BICYCLING. 



THE BICYCLE IN THE ARMY. 

 The emergency appropriation passed by 

 Congress, last Spring, provided $21,000 for 

 the signal corps service, and of this amount 

 a considerable portion was expended for 

 bicycles for use in the army. Although 

 Germany, France, Austria, Italy, and other 

 European nations have conducted long 

 series of experiments with bicycles for mili- 

 tary use, and have regular cycle corps, the 

 bicycle has never been officially recognized 

 in the United States army. This is due prin- 

 cipally to the meanness of Congress in mak- 

 ing appropriations for the support of the 

 regular army;, but also, in a measure, to the 

 unprogressiveness of military commanders. 

 Nevertheless, the possibilities of the wheel, 

 for certain classes of work in war opera- 

 tions, have not been lost sight of, and Gen- 

 eral Miles is a strong advocate of its em- 

 ployment for the erection of telegraph and 

 telephone lines, scouting work, courier 

 service, and for throwing out small detach- 

 ments to interrupt the enemy's lines of 

 communication by cutting telegraph wires, 

 seizing or blowing up bridges and railroads, 

 and the like. It was General Miles who 

 organized the first military relay ride from 

 Chicago to New Yor*k in 1891, and wrote 

 the message which was carried 1,000 miles 

 in 109 hours by the plucky cyclists, through 

 one of the longest and severest storms of 

 the year, to be delivered to another army 

 officer in New York. The forced march 

 of the regular army soldiers by wheel last 

 summer, from Fort Missoula, Mont., to 

 Washington, D. C, was also performed at 

 his instigation, and demonstrated beyond 

 doubt the utility of the bicycle in such 

 movements; for full camping equipments 

 and arms, weighing 40 pounds, were car- 

 ried on each machine, over all kinds of 

 roads, and in all sorts of weather. There 

 have been other expeditions of a like nat- 

 ure, so that in the present war the army 

 officers have some valuable data to work 

 from in the organization of bicycle corps in 

 the regiments. After the conclusion of the 

 war it is probable that every regiment will 

 have its regularly equipped cycle corps. 



Theodore R. MacClure, chief clerk of the 

 Michigan State Board of Health, has made 

 a special study of bicycling in its social, 

 business, hygienic, and military phases, and 

 has contributed a number of scientific arti- 

 cles on the subject to the professional med- 

 ical journals of the State. His opinion, 

 with regard to the use of the bicycle in the 

 present war, is therefore of interest and 

 value. 



" Bicycles have been found, by practical 

 usage, to be a very valuable military ac- 

 cessory," he says, " and the aggressive 

 Japanese were probably the first nation to 



use them in actual service. They found 

 them exceedingly useful in reconnoitering 

 and skirmishing. The movements on the 

 enemy were rapid and disastrous; and, af- 

 ter the object had been accomplished, the 

 assailants were out of the way before the 

 enemy could get into position to attack. 

 A very small detachment of cyclists could 

 do great damage to a large detachment, 

 with little loss to their numbers. 



" It was found, however, that the ordi- 

 nary bicycle was not applicable to military 

 service, and a folding bicycle was invented, 

 which could be folded together in a few 

 seconds, and strapped to the back of the 

 soldier in a neat package, weighing about 

 28 pounds. These folding wheels were a 

 little heavier, built with special reference to 

 durability, and could be taken by the sol- 

 dier over fences, bridges, walls, or, in fact, 

 any place where the soldier himself could 

 pass. On the march the wheels are espe- 

 cially valuable, because of the great dis- 

 tance the soldier is able to cover, with no 

 more effort than in walking. 



" The use of wheels in the European 

 armies is becoming quite extensive. The 

 demand for this specially built military 

 wheel has become so great that factories in 

 Europe are devoting their entire time to 

 manufacturing them; and one factory, it is 

 estimated, will turn out 50,000 wheels an- 

 nually. 



" With the advent of the wheel in military 

 affairs, comes the perplexing question of 

 dealing with them. Here, again, the faith- 

 ful dog is suggested. It is understood that 

 in Germany dogs are being trained to dis- 

 mount soldiers riding wheels. Wheelmen 

 know what damage a small dog can do, and 

 it is easy to understand how a large, ugly 

 Danish dog could play havoc with soldier 

 cyclists. 



" I believe our army, or a section of it at 

 least, will be provided with bicycles of a 

 folding type, somewhat like those of Japan 

 and Europe." 



Fagan — Oi say, Casey, whoi don't yez git 

 a boike? 



Casey — D'yes think Oi'm crazy ter climb 

 a ladder all th' wake an' thin do th' same 

 thing all day Sunday? Nit! 



TANDEM RACES. 



For some unknown reason tandem races 

 have never been made a prominent part of 

 American race-meet programmes, but they 

 are being featured this year. Because of 

 the speed attained, and the apparent danger 

 of a number of 2-seaters, flying around 

 the turns of 3- and 4-lap tracks, a tandem 

 race is one of the most interesting and 

 exciting events that can be put ©n the 



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