BICYCLING. 



409 



TRADE BLACKLIST. 



The bicycle dealers of Philadelphia have 

 decided on a plan to blacklist all wheelmen 

 who are bad pay. At a recent meeting of 

 the Philadelphia Cycle Board of Trade it 

 was decided to make up a list of all wheel- 

 men who had purchased bicycles on the 

 instalment plan and failed to keep their 

 agreement. Every dealer in the vicinity 

 of that city carefully scanned his books 

 and sent in a list of those who had failed 

 in their payments. Yesterday President 

 Brewer completed his " blacklist," which 

 contains nearly 4,000 names. 



AN IMPOSSIBILITY. 



The bicycle girl's in despair and exhausted " 

 With winds that are blowing at such a 

 swift rate, 

 Despite her wild efforts to do so — 'tis 

 dreadful, 

 Her hat on her head she can never keep 

 straight. 



Patent Office records for 1897 show that 

 the greatest number of exclusive rights 

 issued, relating to cycles and sundries, was 

 on stands and racks, 124 in all. Patents 

 were issued on no styles of puncture-proof 

 tires, 106 handlebars, grips and stems; 105 

 styles of driving gear, the greater part of 

 the chainless order; 85 saddles, 69 brakes, 

 51 styles of frame construction, 50 pedals 

 and cranks, 26 guards and gear cases, 17 

 spring frames, 12 tandems and 8 bearings, 

 other than the ball variety. And still the 

 mills grind away. 



" Did the doctor do anything to help 



your rheumatism? " 



" I should think so. Anyway, it has 

 gained on me steadily ever since." — Stray 

 Stories. 



Bicycle baggage legislation, so success- 

 ful in various parts of the country, bids fair 

 to give way in popularity this year to State 

 measures providing for wide tires on vehi- 

 cles in order to spare the road surfaces, 

 so easily destroyed by narrow tires on 

 vehicles heavily loaded. Three bills of 

 this sort have been introduced in the Mas- 

 sachusetts Legislature, and there is a 

 movement in the same direction pending 

 in New York and one in New Jersey. 



What's that book you're reading, 



papa 



' The ' Last Days of Pompeii,' my pet." 

 " What did he die of, papa? " 



An eruption, dear." 



The question as to whether a wheelway 

 will be built over the Brooklyn bridge is as 



far from settlement as ever. Seven meet- 

 ings of the committee appointed to urge the 

 matter have been called, but no quorum has 

 yet been secured. Consequently no work 

 has been done. The members of this com- 

 mittee are evidently not politicians. 



THE MODERN LAY. 



" My lover's the man in the moon," 

 Was once a most popular tune, 

 But the song that the maidens now like, 

 Is, " My lover's the man on the bike." 



DISCOUNTS TO LEAGUE MEMBERS. 



With the object of supplying members 

 of the L. A. W. with bicycles at less than 

 catalogue prices, some of the officers of 

 that body planned a purchasing bureau for 

 the benefit of its members, and incident- 

 ally for the benefit of itself. 



The manufacturers declined to enter into 

 the arrangement and the officers of the 

 National Cycle Board of Trade are likely 

 to instruct the secretary to warn members 

 of the Board against granting the request. 



The victim — That is a lovely suburban 

 home you sold me. Every time it rains the 

 lot is a sea of mud. 



The man who sold — Well, don't you 

 know enough to stay in the house when it 

 rains? — Cincinnati Enquirer. 



SHRINKAGE OF THE L. A. W. 



Notwithstanding all the recruiting that 

 has been done, at heavy expense, the total 

 membership of the L. A. W. fell, in 6 

 weeks, from 103,298, the figure on Febru- 

 ary 1st, to 102,502, on March 1st. In that 

 time New York State had its total re- 

 duced from 26,956 to 26,829, a loss of 127; 

 Pennsylvania from 24,888 to 24,839, a loss 

 of 49, and Massachusetts from 12,571 to 

 12,408, a loss of 163. New Jersey has 

 gained 4 members and now has 6,875, and 

 Connecticut, by gaining 37, has reached a 

 total of 2,085. Pennsylvania is still 2,000 

 behind New York, and the rivalry between 

 the 2 divisions is likely to continue to 

 bolster the membership. 



The Associated Cycling Clubs of New 

 York have voted to exclude women from 

 century runs, in future. So have several 

 of the independent clubs. This is right. 

 Century runs are bad for both men and 

 women, but especially so for women. 



The first bicycle car ever built by a rail- 

 way Company left the Flatbush avenue sta- 

 tion, Brooklyn, at 8:45 Sunday, March 20. 

 This is one of the full length baggage cars 

 recently equipped by the Long Island Rail- 

 way Company for bicycles only. 



