Harper's Round Table, October 1, 1895 Part 10

The Waterbury Watch Co.,

Waterbury. Conn.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

WONDER CABINET =FREE=. Missing Link Puzzle, Devil's Bottle, Pocket Camera, Latest Wire Puzzle, Spook Photos, Book of Sleight of Hand. Total Value 60c. Sent free with Immense catalogue of 1000 Bargains for 10c.

for postage.

INGERSOLL & BRO., 65 Cortlandt Street, N.Y.

=HARPER'S CATALOGUE= thoroughly revised, cla.s.sified, and indexed, will be sent by mail to any address on receipt of ten cents.

[Ill.u.s.tration: If afflicted with SORE EYES USE Dr. ISAAC THOMPSON'S EYE WATER]

[Ill.u.s.tration: BICYCLING]

This Department is conducted in the interest of Bicyclers, and the Editor will be pleased to answer any question on the subject. Our maps and tours contain much valuable data kindly supplied from the official maps and road-books of the League of American Wheelmen.

Recognizing the value of the work being done by the L. A. W., the Editor will be pleased to furnish subscribers with members.h.i.+p blanks and information so far as possible.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Copyright, 1895, by Harper & Brothers.]

The fourth stage of the sh.o.r.e-line trip from New York to Boston is a short one, of not more than twenty-eight miles, extending from New London to Shannock. Leaving the Pequot House, if that is the point where you have put up at New London, you should proceed into the city of New London along the trolley-car route, go at once to the ferry near the railway station, and cross to Groton. There are two routes from here eastward. It is possible for you to either turn to the left immediately on arriving on the Groton side of the Thames, and proceed some distance up the river (less than a mile, altogether), turn to the right, and run over through Centre Groton, Burnets Corner, and so on, following the secondary route marked on the map through Mystic, and joining the main bicycle road again at Stonington. This route is, however, not only more hilly, but the road is in a poorer condition, and pa.s.ses through a less picturesque country.

The rider should therefore proceed direct from the ferry along the turnpike-road to Mystic Bridge, pa.s.sing over Poquonock Bridge. Crossing the Mystic River at Mystic Bridge, the road continues direct to Stonington, a distance of about ten miles from New London. If you are making the journey to Shannock in one run--in a morning, for example--and if you have determined to reach Providence before night, you can make a short-cut, after crossing the bridge leading into Stonington and before crossing the railroad, by turning to the left and joining the turnpike-road again a mile or more out from Stonington. From here on the road through Wequetequock is in fair condition, though it is not of the best. In case you run into Stonington and make a stop, you should run out onto the main road by Matthews Street. The road from Groton to Stonington is in parts remarkably good, and, especially at this time of year, the whole route as far as Westerly will be found to be a good bicycle run, if the side path is occasionally resorted to between villages. Crossing the river at Westerly you are now in the State of Rhode Island. Thence proceed through Potters Hill, Laurel Dale, Ashway, to Hopkinson. From Hopkinson on to Shannock, a distance of between seven and eight miles, the road is hilly in parts, and by the time the rider has pa.s.sed through Woodville and Caroline Mills, and run into Shannock, he will be ready for a rest, at least for some time, especially if he has ridden all the hills at a good speed.

It should be remembered, as was said last week, that this run, which is not more than twenty-eight or twenty-nine miles at the most, can be made half a day's run, and the journey thence continued to Providence.

Shannock would be about half-way, and the two routes might be done in one day, and can easily be so done by any rider who cares to do between fifty-five and sixty miles. It is by no means a long ride, and probably you will be much more comfortable in Providence overnight than in Shannock. At the same time, following out our plan of making short, easy trips, and taking it for granted, as we have done, that the average rider goes for pleasure, with time enough at his disposal, we shall divide this distance into two stages.

NOTE.--Map of New York city asphalted streets in No. 809. Map of route from New York to Tarrytown in No. 810. New York to Stamford, Connecticut, in No. 811. New York to Staten Island in No. 812. New Jersey from Hoboken to Pine Brook in No. 813. Brooklyn in No. 814.

Brooklyn to Babylon in No. 815. Brooklyn to Northport in No. 816.

Tarrytown to Poughkeepsie in No. 817. Poughkeepsie to Hudson in No. 818. Hudson to Albany in No. 819. Tottenville to Trenton in 820. Trenton to Philadelphia in 821. Philadelphia in No. 822.

Philadelphia-Wissahickon Route in No. 823. Philadelphia to West Chester in No. 824. Philadelphia to Atlantic City--First Stage in No. 825; Second Stage in No. 826. Philadelphia to Vineland--First Stage in No. 827. Second Stage in No. 828. New York to Boston--Second Stage in No. 829; Third Stage in No. 830.

SOME DON'TS FOR BICYCLERS.

BY WILLIAM HEMMINGWAY.

Don't try to do too much. Ambition to s.h.i.+ne as a "scorcher" has seriously injured the health of many a good, strong rider. Probably no form of exercise is so full of temptation to over-indulgence as is wheeling. Except during the moments of hill-climbing, it is so easy to send the machine spinning along.

How often you hear riders say, "I'm feeling languid and draggy to-day.

Can't imagine what's the matter. Had a splendid ride of sixty miles yesterday." Isn't that explanation enough? The effects of too great fatigue often last as long as life itself. If the muscles alone were concerned it wouldn't matter so much, but the great trouble lies in another quarter. There is always danger of injuring the heart. One can recover from a strained muscle or sprained joint or broken bone, but let the heart be once badly strained, and you may be sure that the evil effects will last a lifetime.

Is there a way of knowing when one has ridden enough? Yes. Whenever you feel that you couldn't dismount and run a quarter-mile at good speed, it is time to stop wheeling. Better get off and take a rest. Better still, put away the wheel for the day. There will be many other days, and you can enjoy them all the more if you have a sound heart.

Don't wheel up a steep hill. Leave that sort of thing to fellows who haven't enough sense to go in when it rains. What gain is there in it, anyhow? You can walk up and push your wheel just as fast, and with one-quarter of the exertion. If too much wheeling on the level road is bad, too much hill-climbing is ten times worse. If you could look into the minds of the smart hill-climbers, you would find that they half kill themselves to make bystanders think they are wonderful riders. Really, that sort of thing is too silly to talk about with patience.

Don't coast too much. If you feel that life without coasting is a mockery, then go to some hill that you are thoroughly familiar with, where there are no crossings, where you can watch the road for at least one hundred miles ahead, and then take care. No matter whether you have coasted down the hill a hundred times before or not, the danger is always just as great. Perhaps we are never in so great peril as when we think we know it all.

Don't "scorch" in the streets. At any crossing you are liable to run over some pedestrian or to collide with a big truck or carriage. Either one may mean a life lost, or at least broken bones. You wouldn't drive a horse at a 2.40 gait through the streets. Remember a bicycle is quite as dangerous.

Don't ride on the left side of the street. Your place is on the right side, because a bicycle is a vehicle in the eyes of the law, having the same rights and subject to the same rules as any other vehicle. If anything happens to you because you are on the wrong side of the street you cannot recover damages.

Don't think, because somebody you know has wheeled a "century," that you must do it too. There is really very little satisfaction in riding one hundred miles merely for the sake of saying that you have done it. If any other wheelman chooses to tire his muscles and overstrain his heart for a mere bit of boasting, let him do it. I know that most of us are sorely tempted by the "century" folly. But think a moment. If you owned a fine thoroughbred horse, would you run the risk of ruining him forever by speeding him to the utmost limit of his strength for a whole day? Yet is not your own health more valuable to you than all the horses in the world?

Don't let your cyclometer be your master. Make it your servant. Don't think, "I have wheeled thirty-seven miles to-day, now I'll run a mile and a half up the road and back so as to make an even forty." Use the cyclometer to find out how soon you must stop, not how much further you must go.

Don't neglect your wheel. Because it doesn't eat is no reason why it should be starved. It needs oil. It should be cleaned regularly after every ride. Be sure that all the bearings are oiled at least once for every one hundred miles travelled. In hot weather the oil runs off faster. Lubricate your chain every time you go out for a spin. See to it that the dust-caps are all in perfect order. Dust wears out bearings much faster than ordinary use.

Don't go out in the late afternoon without a well-filled lamp, especially if you live in New York. Think of the scores of wheelmen who have been fined for riding at night without lights, to say nothing of the danger of going unlighted.

AN OUNCE OF PREVENTION

is cheaper than any quant.i.ty of care. Don't give children narcotics or sedatives. They are unnecessary when the infant is properly nourished, as it will be if brought up on the Gail Borden Eagle Brand Condensed Milk--[_Adv._]

ADVERTIs.e.m.e.nTS.

[Ill.u.s.tration: RICHARDSON & DE LONG ad]

[Ill.u.s.tration: If afflicted with SORE EYES USE Dr. ISAAC THOMPSON'S EYE WATER]