she headed north Item, El Paso Daily Herald, 6 July 1895.
Chapter Eight: A Whirl ’Round the World
“A Whirl ’Round the World”Omaha World Herald, 25 August 1895, 5.
A repair kit Item, El Paso Daily Herald, 8 July 1895, 1; “She is Coming! Miss Londonderry on Her Famous Bicycle Trip,” Albuquerque Daily Citizen, 11 July 1895.
“went on her way” “She Is Coming!” Albuquerque Daily Citizen, 11 July 1895.
the thirty-mile trip to Las Cruces It seems most likely that Annie rode her bicycle, the tire now repaired, to Las Cruces. However, the Rio Grande Republican of Las Cruces reported that she walked from El Paso to Las Cruces “as her bicycle was out of repair.” See, “She’s Winning the Wager,” Rio Grande Republican, 12 July 1895, 1.
“blinding rain” “She Arrives!” Albuquerque Daily Citizen, 15 July 1895.
compelled to remain in the city “She’s Winning the Wager,” Rio Grande Republican, 12 July 1895, 1.
She sold photographs “She’s Winning the Wager,” Rio Grande Republican, 12 July 1895, 1.
While in Las Cruces I have been unable to locate a copy of Kelly’s denunciation of Annie. The microfilm of the Las Cruces Independent Democrat held by New Mexico State University at Las Cruces is missing many editions of the paper, including all of the July 1895 editions. According to an e-mail I received dated June 22, 2006, from Faith Yoman, librarian at the New Mexico State Library, all of the microfilm of the Independent Democrat came from the same original source and “there are no [other] known copies of the 1895 Independent Democrat.” The paper was a weekly.
“was on a whiz” Item, Santa Fe Daily New Mexican, 2 August 1895, 1.
Her grievance Item, Santa Fe Daily New Mexican, 1 August 1895, 2.
“With the usual disregard” “One of the Many,” Rio Grande Republican, 19 July 1895, p. 1.
“The alleged female person” “Editor Kelly Makes His Point,” Las Cruces (NM) Independent Democrat, 14 August 1895.
“a stupid slander” “Editor Kelly Makes His Point,” Las Cruces (NM) Independent Democrat, 14 August 1895.
“sloshing around in his editorial mudhole” “Editor Kelly’s Complaint,” Santa Fe New Mexican, 5 August 1895, 2.
“had been spread all over town” As quoted in “Two Journalistic Types,” Las Cruces (NM) Independent Democrat, 14 August 1895. I could not locate the original Optic story.
“the valley of death” “She Is Coming!” Albuquerque Daily Citizen, 11 July 1895.
She arrived in Socorro Item, Socorro Chieftain, 19 July 1895, 1.
“Annie Londonderry, Round the World on a Wheel” “Miss Londonderry Here,” Albuquerque Morning Democrat, 16 July 1895, 3.
traveled exactly 17,432 miles “Miss Londonderry Here,” Albuquerque Morning Democrat, 16 July 1895, 3.
“I have gone hungry” “She Arrives!” Albuquerque Daily Citizen, 15 July 1895.
“I started on account of a bet” “Miss Londonderry Here,” Albuquerque Morning Democrat, 16 July 1895, 3. It’s not clear why Annie said she had to reach Boston. She had only to reach Chicago to have made the circuit. And, according to most reports, she stood to gain $15,000–$10,000 in prize money and the $5,000 she was earning en route—not $30,000. This could be a reporter’s mistake or another example of Annie’s conversational impulsiveness. (The Rio Grande Republican also reported she stood to gain $30,000. “She’s Winning the Wager,” Rio Grande Republican, 12 July 1895, 1.) This is one of several places where publication of a book about Annie’s adventures is mentioned. For example, the German cycling journal Radfahr-Chronik reported on April 27, 1895, “After her homecoming the resolute sporting comrade wants to publish a description of her circumnavigation of the globe and her many interesting adventures in a book that will surely find customers.” As earlier noted, if Annie kept a diary, it hasn’t been found and it appears she never wrote the book.
“the royal Bengal tiger” “Miss Londonderry Here,” Albuquerque Morning Democrat, 16 July 1895, 3
“Since she has been on the road” “Miss Londonderry Here,” Albuquerque Morning Democrat, 16 July 1895, 3. The Albuquerque Daily Citizen gave Annie’s age as 23, her height as 5 feet 2 inches, and her weight also at 136 pounds (“She Arrives!” Albuquerque Daily Citizen, 15 July 1895.)
“She is a charming, vivacious talker” “She Arrives!” Albuquerque Daily Citizen, 15 July 1895.
Annie earned $400 Item, Raton Reporter, 27 July 1895, 2. This would be more than $8,000 dollars today and seems improbable.
“It looks a little worse for the wear” “She Arrives!” Albuquerque Daily Citizen, 15 July 1895.
“[I]f no accident happens” “Miss Londonderry Here,” Albuquerque Morning Democrat, 16 July 1895, 3.
She reached Cerillos Item, Las Vegas (NM) Daily Optic, 19 July 1895, 4.
“easily ran away” Item, Santa Fe Daily New Mexican, 20 July 1895, 4.
she pedaled towards Las Vegas Item, Las Vegas (NM) Daily Optic, 22 July 1895, 4. The chronology of the next two days is confusing because reports in the Optic are inconsistent. On Monday, July 22 the Optic reported Annie had reached Fulton (population 27) at 1:15 P.M. that afternoon “looking like a drowned rat,” and saying she would remain at Fulton until five A.M. the next day before leaving for Las Vegas, some thirty-three miles further up the line. On Tuesday, July 23, the Optic reported Annie had left Bernal, a tiny outpost between Fulton and Las Vegas, a little after two P.M. and that three cyclists from Las Vegas—Boyce Brash, W. G. Haydon, and G. M. Birdsall—headed down the road towards Bernal to meet her and escort her to the city. (This was desolate country. Bernal, with a population of forty-nine was the largest of the towns between Lamy and Las Vegas.) Yet, on Wednesday, July 24, the Optic reported her arrival in Las Vegas the previous day, saying she had “ridden and walked—largely walked—from Rowe, since breakfast, a distance of 41 miles.” But Rowe is west, and more distant from Las Vegas, than both Fulton and Bernal. If she had already reached Fulton on the twenty-second, she didn’t begin her day on the twenty-third at Rowe.
“a rather forlorn looking object” “She Cycles into the City,” Las Vegas (NM) Daily Optic, 24 July 1895, 4. The Gallinas River runs through Las Vegas, New Mexico.
Charles Ilfeld There are Ilfeld descendants today in the Albuquerque area and even a town in New Mexico by that name.
Whether Annie revealed herself as a Jew One undated article from a French cycling journal did refer to Annie, traveling without money, as “poorer than the wandering Jew,” but it is unlikely that this was a veiled reference to her heritage. (Item, Revue Mensuelce, undated.)
“she is a drawing card” “Clearly She Draws,” Las Vegas (NM) Daily Optic, 27 July 1895, 4.
“sharp as a tack” Item, Las Vegas (NM) Daily Optic, 24 July 1895, 4.
“jocularly referred to as Miss Bostonberry” “She’s Gone from Us,” Las Vegas (NM) Daily Optic, 29 July 1895, 4. The Optic also reported that “[f]our of her escort turned back at the northern edge of town, two of them being ladies and two of them business men who did not care to go further. The remaining seven, consisting of Boyce Brash, Jacob Graaf, George Hayward, Ira Hunsaker, Arthur Holzman, W.A. Therault and Earl Tyler, made the trip to Watrous, whence six of them returned by rail, the seventh, Therault, continuing the escort business as far as Wagon Mound.”
“A map of her route” The map actually shows a line from Chicago to New York, and that she sailed to France.
“in the neighborhood of Siberia” The exact boundaries of Siberia are not defined and many would consider Vladivostok, just north of the Korean border to be part of Siberia. Annie claimed to have cycled in Korea and did collect a lantern slide of the port of Vladivostok. That isn’t proof that she reached that point, but it could be argued she was “in the neighborhood.”
From Las Vegas “Miss Londonderry,” Trinidad (CO) Weekly Advertiser, 1 August 1895, 1.
arrived in Raton Item, Raton (New Mexico) Reporter, 30 July 1895, 3; Item, Trinidad (CO)
Daily News, 30 July 1895; “Miss Londonderry,” Raton (NM) Reporter, 1 August, 1895, 3.
a trip “full of adventure” “Miss Londonderry,” Raton (NM) Reporter, 1 August, 1895, 3. Consistent with other reports, the Reporter described Annie as 5 feet 2 inches and 136 pounds. It described her gear as comprising a skirt, a blanket, a change of underclothes, and a canteen. No mention was made of a revolver.
a bicycle-riding exhibition “Miss Anna Londonderry,” Raton (NM) Range, 1 August, 1895, 2.
“She stated that Japan won” “Miss Anna Londonderry,” Raton (NM) Range, 1 August, 1895, 2.
Annie left Raton “Miss Anna Londonderry,” Raton (NM) Range, 1 August, 1895, 2.
twenty miles from there to Trinidad “Arrives at Trinidad,” Rocky Mountain News, 1 August 1895.
“thronged with people” Item, Trinidad (CO) Daily News, 31 July 1895.
“[E]laborate preparations” “Arrives at Trinidad,” Rocky Mountain News, 1 August 1895.
The charge for admission Item, Trinidad (CO) Daily News, 1 August 1895.
On the same page Item, Trinidad (CO) Daily News, 31 July 1895.
reprinted an article “Wheeling ’Round the World,” Trinidad (CO) Daily News, 2 August 1895.
spent one night there Item, La Junta Semi-Weekly Tribune, 10 August 1895.
to Colorado Springs “Courageous Woman Cyclist,” Colorado Springs Gazette, 10 August 1895.
“broken machine” “Annie Londonderry To-Day,” Denver Daily News, 12 August 1895, 3.
sent two telegrams “Annie Londonderry To-Day,” Denver Daily News, 12 August 1895, 3.
“found to be a young lady” “Around the World on a Wager,” Rocky Mountain News, 13 August 1895.
contracted pneumonia “Miss Londonderry Wins,” Omaha World Herald, 14 September 1894, 1
“followed the Union Pacific” “A Whirl ’Round the World,” Omaha World Leader, 25 August 1895, 5.
“left the city before daylight” Item, Cheyenne Daily Sun-Leader, 20 August 1895.
isn’t a single report…until Columbus Item, Columbus Journal, 28 August 1895, p. 3. Though the report appeared on Wednesday, August 28, the story said Annie had arrived “Thursday last,” which would have been August 22.
“The wager made” “A Bicycle Globe Trotter,” Fremont Daily Tribune, 24 August 1895, 1. Interestingly, the Tribune also reported that the war in China had forced Annie to ride several hundred extra miles “going as far north as Siberia. She had traveled nearly 27,000 miles when she reached Fremont.”
“France, Italy, Turkey” “Tells Large Stories,” South Sioux City (NE) Star, 25 August 1895, 3.
“the greatest lady bicycle rider”Omaha Evening Bee, 26 August 1895, 8.
“sensible wheel talk” Item, Omaha World Herald, 31 August 1895.
“quietly wheeled into our city” “Around the World,” Missouri Valley (IA) Times, 5 September 1895, 2.
“The people of the peerless state of Iowa” “Circling the Globe,” Marshalltown Evening Times Republican, 4 September 1895,
“while riding on the C. & N.W.” “Circling the Globe,” Marshalltown Evening Times Republican, 4 September 1895.
“my fall near Tama” “’Round the World,” Clinton Herald, 10 September 1895.
“a drove of pigs” “Won a $10,000 Purse, New York Recorder, 29 September 1895.
That she broke her wrist “Miss Londonderry’s Trip Ended,” New York Times, 25 September 1895, 6.
“the farmer responsible” “In the City,” Cedar Rapids Evening Gazette, 7 September 1895.
“[I]f I had broken my arm” “Woman ‘Globe Trotter,’” Davenport Daily Leader, 1 October 1895. In this story, Annie also claimed she was American born, and that her husband, Max, was a Pole and a nobleman. She was not American born and he was not a nobleman, though given his patient wait for Annie’s return he was a noble man.
“She was walking” “In the City,” Cedar Rapids Evening Gazette, 7 September 1895.
her cyclometer now read “’Round the World,” Clinton (IA) Herald, 10 September 1895.
precisely 9.604 miles “Around the World on a Bicycle,” New York Sunday World, 20 October 1895, 29.
“talked most entertainingly” “’Round the World,” Clinton (IA) Herald, 10 September 1895. One presumes “Sagon” is a reference to Saigon, now Ho Chi Minh City, in Vietnam. However, Saigon is about ten degrees north of the equator, not two degrees south of it.
“an ordinary stock wheel” This is at variance with the report in 22 October 1894, edition of the Toledo Commercial that Annie’s Sterling was “manufactured expressly” for her.
“with a thankful sigh” Item, The American Wheelman, 19 September 1895, 23.
though the Omaha World Herald “Miss Londonderry Wins,” Omaha World Herald, 14 September 1895, 1. More than a week after she finished her ride in Chicago, The Chicago Saturday Blade did report that Annie’s round the world jaunt had come to an end in the city. “A Woman Globe-Trotter,” Chicago Saturday Blade, 21 September 1895, 5. Annie added some colorful details to her accounts of the war between China and Japan. “I was an eye-witness to a great deal of the war,” she told the Blade, “and I have in my trunk photographs that will appear in my forthcoming book to prove what I say. After taking the forts at the battle of Pahsto Island the Japs actually drank the warm blood. The heads of the Chinamen who were only wounded were cut off and flung in the air.”
“a rousing reception” “Has Circled the Globe,” Rochelle Register, 13 September 1895, 1.
“because of Miss Londonderry’s fame” “Bikeology: Messrs. Upton and Rumble with Miss Londonderry,” Clinton (IA) Semi-Weekly Age, 17 September 1895.
raffle her Sterling The Chicago Times-Herald reported Annie was thinking of raffling off the Sterling. (“Her Task Is Finished,” Chicago Times-Herald, 13 September 1895.)
given a new wheel “Bikeology: Messrs. Upton and Rumble with Miss Londonderry,” Clinton (IA) Semi-Weekly Age, 17 September 1895.
her first stop was New Brunswick “A Globe Rider,” Rochester (NY) Democrat and Chronicle, 18 September 1895, 1. According to the Fort Wayne Times-Post, Annie cycled into New Brunswick claiming to have cycled around the world and burst into tears when people did not believe her and produced an album with “the autographs of kings and queens she had met. She threatened also to write a book.” “Female World Girdler,” Fort Wayne Times-Post, 20 September 1895, 1. However, the New York Times, which also reported on Annie’s visit to New Brunswick, said, “She has not ridden her wheel since leaving Chicago.” “Miss Londonderry Coming Back,” New York Times 19 September 1895, 6.
“With her left arm in a sling” “Won a $10,000 Purse” New York Recorder, 29 September 1895. Annie often told the newspapers of her plans to write a book about her adventures, but she never did.
as far away as Milan “Il Viaggio di Miss Londonderry,” Il Ciclista, 31 October 1895; “Miss Annie Londonderry,” La Bicicletta, 3 November 1895.
and Honolulu “Miss Annie Londonderry’s Tour of World,” Hawaiian Gazette, 18 October 1895.
“[won] her race” Item, Tama (IA) Free Press, 19 September 1895, 5.
“not her real name” Item, El Paso Daily Herald, 2 October 1895, 1.
“the globe-girdling sign board” As reported in “Around the World on Wheels for the Inter Ocean,” Chicago Inter Ocean, 29 December 1895, 16. The American consul in Yokohama about whom Annie complained to the El Paso Daily Herald was John McLean, not a Colonel McIvor.
Chapter Nine: Capture of a Very Novel “Wild Man”
“Capture of a Very Novel ‘Wild Man’”New York Sunday World, 3 November 1895, 36. This chapter originally appeared, in substantially the same form, as an article titled “The Mystery of the New York Reporter and the Massachusetts ‘Wild Man,’” in the New England Quarterly 77, no. 4 (December 2005).
It all began This account is drawn from the following newspaper stories: “Life in Danger,” Boston Daily Globe, 24 October 1895; “Wild Man in Royalston,” Fitchb
urg Daily Sentinel, 24 October 1895; “Royalston’s Mystery,” Fitchburg Daily Sentinel, 25 October 1895; “Kept in Fear,” Boston Daily Globe, 25 October 1895; “Is He a Dime Store Victim?” Springfield Daily Republican, 26 October 1895; “The Royalston Sensation,” Athol Transcript, 29 October 1895. The dates of the various events described differ slightly in different accounts, so the timeline presented here is approximate.
“blazed fiercely” “Wild Man in Royalston,” Fitchburg Daily Sentinel, 24 October 1895.
“I thought the man” “Wild Man in Royalston,” Fitchburg Daily Sentinel, 24 October 1895.
Roswell L. Doane There is a photograph of Doane in Athol Past and Present by Lilley B. Caswell (self-published, 1899).
“little gray-bearded man” “Life in Danger,” Boston Daily Globe, 24 October 1895; “Kept in Fear,” Boston Daily Globe, 25 October 1895, 1 (this story was signed “The Globe Man”). Though Richardson described the man as six feet tall, the Globe described him as “little.”
The Western Union telegram Telegram in the Goldiner Scrapbook. “Sanger,” who might also have been the “Globe Man” who wrote the story for the Boston Globe, could have been William H. Sanger, whose occupation is listed in the Boston City Directories for 1895 and 1897 (published by Sampson, Murdock, & Co., Boston) as “correspondent and asst. clerk of [the Massachusetts] Senate”; “correspondent” suggests that he was a newsman. Another possibility is Elizabeth C. Sanger, no relation to William H., who, for thirty-six years, beginning in 1903, was the Boston Globe’s society editor. (See the “Who’s Who on the Boston Globe” form completed by Ms. Sanger and on file at the Boston Globe archives, Boston.) Sanger began her Globe career as a “special story writer” in 1900. In 1895, she would have been thirty years old, perhaps trying to build her journalism credentials by freelancing for the Globe and the World. Or there could be another Sanger altogether.
Postal Telegraph Cable Company Telegram in Goldiner Scrapbook. A number of wild man stories circulated around New England in 1895. On 13 September 1895, the Boston Daily Advertiser and the Boston Daily Globe carried identical stories headlined “The ‘Wild Man’ Coming,” datelined West Hartford, Connecticut. “The wild man has left Colebrook and is now traveling towards Massachusetts,” the stories began. They described a wild man in the vicinity of Colebrook, Connecticut, who was stealing chickens and onions from local farms and chased a farmer for two miles through the woods. Another farmer reported seeing the wild man, described as a “crazy freak,” in his brother’s barn, but the wild man escaped through a small window and headed “to the mountain.”
Around the World on Two Wheels Page 28