Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 997

Museum Catalog Note Beadle and Adams, No. 997, September 1, 1896 "The Detective on Wheels" by J. C. Cowdrick follows Detective Sam Buckley (alias "Scorcher Sam"), a plainclothes officer deployed to combat bicycle-enabled crimes in northern Manhattan and Westchester. The narrative opens with Officer Schuessler of the Bicycle Police Corps pursuing an unidentified scorcher along the Boulevard who repeatedly eludes capture through rapid cycling and crowd navigation. The mysterious rider is revealed as Buckley, disguised with a beard and riding a modified bicycle with a 31-inch rear wheel geared to eighty-four inches. After Schuessler stops him, Buckley explains his assignment: investigating crimes committed by cyclists escaping via bicycle. In the second chapter, "Scorcher Sam's Tandem Scoop," Buckley pursues wealthy young riders on a new tandem bicycle after they deliberately exceed speed limits, initiating a pursuit race across the parkway.