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William James Capper fined for cycling too fast
The following appeared in a local newspaper, the South Wales Echo
on June 1st, 1889.
Text:
Pace of Newport Cyclists.
Upset by a Sergeants Sleeve
At Newport Borough police-court, to-day, William James Capper, clerk, and Thomas Williams, outfitter, were summoned for furious riding in Commercial-street on Tuesday night. P.S. Dukelow and P.C. Thomas were standing at the corner of Llanarth-street, and saw the defendants go by at a rate of 10 or 12 miles an hour. A sailor from the Gaiety Theatre had a narrow escape from Cappers machine, and he slackened speed. Twenty yards further on Williams, who was following, ran into him; and both came to grief. Willams went back to the sergeant, who had remained on the kerb all the time, and asserted that he had pushed him down. Thomas was positive the sergeant did nothing more than put up his hand to stop the men, and thought Williams had come back to apologise. The defense was thath the rate was much exaggerated, and that the officer did really catch his sleeve against the handle of Williams machine.
The magistrates ridiculed the idea of a cyclist being upset by a policemans sleeve, decided that defendants were going unduly fast, and fined each 5s. They were not likely, added Mr.Goss, to get off so easily if they came before the court again.
This would have been a dramatic happening in the life of the Capper family in Newport, but also may have been the cause of amusement. William James was 16 years old at the time and aready showed promising signs of following a sporting career. (See also WJC as Gymnast).
10 to 12 mph (16 to 19 kmh) does not sound very fast. Based on Retail Price Index the fine of 5s (5 Shillings) would be worth about £25 (pounds) / 28 Euros in 2016, which sounds quite a lot for the offence.
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