BICYCLING. 



481 



A CRY FROM THE WAR. 

 (Dedicated to the best Lexicographer.) 



Is it bisighkel. 



Little Michael? 

 Or bisickel, 

 Whether nickel 

 Five per cent., or fifty carbon, 

 When it has its final garb on? 



Whether plain or most ornate, 



Strong and simple in its state 

 Or decked with gaieties? 

 I say it is! 



If you don't believe it 



You'll soon perceive it 

 By looking up the dictionary, 

 For it's — well, it's fiction, very 



Much so, to deny, brother, 



That it's either one or other. 



Take a vote and there will be 

 A very large majoritee 

 For bisickel 

 Like icicle, 

 Or bisighkel, uttered, say 

 Like the " cycle of Cathay." 

 In either case, 

 Whichever wins the race, 

 I offer you surety 

 That best authority 

 Will be against the chosen way 

 And the other method will come to stay. 



Brooklyn, N. Y. 

 Editor Recreation: A study of the bear- 

 ings of the '97 wheels shows a tendency 

 against which I wish to .record a protest. 

 On nearly all the wheels the arrangement of 

 cups, cones and ball-retainers is such as to 

 make an enclosed case which holds the oil 

 and anything else that may get in. This 

 arrangement requires little care and is clean, 

 making a good bearing for a ladies' wheel. 

 The old style, before ball-retainers came 



into use, was to have the cones outside and 

 locked by the nuts on the axle ends. This 

 was a good arrangement inasmuch as it al- 

 lows the oil to drain out of the bearing, 

 carrying with it the particles of dirt which 

 may get in. 



The great value of this natural drainage is 

 referred to in the report of a hard tour made 



by a U. S. Army officer. The oil, in drain- 

 ing slowly out collects dust which is easily 

 wiped off. The point of value is that it 

 shows at a glance the health of the bearing. 

 I submit a sketch of a rear wheel bearing. 

 The axle is Y% of an inch in diameter and the 

 balls -,\ inch. The ball-retainer has a 

 groove for a felt washer, as a protection 

 from dust. The balls are held to the cone, 

 a much better arrangement for cleaning and 

 inspection than where they are. held in the 

 cup. The angles of the bearing surfaces are 

 such as would make an easy running wheel, 

 if carefully made, without the slightest ten- 

 dency to wedge. B. 



" S.omebody has invented a machine- 

 gun to be mounted on a bicycle." 



" That won't work. The men will have 

 so much fun riding that they will forget all 

 about the fighting." 



It was Sunday morning March 28th, that 

 my friend Clyde and I came together and 

 planned a ride for the afternoon. It was 

 the first Sunday the roads had been in good 

 shape this year, so we ventured out. 



Our first objective point was DeGraff, O., 

 S l / 2 miles distant. I had been sick, for some 

 time, and did not feel able to ride fast, but 

 we pushed along at a fair gait. 



Arriving at DeGraff, we rode over the 

 town awhile and then stopped at a restaur- 

 ant, rested and smoked. 



W r e now ran North about 3 miles to Lo- 

 gansville and thence started for home. 

 After going about a mile Southwest, the 

 road began to grow worse, and my friend 

 suggested a change of route; so we re- 

 turned to DeGraff. There we took another 

 rest and then rode out toward a little town 

 called Spring Hills, Southeast from De- 

 Graff. We found the road fair until we had 

 gone about 3 miles when it began to get 

 rough. The wind was in our faces, and 

 our wheels began to push like log wagons. 



It was only a 4 l /z mile run to this town 

 but it seemed like 10, the way the roads 

 were at some places. W T e walked up all the 

 steep hills and found plenty of them. 



We finally found we were on the wrong 

 road so concluded to return to DeGraff and 

 then go home. 



We reached Quincy late in the evening, 

 thoroughly tired and convinced that March 

 is rather early for the roads, in this coun- 

 try. D. W., Quincy, O. 



HER HAPPY THOUGHT. 



She had painted an elegant sunset — 

 It was lurid enough to roast her: 

 But it wouldn't sell, so she dashed 

 ad — 

 A wheel-girl — and called it a poster. 



E. C 



in an 



