ANFIELD BICYCLE CLUB FORMED MARCH 187©. PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL. Monthly Circular. Vol. XVII. No. 191. A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL! FIXTURES FOR JANUARY, 1922. Light up at Jan. 7. Halewood (Derby Arms) 4-40 p.m. 9. ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING, 7 p.m., 25 Water Street, Liverpool. 14. Pulford (Grosvenor).... , 4-49 p.m. 16. Committee Meetine, 7 p.m., 25, Water Street, Liverpool. 21. Acton Bridge (Leigh Arms) 4-67 p.m. 28. Newburgh (Red Lion) 5-9 p.m. Fab. 4. Halewood (Derby Arms) 6-20 p.m. ALTERNATIVE RUNS FOR MANCHESTER MEMBERS. Jan. 7. Ringway (Mainwood Farm) 4-40 p.m. „ 14. High Lane (Red Lion) 4-49 p.m. 28. Cheadle Hulme (Church Inn). Musical Evening S- 9 p.m. Feb. 4. Ringway (Mainwood Farm) 5-JO p.m. Full moon [13th ins». Have you paid your subscription ? Would you like to make a donation to the Prize Fund? The Hon. Treasurer's address is R. L. Knipe, 108, Moseow Drive, Stoneyeroft, Liverpool, but©remittanees Anfieldean be most conveniently Bicyclemade to any BranchClub of the Bank of Liverpool for credit of the Anfleld Bieyele Club, Tue Brook Branch, and attention to this will save the Hon. Treasurer a lot of work. Please remember he is not a paid official. Committee Notes. 2o, Water Street,, Liverpool. Applications/ fob Me.uhershii\ —Mr. STANLEY THRELFALL, 62, Dorothy Street. Liverpool, proposed by W. Threlfall, seconded by F. Chandler;. Mt„. A. N. RAAVLLNSON, .19, Denstone Road, P'endleton, Manchester, proposed by J. Hodges, seconded by A. Davies; Mr. JAMES E. RAWLINSON, 19, Deustone Road, Pendle ton, Manchester, proposed by J. Hodges, seconded by A. Davies: Mr. T. V. SCHOFIELD, 33, Moorfield Road, Pendleton. Manchester, proposed by J. Hodges, seconded by A. Davies. (The three last mentioned Candidates are Junior Active.) Mr. GEORGE. NEWALL. 55, Seymour Street, Higher Tranmere, Birkenhead, proposed by \V. M. Robinson, seconded by W. E. Cotter. .Change oe Address.—The following should have been notified earlier and apologies for the omission are tendered : T. Hilton- Hesketh, 268, Romford Road. Forest Gate, Essex. F. D. McCANN, Hon. Sec. Personal. I wish to apologise io all those who were out on Boxing Day at Chester, and who, owing to my mistake in ordering dinner for 6, instead of 1.30, had to l ut up with a delayed and unsatisfying meal. G. F. Hawses. Correspondence. $1/18/21, Bettws-y-Coed. Dear Arthur, AVill you. through the medium of the Club rag, that you are supposed to edit, thank the Committee and the A.B.C. in general lor the kind letters that' have been sent to me during my recent •lead swinging.'' I want you to tell the Club that the Airfield raniiof kill me. Since I've been a member I've suffered from measles, malaria, dysentery, pneumonia, gun shot wounds, drink, and now inflammation of the lungs. I've decided that the only way the Club can get rid of me is, as below, and besides it would be a bit of an honour to be the first Anfielder to be hanged. Yours very sincerely, A. P. James. A Lesson Gleaned from the Twelfth Dinner of the Fellowship of Old Timers' in the Holborn Throne Room. It was my first visit, and what struck me as an innovation may be a time-honoured custom, or a feature attached to all throne- © rooms.AnfieldI refer to the " Crier." BicycleIt is all very well to Clubsay that our President can cry with the best of them and leave us weeping far behind, but the effect was electrifying, and effect is what we are after. Suddenly, in the midst of a bit of chicken or a mouthful of soup, a terrific voice from the direction of the Chair startled us out 3 ol'our seats,, and from behind the President, a quiet kindly man, one "got a glimpse of a small figure with an enormous mouth fully opened, issuing in a great volume of sound: " GENTLEMEN, THF, PRESIDENT WILL NOW TAKE A GLASS OF WINE WITH THE GENTLEMEN ON HIS RIGHT;" (We were among these lucky ones.) This emptied a hundred glasses. Seven minutes later the con tents of the other hundred on the left w-ere likewise disposed of. Shortly after, the ex-Harrogate Campers were startled out of their wits (which assured me one up on Percy Beardwood in our joint bottle, and which lead I was able to keep) and then we. had the same procedure again, when the Anfield B.C. were-toasted, -a small but solid band. The thirst of the President was not quenched by a long way, for next came the. North Road Club and the Pickwick Club and sundry other clubs, and then he switched on to the Vice-Chairmen and then to the stewards, and so ad infinitum. From the point of view of the hotel management it was brilliant. The crier (provided gratis I presume) earned well his wages from the house, even though he did nothing else, for by this method at least an extra hundred bottles were consumed willy-nilly, whereas for the consumption of food little or no time was left. As for the President, who showed no sign throughout of the effect of these GLASSES OF WINE, I suspect that he was heel tapping. He is from Yorkshire, by the way! But imagine for one moment that the same custom had been followed at the recent dinner at the Stork Hotel, Liverpool, with any other but our then Chair man. Imagine me in the chair under such conditions (not being from Yorkshire). What a mess ! ! And where would yotir three or four helpings of hotpot have been then? Still, we are here to live and learn; try it at Bettws. (Imagine the late Taylor as the crier!) . A Baptism—Among the Gods? " Although in no sense a clubstride " the eventful hotpot to which I was summoned on December 2nd proved by the great number of Past, Present and Future Presiders, Vices, Clerks, Pursers and Editors present that those who have deserved well of their Anfield. are—in the time honoured phrase—"neither left behind nor allowed to c'lapse " whatever the weight of years or victuals under which they stagger. We were bade to appear at a Liverpool Hostelry that is named after the Bird—credited in Holland with the habit of introducing new born babies into the arms of expectant mothers—there to partake of a sort of birthday feast (I mean : We, not the babes, the greedy little beggars. No, nothing quite so delicate). No wonder then that someone© Anfieldattributed the meeting to Bicyclea certain happy delivery thatClubhad taken place owing to the interesting condition under which the A.B.C. had long laboured. In short, it was a christening: The names of the accoucheurs, Hub and Jim, are household names at the Inn, and amongst the guests the two grand old patriarchs, Dave and George, who stood as godfathers, beamed proudly though not without • misgiving. ' •' The little one turned out an infant prodigy, a young head on a very old seasoned stomach, and who, far from casting adrift the maternal anchor, prefers to ride the harbour roads—those choppy Mersey waters—alongside its parent, profiting by her example and at times giving her a load through having discovered that pouring petrol on the waves is the best way of levelling the ondulations of our path, together with alternate draughts of ale. Assuming that baptism was practised by the Pagan Gods, whose clan was certainly represented, the great throng conveyed a sense of a Valhalla prepared by a band of workers that do good by stealth (a so-called christian method), for over and above us towered, almost swayed, one mighty Zeus, at whose word or wand lowly minions skipped to and fro with foaming pots and fuming pans. Some of the stolid looking gods seemed worthy figures of mythology, but my lack of knowledge, of that or any other ology could not then christen them. Now, after spending hours at the British Museum, I venture to suggest that Bacchus and Pan were present. And that ample form in the corridor behind that mess of pottage, Venus to be sure—fully armed. By the time those with three helpings had had of Helicon their fill, the firmament opened, and from the heavens—or, should it be from the Olympus P—strains of exquisite music poured into or upon our ears. The sound of golden voices mingled with the din and be numbed our senses, but, above it all, the voice of Mr. Veterinary Surgeon " Evans " was distinctly audible. AVhen shortly after T awoke, " confused and somewhat mixed," with swollen brow and throbbing temples in a very mundane Market Place for Spanish Onions, I prayed that the visions so recently enjoyed might become enduring. ITEMS. It appears to us that the efficiency of Cook's College (famous throughout the North of England for its education-by-post facilities) leaves something to be desired. If the college system were really effective, we would hardly expect to find pupils having birthdays, or taking part in honse-to-house collections, or attending bazaars, or even giving lectures, on Saturdays. Evidently there is a flaw in Cook's educational system. The City of Leeds had a host of distinguished visitors last month For instance (strictly in order of arrival) : "AVeighfahr," Queen Alary, Princess Mary, and Lord Lascelles. AVith characteristic skill and tact, our eminent litterateur-lecturer so arranged his visit that it did not clash with that of the Royal party.