Omaha daily bee., 1898-08-14

things seem to shape themselves so that
those in the rear Of the procession may nhd
a consolation prize II they look about ne
cently-that is to say, within the last hNe
years-the owners Of bicycles looked upon
the horse as a back number. On the
streets and boulevards he was regarded as
an interloper, tolerated for his past and
pitied for his present condition, His value
sunk to zero, and in some sections Of this
great country ne was not considered worth
his hay. But he lived on somehow, plodded
his weary way amid the jeers OF the wheel
ing multitude, and calmly bided his time.
II has come. The overlooking measure Of
public %ohloquy, which has been a steady diet
for years, now affords the longed-for conso-
lation. To see a bicycle standing dejectedly
before n wheel store bearing a four-dollar
price tag Is compensation for equine trials
and tribulations. Time, as usual, humbles
pride and evens up some things.
An effort is being made at Washington to
stamp every bicycle dealer who handles any
secondhand wheels as a junkman and COM
pei him to pay a tax of $40 a year, which is
the license fee paid by junk dealers. -Four
retailers OF bicycles have been arrested on
warrants sworn out by the prosecuting at
torney, and a hard legal fight is in pros
pect. The law is very explicit. 1t provides
that every one making it his business TO
sell or buy secondhand personal property,
OF no matter what kind, shall pay a fee of
$40 annually to the District of Columbia. II
the bicycle men lose their case, every dealer
who takes secondhand wheels in part pay
ment for new machines will have to pay
the junkman's-fee or cease tie practice. If
the law is sustained 1t will apply with equal
force to dealers. In ,typewriters, sewing ma
chimes and other articles of like nature. and
for this reason the cycle merchants are en-
deavoring to enlist the aid of the trades
men in all such lines.
These foreign riders who came to America
under the belief that they had struck u civ
ilized Klondike are slowly returning to their
sunny lands with long counteuances and
many words of condemnation against those
who brought them over and sold them a
gold brick" The American representa-
tives when they were in France predicted
to the impressionable Frenchmen that all
that was needed in America was their pres
ence, when the Yankees would fight for the
honor of paying shekels to witness their
riding. Such was not the case, however; in
fact, it was a hard job to get together sufii-
cient specie to pay the training and travel
ing expenses Of the foreign stars whose
luster has been so badly dimmed, and now
as fast as a m OF this now famous in
ternational team gets sufficient money to-
gether the first investment is a steerage
passenger ticket by some Of the slower
boats to Paris. Those. who have already
reached the sunny shore of bonny France
have been the center of attraction among
those who did not come over, and the press
Of that country has been wild in it's descrip-
ton of the treatment accorded their repre-
sentatives. AS was to be expected, the en-
tire racing fraternity of America has been
severely blamed for the actions of a few
INSCRIPTIONS promoters and the good name
of the American sportsman has been at
tackled by all concerned. international sport
has received a severe shock by this affair
and unless such riders as Linton and Tay-
lore. both OF whom have been we'll treated
in this country, counteract the effect of the
reports spread by the other riders, foreign
riders will not treat Americans with that
affection so much desired, nor will they
be apt to. again come to this country for the
sake of chasing the American dollar from
its lair.
Broadly speaking, every wheel needs
truing up once or twice in a season, and
most machines have by the list of August
been ridden enough for the spokes to be in
need of attention. The total strain on the
hub and rim of n bicycle is little appre-
ciated. 1t has been estimated that the ten
sion on each spoke is about twenty-five
pounds. This is pulling on the eyelet in the
hub tlange and on a little washer that is
counter sunk in the wood on the outside of
the rim next to the tire. In a wheel having
thirty-six spokes this means a total of 800
pounds strain. Every time a wheel is
steered over a heavy roadway or wrenched
around a corner there is an extra pull on
the washers in the rim and the tendency is
for them TO sink deeper. The consequence
is that the spokes work loose. In addition
to the strain of regular riding at this time
is to be counted the changeable weather.
The heat and moisture OF the last few weeks
have been playing havoc with both wood
ana steel and the men of the shops say that
about 6O per cent of the wheels they see
need truing up. Spokes when tight emit n
musical note upon being thrummed, and
riders with judgment can tell by going over
their spokes and twanging them when there
is need of adjustment. A word of caution
regarding this is given by a New York
dealer who has spent more than two de-
cades in the business. He says that riders
should not take it for granted that a wheel
is out OF true because every spoke is not of
equal tension. Men have taken wheels to
his shop, he says. and asked to have them
nNed because they found that some one or
two spokes were not as tight as the others,
and upon examination the wheel was found
to be perfectly true. This is due to the
fact that when a wheel is built and trued
up the spokes are not of equal tension,
theoretically they should be, but practically
they cannot be, Workmanship may be ever
so fine, but steel and wood cannot be rem
dered insensible to natural laws. There is
always some shrinkage and expansion al
lowed for. Furthermore there are slight in
accuracies in drilling the holes in rims
which in the aggregate make a marked diff
ference. Therefore, a brand new wheel may
be perfectly true and yet have some spokes
which, when snapped with the fingers, like
harp strings, do not sound in the same key
as the others. II a number are loose in this
way, however, IL is pretty certain that the
wheel needs attention. The best way is to
test the wheel by spinning II and holding
the thumb nail so close to the rim that II it
does not turn evenly the nail will be rubbed
by certain parts OF il. II is also pointed out
that a wheel may be true and yet have
spokes in need of tightening, because all
have become loose so evenly that the rim
is not distorted.