One Of them IL
that 60 per cent Of bicycle accidents occur from
riders losing control Of their machines when de-
scending hills. If true. this would afford
strong argument in favor of brakes, or possibly
Of greater care in riding down hill Such acct
dents rarely happen to experienced riders, who
know what it means TO let bicycle run away
It is the novices who are the victims, and even
with brakes 1t Is probable that they would
sometimes not be able to maintain control But
st is far from the truth TO say that rider VINO
knows how to use the sole Of his shoe as a brake
rides a brakeless wheel, for at any moment he
Is able TO check the progress OF his machine in
short order. Without this il is conceded by all
but few that brakes would be an absolute ne
cessity; and when the manufacturers are willing
TO put on, without extra cost, light. neat and
effective brake, which will not injure the tire
TO which 1t is applied. IL will doubtless be ac-
cepted by the majority as desideratum. There
are some indications that this will be done dur
dng the coming season, and the prediction IS
made in The l.. A. w Bulletin" that brakes
will be generally used in 1898 than they
have been for the last five years" But that a
brake cannot always be depended on is made
of the League Is quoted as saying that In going
down the divides near Denver he sometimes has
TO use his foot on the front wheel in addition TO
a brake on the rear one
new device, for which patent is being
sought is the invention of Brooklyn man who
Is full Of ideas. 1t Is spring pedal, so ar
ranged that 1t will give under the riders foot
especially when the pedal arrives al the highest
point Each pedal is 10 have four springs. The
affair Is purely theoretical yet. for the in
ventor confesses that he has not tried H. lie
says he will have pair OF pedals made after
the patent has been secured. and will test them
thoroughly II he finds them not so good as he
expects, ne VIII not follow UP the matter but
will set down the small sum which ne will have
spent by that time 10 profit and loss" One ap-
parent objection to spring pedal Is that in rid
ing at all fast the feet go around rapidly that
there would scarcely be time TO get the benefit OF
the springs-if 1t turns out that there is benefit
in them.
A "vucanizer Is now on the market at a price
that fairly brings it within reach Of ALL" and
bicycle riders besought TO throw away theil
plug outfits and vucanize their own tires. A
year or two ago a vucanizng machine was
brought out at price fully five times as large
as is asked for the one now offered and MANY
OF the repair shops procured them. 1t requires
some SKILL however, 10 manipulate such ma