Pot, 31, 1896.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
BBS 
Tbili-ess— Awashonk Kennels' b. t, bitch (Laiot — 
Sweet Fern). 
Ida. No VICE — ^Mr. A. H. Morse's w,, b. and t. bitch 
(Clyde — Lady Novice). 
Glenwood— W. E. Deane's w., b. and t. dog (Little 
Corporal — Frances). 
Clarinet — Howard Almy's b. , w. and t. dog (Clarion of 
Glenrose— Triii). 
TOPSY Glenwood— W. B. Deane's w., b. and t. t. bitch 
(Rove — Wenonab). 
Snifter R. D.— Geo. F. Reed's b., w. and t. bitch (Wan- 
derer — Triumph), 
Minnie— Robt. Hindle, Jr.'s, b., w. and t. bitch (Laick— 
Sweet Fern), 
Dime's Dollbt— William Saxby's b., w. and t. bitch 
(Clyde— Dime). 
W. S. Clauk, Seo'y-Treas. 
POINTS AND FLUSHES. 
Mr. S. C. Bradley, secretary of the E, F. T. C, informs 
us that in respect to the Subscription Stake the whole of 
the entry fee was due Oct. 1, instead of 50 per cent,, as 
stated in last week's issue. 
Mr, S. C. Bradley, secretary of the E. F. T. Club, has 
been reelected to the office of first selectman in his town, 
which goes to show that the popularity of Mr. Bradley is 
not confined to field trials men and affairs. 
The Metropolitan Kennel Club has decided to hold a 
show in Brooklyn, N. Y., on Nov. 24, 25, 26 and 27, which 
will be held imder A. K. C. rules and under the manage- 
ment of Mr. Jas. Mortimer. 
Communications for this department are requested. Anything on 
the bicycle in its relation to tlie sportsman is particularly desirable. 
THE NEW BOY IN AN EMERGENCY. 
Toledo, O., Oct. 8. — Editor Forest and Stream: It used 
to be said of the Comanches that they spent so much time 
in the saddle that their leg muscles became gradually en- 
feebled and shrunken, so that, while they were admira- 
ble horsemen, they were of very little account on foot. 
With the enormous increase of the bicycle a process of a 
somewhat similar nature, but opposite in kind, is taking 
place among the palefaces, so that in the course of an- 
other generation we shall probably see a race of beings 
who are all legs and weak in the arms and back. We of 
adult years have managed to acquire the use of the bicy- 
cle after many tribulations, and even now we are never 
quite certain that some new and unheard of trait of the 
beast may not develop and find us entirely unprepared to 
meet it. But the children, Lord bless them I no one can 
tell when they learned to ride, and in a very little time 
their adaptability to every motion of the wheel and their 
perfect ease in ita manipulation make even a duck on the 
water seem like a very clumsy kind of fowl. And it will 
not be at all surprising if children twenty-five and thirty 
years from now are born with the instinct of balancing 
so fully developed that they will take to the wheel with- 
out any preliminary training as soon as they are old 
enough to stand alone. 
I did not, however, start out with the intention of 
philosophizing, but of citing an incident which tends to 
show whither we are drifting. There are seven souls in 
the Beebe family (not counting the domestic), all of 
whom ride the wheel, from the mother of the family 
down. The youngest Beebe, now in his twelfth year, is 
the adept of the name, and keeps his father busy when 
they go out for a breather on the country reads. A few 
days since the juvenile aforesaid, with some companions 
of his own age, was climbing about a tree some distance 
from the family residence, and managed to get a fall 
which bruised his feet so that he was temporarily unable 
to stand upon them, much less to walk. Did he set up a 
wail for his mother, or beg some one to go for a doctor? 
By no means. As soon as he could sit up comfortably he 
instructed one of the other boys to go to his house for his 
bicycle, so that he might ride home upon it. 
If the horse is a drug on the market and the four- 
wheeled vehicle a superfluity in 1896, where will they 
both be in another decade? Jay Beebe. 
A MORNING SPIN. 
Now that the leaves have begun to fall and the air is 
full of ozone, a ride through one of our northern parks is 
particularly delightful. A spin through Central Park, 
for instance, is an unsurpassed bracer for both mind and 
body. One inhales the surging air in great, deep-drawn 
drafts with a keener satisfaction than that with which 
the old shadow gods on Olympus quaffed their nectar, and 
each drop of blood in the veins is stirred and set a-cours- 
ing as merrily as the water in a mountain stream. 
The tardy sun sends its shafts through the trees that 
now make it blush by comparison with their own gor- 
geous coloring, and in the road along with the flying 
wheelman the fallen leaves dance, and race, and tumble 
over each other in ecstatic hurly-burly. 
The iipirit of the season is infectious. Everything is 
hurrying and happy. It is no time to idle now, with the 
days growing so short. Scampering over the leaves like 
wind-tossed fragments, or resting momentarily in some 
friendly eddy, are the gray squirrels, sleek and fat, and 
full of ginger. The nut crop in the park, as elsewhere, 
was a poor one this year, and now that the acorns and 
chestnuts have gone, and that favorite of them all, the 
hickory, is wanting, the squirrels are driven from the 
trees to the ground to seek their food. On a two-mile 
ride through the upper end of the park the other morn- 
ing twenty-two grays were sighted, most of them out in 
the open, digging or nosing around in the grass for roots 
or seeds. These park Bquirrels present an interesting 
problem in domestic economy. They inhabit an area of 
about a square mile, surrounded on all sides by a wilder- 
ness of houses and paved streets, and must necessarily get 
all their food within the limits of their domam. Other 
squirrels migrate when the supply fails, but we have 
never heard of the park squirrels following this course, 
though sometimes they are seen on nearby streets a block 
or two from their native trees, or for that matter any trees 
whatever, and it may be that they are then looking about 
for an avenue of escape. 
What then keeps the squirrels from increasing beyond 
all proportion with the food supply? We are sure we 
cannot answer. Perhaps they do so increase a.nd die oflE 
without attracting attention till a natural balance is 
restored ; but we have never, even in winter, observed the 
squirrels in poor condition, nor ever heard of a dead one 
being found. 
We are only acquainted with one cause that would tend 
to restrict the increase, and that is the predatory attacks 
of cats and dogs — particularly the former — that are fre- 
quently to be seen still-hunting in the park. The one 
thing that ruffles the even tenor of a park squirrel's ways 
is the approach of one of these prowUng marauders, and 
it is also the only things that makes him bark. 
On several occasions we have heard these squirrels cuss- 
ing away in a temper not at all compatible with tbeir pleas- 
ant surroundings, a,nd generally the cause has been some 
old split-eared and outcast cat. 
Man has no terrors for these squirrels, and generally 
they pay little or no attention to well-conducted dogs who 
follow the paths. 
But, as we said before, there is nothing like a morning 
ride in the park just now for a bracer. The animal life 
one sees adds interest to the ride, and by the time you are 
home for breakfast you are ready to fall to on the meal 
with an appreciation and zest that no late riser ever ex- 
periences. Truly October is the month of months, and 
cycling the best of sports — when you can't go hunting. 
J, B. B, 
CHAINLESS BICYCLES. 
When it is necessary to locate the seat of the develop - 
ment of power in a bicycle at a point remote from that of 
its application, much of the success of the design depends 
upon the means by which the power is transmitted. In 
the old high bicycle the power acted directly, but, though 
there were manifest advantages in this method, it was 
one which did not lend itself to employment in machines 
in which small wheels were used. Various contrivances 
have from time to time been experimented with, but all 
these devices were eventually discarded in favor of the 
chain. This was at once simple, effective, and easy of ap- 
plication to the machine, whether bicycle or tricycle, and 
it is now so universally used that it has come to be looked 
upon as the best communicant of power, so much so that 
inventors have practically ceased their efforts to discover 
any superior contrivance. It has been the subject of 
many improvements, and we have block chains, roller 
chains, pivot chains, and lever chains. There is no doubt, 
however, that, while the chain fulfills its office satisfacto- 
rily and absorbs but a small fraction of the propulsive 
force passing through it, there are various objections in- 
herent to this means of transmitting power. 
The wear is, of course, much more rapid if the chain be 
exposed to the dust and dirt accumulated in riding. To 
guard against this gear cases are used, and in this country 
are regarded as almost indispensable. In addition to 
increasing the weight and cost of a bicycle, these shape- 
less coverings are great disfigurements, and it is only be- 
cause riders have become accustomed to them that they 
are tolerated. 
As we have said, all the other methods of transmitting 
power, so far as they were known at the time, were dis- 
carded in favor of the chain when, some ten or twelve 
years ago, the present type of bicycle was adopted. The 
bevel gear method of communicating power was well 
known, but, as fai' as our knowledge goes, was the sub- 
ject of few experiments, and was either condemned with- 
out any fair trial of its merits or was not regarded as 
being capable of useful adaptation to a bicycle. We re- 
member to have seen at the Stanley show of 1892 a chain- 
less safety, as it was called. This was an application of 
bevel gearing, but we have not heard or seen anything of 
the machine since. During the past two years a firm in 
Paris has been manufacturing a machine known as the 
chainless safety, and during the present season special at- 
tention has been called to this by reason of its having 
been used with success, both on the road and path, by 
RLvierre, the noted long-distance French prof essional rider. 
As our readers are aware, we dissent altogether from 
the deductions it is customarily sought to make from the 
successes of racing men, as we consider them calculated 
to mislead and deceive those who require bicycles for 
other purposes. It is permissible, however, to draw 
certain conclusions from phenomenal feats, not so much 
with the object of extolling the merits of a machine as of 
adducing testimony to show that it cannot possess any 
serious defect. Rivierre's great ride of 533 miles on the 
path in twenty-four hours, and his Bordeaux to Paris 
race, when he practically ran a dead heat with the late 
A. V. Linton, are incompatible with the employment of 
inferior appliances, and to that extent we are prepared to 
admit that an inference may be drawn in favor of the 
chainless gearing used by him on those occasions. 
Bevel gearing is a common means of transmitting power 
in many kinds of machinery, and its application to the 
bicycle is clearly shown. A hollow shaft is furnished at 
each end with a gear wheel, the cogs of which are cut on 
the bevel. One of these engages the wheel on the pedal 
shaft, the cogs of which are also cut on the bevel, while 
the other engages the wheel fixed on the axle of the driv- 
ing wheel. The speeding up of the mechanism is mainly 
effected by the disparity in the size between the wheel on 
the pedal shaft and that in connection with it, but a 
variation in the sizes of the other wheels causes a slight 
additional gearing up. The hollow shaft runs upon ball 
bearings situated under the gear wheels at either end. A 
means of adjustment is provided, to take up any looseness 
that maj^ arise from wear. A plentiful supply of a special 
preparation, having the appearance of crude vaseline, is 
placed on the wheels, and this acts as a permanent lubri- 
cant. The gear presents a particularly neat appearance. 
This is due to the fact that the stay on the right hand side 
of the machine passes through the hollow revolving shaft. 
So perfectly is the idea worked out that many people are 
at a loss to comprehend how the communication between 
the pedals and wheels is effected. 
We have had the opportunity of trying the chainless 
gearing on a light machine of French construction. The 
ingenious simplicity with which it has been applied can- 
not fail to please the eye, and on this account alone it is 
sure to prove attractive. There is no emission of oil to 
soil the. dress or attract the dust, and the ease with which 
it can be cleaned will commend it to many. A couple of 
weeks' riding has impressed us very favorably with its 
merits, and as far as that experience permits us to form 
an opinion we have no reason to regard the chainless 
gearing as in any respect inferior to the chain. The gear 
we used waa about 70in., and it seemed quite capable of 
developing any speed required with more than the cus- 
tomary persuasion. We rode up Woodcock Hill, near 
Barnet, with as much ease as we have ever ascended it 
on a machine of equal gear; so we do not think it will ex- 
hibit any deficiency as a hill-climber. The questions of 
weight and cost often determined the fate ot useful de- 
vices, but in the case of the chainless gear we are assured 
that the machine complete will not cost more than a 
chain-driven safety of equal quality that is furnished 
with a gear case. — London Field. 
Bicycles Baggage in Missouri. 
Under date of Oct. 13 a press dispatch from St. Louis 
states that circuit Judge Russell decided to-day that the 
Missouri Railroad Company must carry J. R. Bettis's 
bicycle from Webster Grove to St. Louis and return with- 
out charge above the cost of Mr. Bettis's transportation 
ticket. The case was instituted last April as a test. The 
railway company filed a motion to quash the alterna- 
tive writ of mandamus secured and Judge Russell over- 
ruled the motion. The decision applies to all railways in 
Missouri. 
A FOOJiisn report has lately been in circulation through 
the daily press to the effect that the new triangular course 
off Newport, just laid off for the New York Y. C. by Lieut. 
Bull, U 8. N., is intended for future races for the America's 
Cup. There is no foundation whatever for this report; the 
course is intended only to supersede the old Sow and Pigs 
and Block Island courses, neither of which were satisfactory, 
and the special triangle sailed at times by the New York Y. 
C. Such a course has long been needed for the regular 
races of the club off Newport, especially for the Goelet cups. 
The bearings of the new course are: From Brenton's Reef 
Lightship ten miles southwest, thence ten miles east-south- 
east, three-fourths east; thence north by west ten miles, to 
finish at Lightship. 
The TacMsman' s version of the visit of the special com- 
mittee of ihe Y. R. A. to Niagara places the whole matter 
in a very different light from that in which it at first ap- 
peared, as reported ai the time. It would seem that rumors 
as to some improper use of the tanks were in general circu- 
lation, though it does not appear just how t bey originated; 
and that the visit of the committee, arranged in advance, 
might easily have been timed so as to meet Mr. Gould on 
board. In this same connection we may mention that at the 
time when the matter was first reported, early last summer, 
we wrote to the president of the company which built Ni- 
agara, requesting information as to the capacity and location 
of the two tanks and the size of the connecting pipe. No 
reply whatever was received to this letter, or to a second, 
written within the past three weeks to the company, repeat- 
ing the request. At this late day, after the yacht has been 
for two seasons in England, her dimensions and construc- 
tion being of cotirse open to British designers, there can be 
no reason for withholding these particulars, especially as 
their publication could only tend to show the absurdity of 
the action of the Y. R. A. The refusal to furnish them is 
only in line with that spirit of secrecy and discourtesy by 
which the builders have done so much to win the ill will not 
only of the press, but of American yachtsmen. 
The action of the New York Y. C. last week in amend- 
ing its racing rules is one of the most extraordinary in the 
history of the club. In the many agitations of the past 
fifteen years for the improvement of the measurement rules, 
the position of the New York Y. C. has been conservative 
to an extreme degree. Its standing as the oldest and largest 
of the metropolitan clubs has given it a preponderating in- 
fluence, and this influence has always been thrown against 
new propositions, however moderate. The adoption of the 
length and sail area rule in 1883 — a mild measure of reform 
— was only accomplished after much hard work in the face 
of general opposition, and even then the rule was made to 
bear as lightly as possible on length. The change of the 
factors of this same rule some years later was only made 
after a number of clubs had adopted the "Seawanhaka 
rule," in which length was taken hut once instead of twice. 
The movement for a classification by racing length in 1889- 
90 waa but a moderate step in advance, infringing no vested 
interests and promising no startling novelties of the freak 
species, but in spite of many earnest advocates the New 
York Y. C. set itself resolutely against the change, and the 
other clubs, for the sake of uniformity and harrnony, aban- 
doned the proposal until the New York Y. C. in its own 
good time, five years later, was ready to accept it. These 
are only a few instances out of the many cases in which the 
club has shown its conservatism, and its disinclination to ac- 
cept anything new or untried. 
The measure lately laid before the club is in no sense mod- 
erate, but radical in the extreme ; the arbitrary limitation of 
draft is something that yacht clubs the world over have 
looked at with reluctance, and coupled with it were certain 
details that must have a powerful influence over all yachts 
built under the rule. Whether intentionally or ignorantly, 
the changes were so framed as to bar entirely the moderate 
types of yacht in use until the advent of the bulb-fin, and to 
promote a combination of bulb flu and centerboard, which 
has nothing to recommend it but speed in racing. The class 
of yacht which is most severely outlawed by the new rule is 
one that has always been deservedly popular, one of the dis- 
tinctive national types of American yachts, the deep center- 
hoard schooner, including such yachts as Lasca, Ariel, 
Emerald, Sachem, Iroquois, Shamrock, Volunteer, Merlin, 
Sea Fox, Mayflower, Puritan, Loyal, Dagmar, Quickstep 
and such older boats as the onceiamousMontauk, Grayling, 
Peerless, Idler, Comet, Halcyon, Magic, Columbia and 
others by the score. As the result of forty years of experi- 
ment, a type has been evolved that offers a maximum 
of advantages, both for general yachtiQg and for racing, 
on a minimum of draft; and in its way is as nearly 
a perfect type as has yet been produced in any size or rig, 
and by any nation. Of course we do not assume that the 
yachts named actuaUy represent vested interests to-day, or 
that any injustice has been done to them or their owners in, 
dividuaUy by the change, but they represent a type whoe§ 
J' 
