Evening star., 1898-05-14
SO ME- CYCLE CHAT

The inclement weather for the past few
| Sundays has caused several postponements
In the attempt Of Henry Smith, the Mary
/ land long-distance rider to break the ex-
listing four-hour road record Every San
day for nearly a month past preparations
| have been made to start the rider on his
| long journey of endurance. but each time
I the rainy weather prevented. Now every
: thing has been fixed for tomorrow, and
should the weather prove favorable the
rider will make the Start.
The course will be over the shell road
Smith has been in training for the hard
ride. and every postponement gave him ad-
ditional time in which to harden his mus
| cles. He is said to be in the best condition,
not stale. but lively enough to keep up a
rattling good speed all of the time he sits
| In the saddle. He feels confident that the
| ride will be successful, barring accidents
| of course. The wheelmen of Baltimore
are taking great interest in the ride, and
| nearly all of the clubs of the city will fur
nish men to assist in pacing the rider.
Headquarters for the ride, situated on the
course, have been selected.
| The cycle papers are paying a good deal
| or attention to the fact that Congress Is
quite likely to impose a war tax of 81 on
| each bicycle ridden in the country the rev.
enue thus derived to help swell up the war
fund. While Congress has not given any
intimation Of its probable action. some pa
pers seem to take it for granted that such
a tax Will be levied and collected. Some of
| the trade papers favor the tax on patriotic
| grounds. while others denounce the pro-
posed action.
| The judge of a court at Grand Rapids
| Mich, has rendered decision which is
| regarded as unique and which will un-
doubtedly result in the case being brought
| before the supreme court of the state. A
| woman cyclist. while riding on the streets
! OF the city, rode into rut and was thrown
| from her wheel. sustaining serious damage
| She entered a suit against the city for dam
ages, but was defeated. the court deciding
| that when street was safe for four wheel
| ed Veh1cleS the city could not be held re-
| spons1Die for accidents Detailing bicycle
riders In his classification of the bicycle
| the court reaches the following Interesting
| conclusion which is portion of the deci-
! sion:
| "A bicycle differs materially from any
other form of vehicle. and is. in fact only
Vencle When being actually ridden; at
all other times its classification Is changed
When not vehicle when being ridden it
| Is oftenest found to be baggage or luggage
AS vehicle it can only be ridden lawfully
where other vehicles can travel and is nro
hibited from the sidewalks; as baggage
when not ridden it may be rolled or car
| r1ed upon the sidewalk or elsewhere the
same as a satchel or carpet bag or other
bundle. and occupies less space often than
such bag or package. AS vehicle it cam
| not be propelled through the walks Of our
! where; as vehicle it cannot lawfully nun
along railroad. though as baggage It is
checked upon the cars the same as trunks
and boxes So in this case we have to deal
with Kind of quasi vehicle that from
Its peculiar construction and use may have
a strong influence upon the law from that
applicable to usual damage suits"
Judging from a report of one of the off,
cials of the British consulate at Finland
the defects of the English-constructed
wheel are plainly evident to the people of
their own country. The English wheel is a
clumsy and heavy affair, Will, the Ameri-
can wheel. being light and trim looking
readily displaces it in foreign markets The
consulate officer makes this report to the
home office: LAS regards the cycle trade
Finland is a good field for operations But
whilst some years ago the English ma
chimes formed about two-thirds of the num-
ter in Use, American and German bicycles
are now in very great demand. so that at
present there are only about one-third or a
quarter English make. The reasons why
American and German machines are grown
so much in favor of the public are: The
English machines are heavier, clumsier and
more expensive than the former. 1 beg
to give you as an example the statement of
leading bicycle merchant here, who said
to me the other day that he could always
sell a first-class. high-grade American ma
chine al 800 Finnish marks Zone Finnish
mark equals one French france, whilst the
price of an English of the same material
and finish would come to about 100 Finnish
marks. The English should, therefore, not
stick so much to their conservatiyeness, but
follow more the taste and requirements Of
the public. 1t behooves them to see to thu
| matter and not let the market in Finland
glide from their hands, 1t now seriously
threatens to d."
i The tendency of riders seems to be to go
back to the of the 30-inch wheel. The
2s-inch wheel is used on fully nine-tenths
of the bicycles now manufactured but soma
factories are now turning out 30-inch
wheels. This size of wheel has become
popular in England where it is claimed
they make riding more steady. In fact, the
use of the large wheels Is popular across
the water. The spread of the matter to
this side is only natural and now a number
of 30-inch wheels being placed on
frames, which have to be constructed diff
ferently for the larger diameters BY some
it is predicted that this style Of wheel will
be all of the demand for next season.
Levant Whcelmen.
The principal topic around the Levant
Wheelmen club rooms is the century which
will be run off tomorrow. 1t is expected
that this will he the largest century ever
run from Washington. Lieut.. Fryer, ac-
companied by Messrs. Koehler and Palmer,
made the run to Frederick to ascertain the
condition of the roads and to make ar
rangements to feed the large number of
riders expected. The roads were in fair
condition. The rain which has fallen in
The time schedule of the century is as
follows:
Start, Washington, 18th and K streets
northwest, at ain.
Olney, 1914 miles-Leave S:15 am.
Damascus, Il miieS-Leave 9:45 am.
New Market, Sh2 miles-Leave 1915 am.
Frederick. miles-Arrive Has am.
Stop for dinner at Frederick from Has
am. to 1:4J pm.
Frederick-Leave 1:45 pm.
New Market-Leave 2:45 pm.
Damascus-Leave 3:45 pm.
Olney-Leave 5:15 pm.
Washington. 18th and X streets-Arrive
1880 pm.
The checking stations at the start will
be open from to am; at Olney, from 8
to 11:3O am: at New Market, from 1890
am. to pm; at Frederick. from 11:45
q. m. to $3.50 pm. At Frederick two recep-
tacles will be used for checking purposes,
one on arriving and one on leaving. The
rider on leaving Frederick cannot deposit
check in the second receptacle until las
pm, when the pacemakers will start on
IL