FOREST AND STREAM^ 
tOcT. 11, 1898. 
south through the edge of Englewood into Auburn Park, 
he ia on the edge of a snipe marsh on which hundreds of 
anipe are killed every year. Here are located the shoot- 
ing grounds of the Eureka Gun Club, A great many of 
the attendants at the fine weekly shoots of the Eureka 
Club come to the shoot on their own wheels, and one 
sometimes sees two or three dozen wheels piled about at 
a meeting. At Watson's shooting park also, which lies 
over toward the lake from the EureJaa grounds, but easily 
accessible by means of the electric car tracks, which make 
a fair bicycle road, one very often sees a great many 
wheels on hand at a shoot, This is off the regular nickel- 
plated boulevard system of the park runs, buc is not difli- 
cult for a rider who can do fifteen or twenty miles with- 
out grumbling at a loose paving bk)ck or two. 
Starting again at the Fokest and Stream oiiice, one is 
eight blocks from Jackson street bridge, from which it is 
only a step to the liae Jackson boulevard. This opens up 
yet another way out into the coimtry and connects witli 
another series of boulevards, Twelfth street, Ashland, etc., 
■etc. Here one may ride out into Douglas Park, aod 
thence cross over along the boulevards to Garfield Park. 
Here he can take Wasliington boulevard, or go on north 
to Humboldt Park and Humboldt boulevard. Riding a 
iew cross streets, mostly of cedar block, he can get over 
to the Lincoln Park system, and strike the Sheridan road 
above mentioned ; or if he does not care to turn toward 
Garfield Park when he leaves Douglas Park, he can follow 
on out along Western avenue and presently strike the 
Garfield boulevard, along which he can ride a few miles 
and come out upon the South Park and Michigan boule- 
vard systems. Of course, the lake lies on the east side of 
Chicago, the heart of the business district being only two 
iblocks from the water nont, so that no riding can be done 
in that direction; but by reltrence to the above it will be 
observed that all the great boulevard systems of Chicago, 
to the north, the west and the south, are practically con- 
nected. One can ride on the smooth asphalt and rolled 
boulevards for something like fifty miles, 1 should say, 
thus skirting the edge ot the thickly settled pans of the 
city, though he will find fine resiaences and practically 
city life many miles further out than his furthest point of 
such travel. It is said that no city in the country has so 
fine a boulevard system as Chicago, and from the above 
it may be seen how singularly easy of access these systems 
are to the rider starting from even the very business cen- 
ter of the town. The three great boulevard series of the 
city — of the north, south and west sides of town — are 
separated in the down- town portion by an ugly strip of 
some eight or ten blocks ot rough granite pavements. 
The best way to get across from ttie west side to the south 
side is over Jackson street bridge. The allied forces of 
the Chicago bicyclists are beseecJaing the city council to 
set aside Jackson street and boulevard it, reserving it for 
the use of the carriages and bicycles alone. It is very 
likely that this will be done. Then indeed Chicago will 
be the luckiest city in the world so far as bicycle riding 
is concerned. 
So perfect are the surfaces of these Chicago boulevards, 
and so absolutely level, that after a little wnile the rider, 
at least the athletic rider, tires of them. It is absolutely 
no exercise to ride along such roads. But it may be seen 
that they lead at once directly to the country roads. 
Along these the lover of the rod and of the gun may ride 
with purposes not consecrated to the wheel alone. In 
other words, he can make of the bicycle what it should 
toe and what it will be, a vehicle, and not a toy. This is 
the future of the bicycle, and here lies the surest founda- 
tion for the permanancy of the bicycle trade. People 
tire of toys, but they will always use tbe best and readiest 
and cheapest vehicle. They will not let go of a vehicle 
which gives them sport, oilers competitive athletics and 
takes them out of doors. TUe Chicago shooter or angler 
who goes on his wheel to the Fox River or to the snipe 
meadows twenty miles from town would not go if it were 
not that he could ride there. He would not pay a livery- 
man $4 for a team to take him there. But since he can 
step hito the saddle at no expense and no loss of time, he 
does go, and he walks and is out in the fresh air a whole 
day, to say nothing of the exercise he has from the 
wheel. Therefore he is just one day ahead in life. He 
has been out of doors, whereas otherwise he might have 
been in a room, breathing city air, which men endure, 
but which never did any man any good as compared to 
the air of the country, E. Hough. 
1806 BoTCK BUILDIM&, Chicago. 
Military Wheelmen. 
The English Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic Newa 
of Aug. 29 has a picture of the a6ch Middlesex Cycling 
Volunteers uniformed and equipped for the field. This 
corps was raised in February, 18B8, and numbers 118 
effectives out of an authorized strength of 121. They are 
armed at present with the Martini-Henri rifle, but hope 
soon to exchange this for the magazine rifle, as the latter 
has the advantage of a shorter bayonet, which is less apt 
to catch in the spokes of the wheel. The rifle and a hun- 
dred spare rounus of ammunition are carried in the bicy- 
cle. The "Lintot equipment," whatever that may be, has 
been adopted, and is found to answer well. If this has to 
do with the manner of carrying the rifle, the tquipment 
apparently consists of a large leather-wrapped ring per- 
manently attached to the head-post, into which the muz- 
zle of the rifle is inserted, and a U-shaped device on the 
rear fork which catches the rifle at the grip. The rifles 
are carried on either right or left side of the wheel, and 
hang as a rule some distance below the upper brace tube, 
top uppermost. The oflicers are armed with sword and 
revolver carried on the machine. 
These cycling volunteers are daring riders. In their 
recent evolutions at the Volunteer tournament in the 
Crystal Palace they picked up and rescued wounded men 
and performed other similar feats. 
They carry their bugler into action sitting on one of 
their members' shoulders, with his feet on the handle 
bars. 
As Regards Comfort. 
There is a pronounced reaction from the racing mod- 
els ot bicycles toward more sensible road wheels. Brakes 
will be more in evidence next year than they have been 
for a number of years, and we may expect to see many 
other improvements designed for safety and comfort. 
Willis Troy, who is back in this country after a trip to 
France as manager of a racing team, ia reported m 
"Many riders will yet buy 25 or 38 or even 301b. wheels, 
fitted with stronger and more expensive tires, gear cases, 
brakes, and everything necessary for comfort and safety. 
Where the ball bearings and the various parts of a wheel 
are made and adjusted properly, road riders will get far 
more satisfaction out of a .30lb. wheel than out of one 
weighing much less. In England a few years ago the 
bicycle market was in precisely the same condition 
that it occupies here to-day, but it readjusted itself and 
good wheels over there again bring top prices." 
Regarding tires JBeamtgrs says: 
"The days of the shoestring tire are numbered, ahd 
next year 'will see the big tire in use — not universally j 
but here and there — and the leaven will work to the end 
that within another year 3in. pneumatics will be as com- 
mon as the small tires which are fitted to-day. 2^^in. 
tires were ridden by the winner of the Chicago road race 
on Labor Day, and although the condition of the roads 
was bad, and the rider a man out of training, he covered 
his 100 miles in a trifle over seven hours. The same 
rider, under the same conditions, could not ride the 
course in that time with l^in. tires, and it is pretty cer- 
tain that the winner of the time prize in this race could 
have lowered his mark with the big tires as an aid. Sev- 
eral men have tried the machines refered to, and al- 
though it is 2 or 3lbs, heavier than the usual run of light 
roadsters, they say it handles well and is fast on all kinds 
of surfaces. Car tracks are not noticeable, and rough 
cedar blocks become as asphalt. The tires are even easier 
to the feel on macadam than small pneumatics, and seem 
quite as fast. It is an open question if they are not even 
faster for track work than a small tire, granting, of 
course, that the tread and side walls are of the same 
thickness. The tires which we have seen are single 
tubes, of the road-racing weight, and are made for 36in. 
rims, holding the rider about the same distance from the 
ground as a 28 by l^in. tire." 
R?garding gear cases the same authority says: 
"A gear case provides for a protection of the lubricant 
covered chain and sprockets, and contributes more to the 
comfort of the rider and the life of the machine than 
any attachment which could be added to our American 
wheels." 
The Mather Wheelmen. 
New York, Oct. 7. — Editor Forest and Stream: I beg 
to assure Mr. Mather that if any member of the club pro- 
nounces the name in any other way except with the "a" 
as in "father" or "mat" he shall be immediately request- 
ed to get out until he has learned to pronounce it prop- 
erly. I hope that this will overcome all of Mr. Mather's 
scruples and that he will now consent "to sit on the 
fence and review the parade." _The Mather Wheelmen 
are going to do their namesake proud, and he shall hear 
from us yet in a way that will not make him regret that 
he is our godfather; and I as the captain wish to say that 
Mr. Fred Mather has and always will have a warm spot 
m the hearts of the Mather Wheemen. 
Comments. 
Brookland, D. C. , Oct. 4 — Editor Forest and Stream: 
In your issue of the 3d inst. I notice that you speak of 
the cactus as being a detriment to hunting the antelope on 
a bicycle. In reply would like to state, there are various 
tires manufactured now which are perfectly impeivious 
to cactus or any other thorn, or even glass and nails. 
One of them is a single tube made wholly of rubber and 
fabric, and is very light. 
Just a few words in conclusion. It is a pretty hard 
matter to ride a wheel on the ice, as I have found by ex- 
perience. The least turn or wobble will send the rider 
sprawling. Last, but not least, it is next to impossible to 
mount by one's self on the ice. A. W. Ridgway. 
Dog^, Wheel and Rabbit. 
In the absence of live rabbits the Presidio Club inau- 
gurated a new sport which is quite likely to supersede the 
original game. It is the running of a stuffed hare by the 
dogs. To do this an inverted bicycle with the tire off one 
of the wheels was located at one end of the field. A 
string, wound around the tireless wheel, stretched 125 
yards off, where it was tied to a stuffed hare. The 
"winder" or wheelman waited for the signal and began 
turning the wheel so as to haul in the string and the rab- 
bit, which the dogs tried to overtake. In one instance 
only did the terriers reach the game. — San Francisoo Call. 
The last serious agitation of the measurement question 
was iu 1889, the first season of the 40ft. class, when the 
Forest and Stream, with the aid of a number of expe- 
rienced yachtsmen, made a hard flght for a change of the 
then universal classification by waterllne length to the pres- 
ent basis of racing length. Though excellent reasons were 
advanced in favor of the proposed change, it was opposed, 
as other progressive movements had been before, by some 
influential yachtsmen; some of the then prominent Eastern 
yachtsmen were very strongly against it, as was Mr. Bur- 
gess; and nearly all of the daily papers of New York and 
Boston were with them. 
On account of this opposition, the mattpr was dropped for 
a time, but since then it has come forward of itself; without 
serious effort on the part of those who first opposed it, the 
opposition has dwindled liway, and the change has been 
made, with only good results; none of those dire calamities 
predicted in the event of its adoption having thus far pre- 
sented themselves after several years' trial. 
The conditions which prevailed in 1889 are materially 
altered now, and for the worse; the demand on the part of a 
few for extreme speed at any cost has introduced the bulb- 
fin, tne shallow hull and a construction that is both costly 
and lacking in durability. The present movement, in its 
several different forms, is directed primarily to the correction 
of these salient evils and the production of yachts of more 
moderate draft and sa,il area, added displacement and greater 
durability. To this general end several means are proposed, 
the simplest being the placing of certain arbitrary limita- 
tions on draft and sail in each class, and ranging from this 
up to the construction of a new formula, in which shall ap- 
pear such factors as draft, depth, displacement, area of mid- 
ship seolion, etc. This ia the same tasU, that has been twice 
attepapted of late ye^ra by mm of the ftblest ao^ Wigiite^t 0* 
Biitish yachtsmen and designers, with a lack of success that 
is very close to an utter failure; and we have no very strong 
hopes that American yachtsmen will succeed in finding any 
one formula which will attain the end in view and bring 
back, in connection with some modern improvements, the 
generally usable yachts that made the racing in the old 70ft, 
and 40ft classes 
From the discussions we have heard thus far, we believe 
that the clubs concerned in the work are now ready to an- 
swer definitely the question that has been almost invariably 
evaded, as by the British Y. R. A. for years, but which is 
the foundation of a successful movement for a good meas- 
Utement rule. "What do the clubs want? Speed without 
tegard to cost, safety and similar wholesome requirements, 
or an average of good qualities in which speed, even if the 
first, shall not overshadow all others?" With Defender rust- 
ing at her moorings, with Wasp sailing alone for year after 
year in the smaller division of ths single stick class, with 
Amorita and Quiesetta plowing deep ditches in the bottom 
of the regular Sound racing courses, and with the compara- 
tively wholesome 15-footer3 of 1895 completely outclassed 
by Glencairn and Sothis, we believe that the clubs, the rac- 
ing owners, and yachtsmen at large would now not only 
accept, but welcome a rule that, even though it clioped off 
some seconds per mile as compared with the bulb fin racing 
machine, would produce certain types in the various classes 
which would be of durable construction, of practicable draft, 
reasonable accommodation, and above all, which could not 
be outbuilt in their first season by the mere use of greater 
draft and sail area on the part of newer adversaries. 
In the one large class in whioh the America's Cup races 
have been held for some years the attempt to introduce the 
slightest restriction on speed would be at once strenuou&ly 
opposed; but this matters not at all, as the class has no place 
in the regular interclub racing, and only comes into existence 
at odd intervals, it need in no way be considered in discuss- 
ing a change of the rules. In all the other classes, of both 
rigs, there seems to be an opinion that unhampered experi- 
ment in draft, in sail area and iir light and costly construc- 
tion has finally outrun the natural limit, and that little or 
nothing is to be gained by continuing to seek further ex- 
tremes. The experiment of Defender, for instance, has been 
most interesting and instructive;, showing the possibilities of 
the great keel cutter, long a matter of dispute. The yacht 
ia, however, so obviously useless for general yachting and 
racuDg that there is no room for argument over the demerits 
of the type. It would be a decided gain to American yacht- 
ing if, fi'om the knowledge gained in the experiments with 
Defender, Vigilant, Oolonia, Volunteer, Lasca and Emerald, 
under one or two masts, the schooners of the 95tt. racing 
length class, the old 90ft., could be limited to an extreme 
draft of not over 14ft. This, of course, tvould mean a dis- 
crimination in favor of the centerboard type, but a long ex- 
perience has shown that, even though a little slower in rac- 
ing, this is by all means the most desirable type for Sound 
racing and the 'longshore work between Sandy Hook and 
Bar Harbor, about all that is required of these yachts. 
In the smaller class of schooners the conditions call for a 
centerboard craft, and one of moderate draft, as in all ways 
most desirable; it is easy to see that about Long Island Sound 
a Quickstep of 7l t. draft is a far better yacht than an Amor- 
ita or Quissetta, of about the same accommodation, with 11 
to 13ft. 
In the single-3lick classes frorai-36 to 75ft. racing length 
everything points to the keel type as the most desirable, both 
in speed and accommodation; and it is important that while 
extreme draft, such as nearly lOft, in a 4a-footer, should be 
prevented, the keel and centerboard be placed as nearly as 
possible upon equal terms. 
In the classes from 25ft. downward there is little need of 
considering the question of internal space and 'accommoda- 
tion; the shoal hull is permissible and the bulb-fin must be 
recognized, but at the same time some limitations to extreme 
draft and sail area are imperative. 
Even though a suitable rule be found for the decked yachts 
in the classes from 30ft. upward, it by no means follows that 
the same rule will apply to the smaller classes with a larger 
ratio of live ballast, and it is possible that an entirely diffei- 
ent rule may be found necessary. 
There is sonie encouragement for next season in the fact 
that four new racing boats are alrea'iy ordered, and that too 
in the same class. What is still better is the fact that the 
class is a good one, and there is reason to hope that the new 
yachts may be less of the machine type than any that have 
lately been seen. The 51ft. racing length class, to which the 
boats will belong, is the legitimate successor of the old 40ft. 
length class, and will show a longer hull of about 'the same 
beam, and a smaller sail plan than the racing forties of 1889- 
90. Just what the draft will be is dependent on the action of 
the clubs, in fact the proposed action on the rule, if any im- 
mediate results are reached, will have much to do with the 
shaping of the class; but the main idea seems to be to pro- 
duce a fast racing yacht of moderate form and sail area, and 
of sufficient accommodation for owner and crew through tbe 
season. Two of these yachts will be designed by Gardner &> 
Cox, one for F M. Hoyt, owner of Norota, who has just sold 
her to D. B. Burnham, of Oyster Bay. A third will be de- 
signed and built by the HeiTeshoft" Manufacturing Co., and 
a fourth, tor J. B. Mills, late owner of Infanta, will be de- 
signed by Will Fife, Jr. The certainty of these boats in the 
racing is likely to bring out others before the season begins. 
The question of the meaning of the "mutual agreement 
clause" in the new deed ef giti; is revived by a proposal on 
the part of Bir Gt orge Newnes to challenge for the Ameri- 
ca's Cup, which proposal the Royal London Y. C. has de- 
clined to forward on the ground that it had no reason to 
alter the position which it took when the deed was first 
made public in 1887. In this the Royal London Y. C. sets 
an example in consistency and self respect that is in bold 
contrast to that of the Royal Yacht Squadron a httle more 
than a year ago When the first copies of the new deed 
were received by these two clubs, each took much the same 
grounds as previously taken by the Forest and Stream, 
substantially that the tampering with a trust was in itself 
illegal; that the manner in which the change was made vvas 
also illegal and contrary to club usage; and that the specific 
demands of the deed were unfair to ah other clubs and con- 
trary to the expressed intentions of the original donors. 
After nine years of constant controversy, we have seen 
nothing to induce us to chani^e the opinion which we ex- 
pressed the week after the new deed appeared; while in the 
meantime some of the most objectionable points, such as the 
demand for the dimensions, have been disclaimed by the 
jneB who made tbeHi, aod generally condemned as iintair by 
