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AN IDOL OF CLAY.

NIXON WATERMAN.

HAT did she give for her wedding-ring?
All that a woman may!

What did the gifts to the giver bring?
Only an idol of clay.

All the sweet dreams of her girlhood years,
All that a heart could hold;

All of her hopes and all of her fears;
All of her smiles and all of her tears,

For one little circle of gold.

Told she the world of the bitter cheat?
Ah, no! With a smiling face
She clothed her idol from head to feet
With the garments of her grace.
And no one knew of the tears she wept;
Her griefs they were never guessed,
For hid in her heart of hearts she kept
Her thorns of woe. And so she slept
With her hands across her breast.

A HOPEFUL INDICATION. The National Road Parliament for 1898 met Oct. 8th, at Omaha, in the Nebraska Building on the Exposition grounds. The meeting was called to order by Edward Rosewater, proprietor of the Omaha Bee, who has been prominently connected with the National League for Good Roads. Hon. Martin Dodge, who is temporary director of the Road Inquiry Office at Washington, was elected president and A. B. Dunning, a civil engineer from Pennsylvania, was made secretary of the parliament, whose session continued throughout the day with a good attendance of delegates and visitors.

The League of American Wheelmen was represented at the Parliament by Otto Dorner, Chairman National Committee on Highway Improvement, Prof. D. B. Luten, of Purdue University, La Fayette, Ind., a member of the National committee on highways, Burley B. Ayers, of Denver, as a delegate appointed by Governor Adams, of Colorado, Chief Consul A. C. Miller, of Iowa, ex-President James R. Dun, of Massillon, O. Among the speakers were Mr. Dun, who gave a history of the work of the L. A. W. for Good Roads, and Otto Dorner, who spoke on State-Aid and what the League is doing to promote it. Among the resolutions adopted was one in which the Parliament declares that it "heartily approves of the efforts made by the League of American Wheelmen in disseminating information con

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This is probably the first time that work of the L. A. W. for good roads has been thus endorsed at a convention made up almost entirely of farmers. The passage of the resolution is encouraging, because it indicates the change of opinion among farmers concerning the good roads agitation carried on by the League.

PICKPOCKETS Sometimes secure big "divy"-dends.

"Ring out, wild bells!" the poet wrote,

But were he here to-day.

To listen to the 'phone's shrill note, "Ring off!" is what he 'd say.

B. R.: "Oh, I beg your pardon; I didn't mean to be offensive. I might have used some other comparison, as, for instance, the farmer. who hauls corn out of the field on narrow tires. How are your traveling men received by the dealers on whom they call? ”

A. C. M.: "I don't know; he has n't got back from his first trip yet."

Two weeks later.--BULLETIN REPRESENTATIVE meets an old friend on a train and says: "Hello, Tom; what are you doing now?"

TOM: "I have been on a trip for A CERTAIN MANUFACTURER,' but have quit and am going back to my old boss."

B. R.: "

Why, what's the matter?"

TOм: "Well, you see, I used to travel for and when I called on a dealer it was easy to get at something right away, as everyone knew the goods I was representing and the tirm who made them, so that I could always either get an order, or find out why I could n't, in a few minutes; but with this new concern it was different. I would present my card, which stated in handsomely-lithographed letters that I was representing So-and-So, and the dealer who might know me personally or he might not — would invariably say, 'Who are these people? I never heard of them.' It was too much for me. I had some experience years ago in 'breaking up new land,' and I don't want any more of it. Life is too short; I am going back to a concern that advertises."

State which advertisement in this issue you consider best adapted to influence buyers in favor of the goods it advertises, and why.

It is hardly competent to say that you were influenced by a certain ad. because you happened at the moment to want the particular article advertised, but it is desirable that you state which advertisement is, in your opinion, best calculated to attract the favorable notice of the average reader, irrespective of his immediate wants.

We want to know which advertiser utilizes his space to the best advantage.

Also, state which advertisement is, in your opinion, least likely to be profitable to the advertiser, and why. Select from this number of the L.A W. BULLETIN three advertisements in which you see most room for improvement. Tell us what is the matter with them, and what you can suggest in each case to make them more effective.

Substitute an entirely new advertisement in any case, if you prefer to, but always give reasons for proposed changes.

To the writers of the best three letters we will send (on Nov. 11,) checks for $5.00, $3.00 and $2.00, as above.

I may by-and-by relieve my mind on the subject of bicycle racing (in the abstract); for I consider

On the contrary, I claim that they tend to make our organization a stench under the nostrils of the very people whose confidence and respect would do much toward putting the League where it should be.

form of amusement, but at present I am talking about the L. A. W.

STUDENTS of such subjects say that a high hat is not a guarantee of lofty thoughts.

THE NEW BOOK ON CYCLE PATHS.

President Potter's new book on Cycle Paths is a practical hand-book to guide wheelmen in "placing in substantial form their protest against bad roads by the construction and maintenance of those temporary blessings known as cycle paths."

In the United States are thousands of miles of country roads along which there are not even narrow edges on which bicycles may travel. City cyclists do not always realize these conditions, and so, at first, may not favor cycle paths; but those whose riding is curtailed or prevented by such roads feel

WHERE A PATH IS NEEDED. FROM "CYCLE PATHS."

the necessity of building suitable paths. Now that "two-thirds of all the wheeled carriages used upon the country roads" are cycles, "an obligation is clearly imposed upon highway officers to maintain these roads in a condition fit for the passage of all vehicles in common use; " but "the old settler is not easily converted, and we may wait for centuries before he or his ilk will shout for better roads." So, until good roads finally come, cycle paths should be laid, not as a substitution for the wheelman's agitation for better roads, but "as a valued auxiliary to the greater cause," says the author.

DIFFICULT CYCLING ON COUNTRY ROADS. FROM "CYCLE PATHS."

The bicycle can reach its full measure of usefulness only when the public highways are made fit for its use. "Every cycle path is a protest against bad roads, a sort of public notice that the public wagonways are unfit for public travel. . . . It is a declaration of independence which, for the time being, lifts the bicycle out of the mud and puts the wheelman on a firmer ground of argument for good roads, and takes from his critics the charge that the cyclists' warfare is a selfish one."

THE SCORCHER'S DECLINE. The friends of the cycle, and of the gracious exercise of cycling, are gratified to note that the "scorcher" is on the decline. The high noon of his day has passed and his sun seems near its setting. His one time "numerousness" is shrinking, day by day, and even the dull and dusty highway seems joyed at his departure. As a matter of course, he has not all gone, as yet, but he has, in part, and for this let all intelligent wheelmen and wheelwomen be duly grateful. The "scorcher " has ever been the chief foe to cycling. He has been held up as the "terrible example" of the bicycle habit, and very many self-respecting men and women have held aloof from his mode of travel and the innocent bicycle has been made a scapegoat for his misbehavior. No lady and but few women have ever attempted to pattern after his notion of what is the correct pose and position, while awheel, and those who have tried it were not long in seeing the error of their ways, or, at least in having their attention called to it. The passing of the "scorcher" is another pleasing re-assurance of the oft-repeated assertion that bicycling would sooner or later outgrow the distressing features that for a time appeared to be something like an inherent part of the pastime. The not over-clean and sweaty sweater, the red bloomers, and other less offences against the art of proper dressing, are now largely but an unpleasant nightmare of things that were. If the passing of the "scorcher" shall be reasonably complete, and no other bicycle evil springs up to fill its place, there will be sufficient reason for widespread and earnest thanksgiving on the part

of wheelmen. May the now - seldom-seen low-drop handle-bars - which never should have found a place in road riding be confined to the race-track, is the wish of all observers. The "scorcher's" opposite, the "straight-back" cyclist, while almost as distressing to look at, is not nearly so dangerous. Between these two extremes is the vast army of vigorous, wholesome cyclists who possess an inherent sense of the proprieties apparent at all times everywhere.

PROPOSED IN CALIFORNIA.

It is proposed by the California State Highway Commissioners that one-half of all moneys collected in the counties for road improvements shall be placed in a separate fund to be expended on roads to be made state highways under plans and specifications of the commission. As nearly two millions are said to be spent annually in this way, a large amount would go toward building permanent roads. No roads less than five miles long, on the best grade and alignement from one county seat to another or between important places, would be accepted. Bills to this effect will be presented to the legislature.

1

EFFECT OF CHANGING SPROCKETS. The question raised by No. 52,224, why sprocketwheels having 11 x 30 teeth, which apparently come midway between the combinations 10 x 30 and 12 x 30, do not give a gear half-way between them, seems to puzzle some members and not to be very clearly understood.

The gear of a cycle depends on two factorsthe size of the driving-wheel and the relative size of the front and rear sprockets. The driving-wheel of course remains constant in any given machine, but the size of either or both sprockets may be changed. If a 10-tooth rear sprocket is used, the relation of its teeth to the diameter of a 28-inch driving-wheel is that of 1 to 2 8-10. If this 10-tooth rear sprocket remains constant, the size of the front sprocket may be changed, and, for each tooth, that is added to or subtracted from it, the gear will be altered by 2 8-10 inches, no matter how many teeth are put on it or taken from it. The increase or decrease is uniform,

da gear of 10 x 25 (70-inch) comes just midway

between gears of 10 x 20 (56-inch) and 10 x 30 (84inch).

But if the front sprocket remains constant, and the rear one is changed, the conditions are altered. The relation of a 7-tooth rear to a 28-inch drivingwheel is that of one to 4; of an 8-tooth, one to 3%; of a 9-tooth, one to 3 1-9; of a 10-tooth, one to 2 8-10; of an 11-tooth, one to 2 6-11; of a 12-tooth, one to 2 4-12; so it is evident that no one size of rear sprocket is "midway" between those immediately above and below it. If the front sprocket has 3 teeth and the rear one has 10, the gear is 30 times 2 8-10, or 84. If the rear one is changed to 11, the gear is 30 times 2 6-11, or 76 4-11. If changed to 12, the gear is 30 times 2 4-12, or 70.

It is thus obvious from these figures that enlarg ing the size of the rear sprocket reduces the gear, every tooth on it having a decreased value in relation to the driving-wheel, as their number increases, and also that the difference is not uniform but constantly grows less as the sprocket increases in size.

The change from a 10 to an 11-tooth, or 2 8-10 to 2 6-11 value per tooth, reduces the value of each tooth by .254 +, which, taken off each one of the 30 teeth on the front sprocket, makes a gear of 11 x 30 less by 7.63 inches than one of 10 x 30, or 76 4-11. In like manner, changing from an II to a 12-tooth rear, reduces the value of each tooth by .212, or 6.37 inches for the 30 front teeth, and makes a gear of 12 x 30 just that much less than a gear of 11 x 30, and reduces it to 70 inches. In this way the varying and constantly lessening effect of changing the size of the rear sprocket may be