The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1897-08-24

al W - charge at Balak-
W lava this is not
war this is not bicycling. It is true
tina in Paris, young men may be seen
in evening dress, riding their wheels to
ball or reception but in America. the
further wheeling is from convention
atty the more proper it seems. An I'M
solved problem is what TO wear in sum-
mer. Tweed costumes are an atrocity
Crash suits quickly lose shape. Duck
skirts and knickerbockers have a cool
swagger air, but the complaint is that
they get dirty so soon. One New Yorker
has hit on a happy solution of the diff
Guilty of keeping his ducks spotlessly
white. Noticing that the black or the
tan saddle left its mark, he has encased
the leather in the same kind of covering
that his wife puts on the parlor furni-
ture at the advent of summer The
case looks cool and clean. preserves the
ducks Immaculate, and can be very
readily slipped off and renewed. The
TOOL box on the upper cross bar of the
frame is apt to rub the knees, and leave
its dusty imprint. This our friend rec
titles by fastening the case either down
in the angle at the crank hanger brack-
Ct VI ny putting II INV q lEA just ny the
front steering post.
It has often been thought that the
rider who left his machine standing at
the curbstone did so merely on suffer-
ance. The right of bicyclists to this use
Of the edge of the pavement has been
established by a decision in a case in a
New York court wheel so placed was
run into by truck driver and wrecked.
Compensation being refused, suit was
brought by the owner of the wheel for
damages. Judgment was given for the
fun value Of the wheel.
While on some railroads the bicycles
consigned to the baggage car are still
piled up on any side of the car in one
big heap, and riders often discover
some injury to their machines at the end
of the journey, other roads are recognize
ing the needs of Wheelmen in an intel
ligent and unstinting way. Among the
latter, the Norfolk and Western Railrc ad
is prominent It's cars have an arrange
ment Of safety bars and hooks, for sup
porting the bicycles at the top of the
car, out of harms way. and a special ad-
justment is provided for keeping the
machines securely in place. The cost of
such an outfit is comparatively small.
and the investment is a safe one.
The promised production of the chain
less bicycle is likely to lead TO one of
the hottest discussions ever known in
the mechanical field, quite aside from
the commercial aspect of the matter,
and the effect on bicycle manufacturers.
There are going to be two great camps
one of the advocates of the chainless
and one of the old familiar sprocket. It
is a we'll known fact that a great many
engineers and mechanics do not look
upon bevel gears or cog gearing" with
favor at all, regarding it as an ineffl-
cient means of transmitting power, and
as liable to trouble and accident unless
very strongly and heavily made of the
best material. They argue that the
chain and sprocket allow more Of the
fiexibility and play that a bicycle needs
and that the flexure of a wheel under
strain is often considerable. Such
give" Will they say, be impossible if
the two sets of bevel gear in the chain
less wheel are long TO remain in good
order. On the other hand, mechanical
students Of the situation, point out that
the modern electric street railway was a
failure so long as it's pioneers adhered
to the chain and sprocket system of con-
Meeting the motor on the car to the
wheel axles. The great Jump forward
ia trolley work came when the motor
under the car was connected up with
the axles first by what was known as
double reduction" gear, and now by the
universal single-reduction gear, in which
the gear on the armature shaft of the
motor meshes directly into the gear on
the car axle. This is, to say the least,
a striking parallel, and betokens a very
lively debate for 1898.
What has been called the 'crimina
Indifference of Americans has been evil
dent in many of the conditions and in
cidents Of cycling, and the average
rider can hardly be accused of con-
corning himself unduly with other
folks trouble Now, however. it is be-
ing realized that the general welfare
Of wheelmen demands, upon occasion
a sacrifice of individual time and con-
venience. For instance. the members
of the New York Consulate have agreed
to take special personal pains to cause
the arrest of persons who make 1t 6
practice to throw glass in the city
streets. or place lacks on the roads II
the suburbs. Circulars have been SEN
70 the officers of all the cycling organ
4za+ions in the metropolitan district