Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1897-12-30
AMONG THE WHEELMEN.

uOTe y. IblS0n anu a, ". II, OrlAr
members OF the commitiep on highway
improvement.
A good bicycle with decent use will
last six seasons or more and pair of
road tires of fair weight may he ridden
from G,0OO to 10000 milss on ordinary
roads. An English authority states
| that pair. of tires in ono instance was
known TO run %, 600 miles and still be
| iii for use.
President Potter is in correspondence
| with prominent mem bers of the present
Congress with the view OF obtaining
the passage of a bill empowering tho
Secretary of the Treasury to admit
touring cyclista from Canada and from
trans A tlantic countries into the United
| States without oxuctiDg the payment ur
| deposit of customs duties on the wheels
brought by such tourists for their uer.
sunal use.
L. A. W. members during 1898 will
baru an advantage not heretofore pro.
vided, in tho form of reauceh auh-
scription prices to many popular
periodicals, magazines and rapers.
Favorable 'club rates. have already
been granted by many publications,
and full printed list with stated dis
counts and subscription banks will
shortly be sent to the officers OF the
several State divisions.
A letter has been received from
Prusident Plant, of tho extensive
PlaGt System" OF railroad and steam
boat lines, covering several thousand
miles of land and water routes in the
Southern and Southeastern Stnies, in
which the writer stAtes that thu entire
syBtem has adopted the rule OF treating
bicycles as baggage. that no extra
charge Is made for THE service and
that cycling travel over these routes Is
In every way encouraged.
The uso of toe clips, even by lady
riders, ia steadily increasing. They
make nedalng easier and the foot prea-
sure more uniform and mure constant;
they Keep the foot in place, prevent tine
slipping Of PEDALS al critical times and
save the rider many had falls ami PER.
hans serious accidents. Riding with
toe clips IL vastly easier than without
md no ride. who ever used toe. clips
continuously for a week was afterwards
content to ride without them.
Tho General Council of the Cyclists'
Touring Club OF England has accepted
the proposition of the IL. a. W. look
ing 10 an interchange Of benefits, and
contracts are now Icing prepared which
provide that an Il. A. w. member may
join the q. T. G.. when about to tour
ahroad) and receive his membership
ticket, foreign tour hooks, maps hotal
lists, &C.. before sailing. This arrange
meut will enable him not only to lay
out the details OF his trip before reach
ing Europe, but will insure to him the
To al rnt ttn, il
OF hntels in all the popular cycling dis
truts OF the Continent and tho british
Isles
The loan committee. created by reso.
luton Of the last National Assembly of
the L. a. W. ITO provide ways and
peans for the help of 6uch divisions
from time to time, require financial
aid" has rendered. good service 10 tho
few months of ito existence. ln March
last the committee formulated rules and
conditions governing loans and pre-
pared application forms which require
officers of a borrowing division to set
forth fully all facts which ought to be
considered in passing upon tho appli-
cation. This application, (and in some
cnses o written guaranty is executed
and placed before the loan cum IN ittpe
for its action. Thus far only une ap.
pllcatlan mas been rejected, and loans
aggregnting several thousand dollars
have bean made tn seven divisions.
The National body Of the league holds
q lien upon all future membership fees
coming from borrowing divisions and
thus each loan is we'll secured
In considering the application OF Bos-
ton for the 1898 u. A. W. meet the OK
cutive committee hnH been forced to ro-
gard the hostile attitude of the New
England railroad and steamboat com
binatinn, and their unpopular practice
OF charging an extra sum ranging from
10 cents to several dollars for each
bicycle checked us baggage over roads
running to and from Boston. An l.. A.
W. meHt at Boston would he vastly
popular and would probably add
$3.50, 900 in railroad fares and freights
to the New England railroads but the
l., A. W. members argue that this
sum, and even more, might hetter be
paid to friendly roads running to some
western city than to enrich the coffers
of the New England combination. A
letter has been sent by the executive
committee Of the L. a. W. to the gen
oral passenger agents uf several eastern
lines to ascertain, before final decision
is reached, whether these lines cannot
be induced to abundon tho obnoxious
rule now in force of making extra
charges for bicycles.
One hundred and rwenty.ii Eve dollars
IN cash has Ieen offered 10 premiums
by the League of American Wheelnen
for photographs of bad country roads
Tbs pictures are to be used in tho work
OF its national committee on highway
improvement, and are to be sent, during
this yoar, to the chairman of this com :.
mittee, Otto Dorner, Milwaukee, Wis
The competition for those prizes is not
Limited to members Of the l.. A, w,
but is open to all alike. The commit.
i tee has sot asi1e a first premium o.
$50. a second premium of s2l third
, premium of sl5, fourth of $40, and five
[ premiums Of So each. Premiums are ia
! be awarded on single pictures, and M
, two premiums will be awarded to q
J single person, though it s expected that
j many OF the competitors will submit a
3 number OF photographs Tho pictures
, desired are to show the inconyoniences
| and losses resulting from poor high
! ways, especially 10 farmers The
| League Of American Wheelnen has
published extensive literature on Good
Roads, and tho beat of the pictures 70
ceiyed under this premium competition
are TO DO used in illuairating articles
: ana pamphlets on that subject 1t il
expected that memberH of the i, A,
W, and whaelmen generally, who arr
able to use the camera, whether
amateurs or professionals in this line,
will assist in this work, by sending id
niptuFOa nf had F0pdc md ;pn;rlnnt,lI