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WHAT
&
WHY
SOME
COMMON   QUESTIONS
ANSWERED
                BOSTON:
Press of Rockwell and Churchill, 39 Arch Street.
                    1884. 
      Copyright,
By Charles E.  Pratt.
         1SS4.  ■ 
PREFATORY  NOTE.
   " One fool can ask more questions than ten wise
 men can answer," runs the adage, and doubtless he
 can;  but he never did.   It is the  wise  man who
 asks questions, that he may find out and add to his
 wisdom.  The genuine fool apes too much wisdom
 to ask what he don't know;  while  the wise inter-
 rogates,  and, not  finding  an  adequate  reply, will
 seek out the answer.
  Within these leaves are  some words of the wise
 and some queries to help  the foolish.  This little
 compendium of information has been prepared with
 an  earnest endeavor towards  correctness, to  fill a
 place  yet unoccupied, to interest its readers  more
 and more in the general  subject of  it, and to save
 time consumed in conversation and correspondence,
by answering the same questions  over and over so
many times.
  It is believed that here are also some things which
are  fresh even to  the well-informed,  and that every
one into whose  hand this  may come  will find some-
thing  to repay him for a perusal. 
CONTENTS.
                                         Page
Prefatory Note  ...........   4
A Preparation of Iron.........e
Some Common Questions Answered.....18
Facts and Accomplishments.......39
Some Comparative Best Records......43
Legal Lifts.............44
What to Select...........51
Publications.............53
TheL.A.W..............56
Dress and Conveniences........57
Extracts..............59
Words of the Wise..........61 
WHAT    AND   WHY.
         A  Preparation  of  Iron.*
                        i.
  The  apothecary was puzzled.  He had long ago
served an apprenticeship  in one of the oldest drug-
stores in Philadelphia; and now for several years he
had been the head of Brown's Pharmacy in  Che-
vauxville, witli a reputation for  skill and learning.
He was guiltless of any knowledge of classic Latin,
and possibly that was to his advantage  as a  com-
pounder and  dispenser of medicines ; but he could
read the conventional recipes of the physicians at
sight, with all their varied mysterious abbreviations
and illegible script,  and his bottled shelves and
scented drawers held resources for all heard-of  com-
pounds.  When he unfolded  the  prescription just
handed  him he glanced at it with an air of wisdom,
brought his spectacles down from his forehead to his
nose, and  recognized the penhand of one  of the
rising young physicians  just gaining a practice in
town, to the following effect: —

     * From The St. Louis Magazine, of April, 1S82. 
6
what and whv.
B
          Frank Elder's  Pharmacy,
                Main street.

    Ferri incarb. birot. ad memb.
        longit. circ.                      lb. xxxvij
    Commis caoutch. in annul, du.            § lxxij
    Id. id. pedalifer.                         § viij
    Pore, cutis preparat. susp.                3ivss
    Com. bov. Siami. q. s.
    Unct. sperm, et petrol,  ref.              aa f § ij
          Agit. pluck et gumptione.
Sig: Use externally twice a day for one or two hours.
  Mr. Brown stroked his chin as  he glanced now at
the paper and now at the young man who had pre-
sented it;  inquiring at the  same time, as if to aid
in understanding the recipe : —
  " This for yourself, Mr. Lovell?"
   " Yes, sir," replied the latter.
   " H'm.  Been ailin' long? "
  " Yes, more than a year."
   " Been to Dr. Sisson before? "
   "No; I have had Dr. Durham before.  Didn't
get much better; thought  I'd  try another.  Isn't
that prescription all right? "
  "What's Dr.  Sisson treatin'  you for? "pursued
the apothecary, not heeding his customer's question.
   "Well, I don't know exactly," said Lovell, as he
sank on a stool.  " I have  had bilious attacks, and 
a preparation of iron.
7
 a slow fever, and didn't get up well.  I had no appe-
 tite ; grew dyspeptic; couldn't sleep nights ; you see
 I've got generally run down and unfit for business,
 and yesterday I had to give up my place,  because I
 couldn't stand  the  strain any longer.  It's no use;
 I must either get stronger, or go away somewhere,—
 perhaps to the graveyard."
   Clarence  Lovell looked a confirmation of what he
 said.   He was  of  manly mould,  some twenty-five
 years of age, but haggard, pale,  and thin-chested,
 and a portrait  of physical  discouragement.   The
 apothecary  was  still  puzzled.   His queries  had
 elicited no  aid  in  reading the prescription to his
 satisfaction.  Dr. Sisson must be either very learned
 or very erratic.   Tossing the recipe with some  im-
 patience over to his clerk, Mr. Brown retired  to his
 desk.   A broad smile  passed over the face of the
 clerk.   He  noticed the erasure of " Brown's" from
 the top of the slip of paper, and the  words written
 over it,  and  read the line aloud : —
  " Frank Elder's Pharmacy, — why, that's the Bi-
 cycle School further up the street.  This  calls for a
 preparation  of  iron, etc., not yet in the regular
 materia medica" he added, as he took a copy of the
 mysterious Latin.   The  clerk had taken something
 of the same  course of treatment, and looked know-
 ing, as he directed the customer to the right place.
  Chevauxville  was right  smart  of a  place, as
some  of its residents claimed.  Some  two  miles 
8
what and why.
out from the centre of the village, on a fine road,
and with all  the  appearances  of thrift  and good
taste, was the home of Belle Richmond. Her father
was the wealthiest man in the town, his business the
most  flourishing,  and  his  residence  the  finest.
Clarence  Lovell had been in his employ five  years,
and had been advanced, from time to time, until he
was head book-keeper and cashier.  He had rec-
ognized the diligence, assiduity, and ability  of the
young man, and had, without being at all profuse in
encouragement, meditated  his advancement  to  a
position of more  responsibility and more  income.
He had even suspected, and taken no direct means
to resist,  young Lovell's approaches toward a closer
acquaintance  with Miss  Richmond;  though  there
was  small  need,  apparently, for his exercise of
choice  in the matter, as  her attractions were  not
unnoticed by two other promising young gentlemen,
and her favor was shown rather evenly to Dr. Sisson
and Ned Reemlin.
  But  Clarence now met with  reverses.   He had
lost his health  and his  business position; and he
had, morever, lost  position in  the game of love,
wherein he had hoped to capture the queen, and
then mate in two moves.
  Frank Elder, a young man of good education and
pleasing address, for three years previously a school-
teacher, had just opened, in Chevauxville, a bicycle
agency and riding-school.   He had rented a hall of 
A PREPARATION OF IRON.
9
moderate size in the middle of the village, procured
a dozen shining " Columbias," sent out his circulars
to every house in town, and advertised in all the
county papers.   Already he had acquired  a  consid-
erable  evening attendance of the curious  and the
patronage of a few  earners, some of whom could
now accompany him on afternoon spins to  neighbor-
ing towns.  The first  of these graduates was Dr.
Sisson.  His medical education and experience had
enabled  him  to appreciate  quickly the hygienic
effects  of bicycling.   Possibly  there was  also  a
stroke  of professional enterprise in his  adoption  of
the  (for that  place)  novel chariot; it  was  well
suited to save him  horse and carriage hire  (for he
did not yet own an equipment), and, moreover,  to
draw public attention to him and  his  professional
availability  more completely and  effectively than
any electric sign or  night transparency.   The name
and  exploits of the Mounted Doctor, the Medical
Centaur, the Flying Surgeon, were on every one's lips.
  When Lovell inquired in a wondering way for Mr.
Elder,  the pharmacist, and presented interrogatively
that mysterious slip of paper, the genial proprietor
of the new medicine took in the opportunity at once.
His  pedagogical Latin  was  little taxed for inter-
pretation of the lines.   The particular preparation
of iron, or rather of steel and rubber, was produced
to the  astonished customer  with such assuring ex-
planations, and such attractive descriptions of the 
10
WHAT AND WHY.
effects of the  treatment  as  applied  to others, that
Lovell had not only taken the first dose before  he
left  the  hall,  but  had promised  to  " use  as
directed" — twice daily for one  or two hours.
  The ease and grace with which the "pharmacist"
mounted and dismounted, sped and circled and dis-
ported about  the  hall, and  controlled  the rapid
wheel as if it were a docile but quick-nerved,  sinewy
thing of life ; the beautiful structure of the Columbia
bicycle, and its seeming paradox of  equilibrium,
fascinated the " patient" at once.   Perhaps it might
really prove  for him the  wheel of health, if not of
fortune.

                       n.
  A meet of  the  Chevauxville  Bicycle  Club  was
called for eight o'clock in the morning of a pleasant
day in June, on the outskirts of the village.  The
sound of the buglet was heard, its impetuous notes
stirring the  morning  air with the regulation sum-
mons for a mount and run.   The casual  passer-by
saw  sixteen young  gentlemen wheel  their bicycles
into line on the fine gravel roadway;  some of them
like raw recruits in their shirts and long pantaloons,
and  some like regulars on dress parade with their
new  club costume of brown cap, jacket and knee-
breeches, and gray stockings.
  " Ring yer bell!" shouted  a small boy from the
sidewalk as the last one filed away ; and another  of 
A PREPARATION  OF IRON.
II
the irresponsibles shied a ragged hat at the passing
wheel.
   " Say, fellers ! " remarked a  better dressed ten-
year-old, as he slowed up his wooden three-wheeler,
" those are rich ones, they  are !  Their v'lossipeeds
cost a hundred  dollars."
   " Yes.V papa's goin1 to buy me one for Christmas ;
they go faster V the cars," chimed in an older one,
who bore a strong resemblance to Mr. Richmond.
   It was three  months since Clarence Lovell had
begun to take  the  preparation of iron.  The few
falls and awkward manoeuvres incident to his first
few rides were insignificant  except as incentives.
He had the nerve and the delight of conquest.  He
knew the floundering first plunges of the swimmer,
and the staggers  and tired ankles of him who first
buckles on the skates.  The " pluck and gumption"
required by Dr. Sisson's prescription were not want-
ing ; the patient was now hale and hearty,  his car-
riage  more erect, and his muscles and chest devel-
oped. He filled out the club costume with ahandsome
manly figure, and rode gallantly as  first lieutenant
and in command.   *  *  *
  " Form twos — ride! " was the half military order
heard at the  front when the clear open road was
reached; and, as the bugler sounded the order, there
was a movement along the lines  for a moment, and
the mounted wheels twinkled in pairs.
  " Advance left — form fours — ride !" commanded 
12
WHAT AND WHY.
the lieutenant, and four abreast the riders and their
steel chargers sped along the lake-side toward the
open country.
  About three miles out from  the village, marked
by some sturdy oaks and  two  large farm-houses,
was  " the  four-corners," where the  riders were to
turn to the northward for a  few miles of smooth,
wide, and level country road.   As they approached
the crossing road, they were  alarmed by the cry of
a young lady in distress, and  rattle of  hoofs and
wheels.
  " Oh, let me jump! Let me jump !  What shall we
do?"  were the  half-frantic words, interrupted by a
masculine voice, — "Sit quietly till I tell you,"—
which  reached Lovell's  ears,  as  he saw  a carriage
dash before him.  It was a runaway.  The driver
held one rein; the other was dangling loose on  the
spirited horse.
  Clarence took in the situation at once.  The ap-
pearance of the wheelmen had  deterred  the horse,
now  beyond  control, from  turning  toward  the
village and causing an overset.  The speed was too
high for the driver safely to draw on the single rein,
and guide the hurrying animal to  a  fence.  Quick
as thought  he gave  the  command for "single file,
right turn, double quick," and, putting swift feet to
pedals, led the chase.  Fast flew the running horse.
Faster sped the pursuing wheels.  A mile was cov-
ered in the hot race, and the  two steeds were neck 
A PREPARATION  OF IRON.
13
and neck.  A moment more and the wheelman shot
ahead.  Waiting  for but a slight  lead, he lifted his
feet from the pedals, reached for  a .irm toe on the
step, and, as the runaway came up, sprang from his
bicycle, seizing the horse by the bridle-reins, and
soon  bringing him to a stand.   The  capture was
complete.
  " Oh, you are so brave!  How shall we thank you
enough?" exclaimed Belle Richmond.
  None amongst  the wheelmen, as they came  up to
the rescued team out of breath,  and glad  to dis-
mount, manifested greater interest in  the safety of
Miss  Richmond  and  her  father  than did Ned
Reemlin, for he,  too, was one of " the club," and
was  amongst the foremost at the  scene.  Whilst
Lovell was  aiding the  father to quiet the horse, and
join the broken rein, his rival was informing  Belle
of the object of the excursion, the roads they were
to take, and  the place where  they should halt  for
dinner.   He  did  not  notice the  mingled surprise
and interest in the recognition of Clarence  as  the
hero of the occasion  by the  former employer and
his beautiful  daughter.   *  *    *   The line was
formed, the command to mount  was obeyed, and
the silent-hoofed cavalry made toward Waxenhaven,
yet fifteen  miles away.
  Blooming green of fields, and  warm foliage  of
trees  whose branches scarcely waved  in the  early
summer breeze, winding  streams and smiling ponds, 
14
WHAT AND WHY.
picturesque  bits  of landscape  and  ever-shifting
stretches of scenery before them, — all delighted their
senses.  There was exhilaration in the  wholesome
air  and the  free motion of their limbs, and  their
spirits rose above  the level of every-day restraints.
Song and humor and  repartee beguiled the  way.
There were two or three dismounts, — to  gain a view
from a  hill-top, to  refresh with  draughts  of milk,
to visit a ruin,— and at last they rolled along the main
street and dismounted at Gulliver's Inn and stacked
wheels for a  rest and a dinner.
  Scarcely  had  the wayfarers  laved   hands and
faces, and dusted costumes, before they were sum-
moned  by  the attentive  landlord to  the dining-
room, where  sixteen  plates were laid, and other
evidences of forewarned preparation were apparent,
much to their  surprise.   There was no hesitation in
sitting down, however; and the  display of appetite
was equal to that of the edibles.  Who that has not
pushed  the  wayward pedal up hill and down dale
for  two  or three hours can understand  the luxury
of eating?
  When the dishes were  removed and the cups  of
coffee were brought on, the surprise of the prepara-
tion was  explained.   Relying on  the  known re-
sources  of the house the guests  had sent  no word
ahead of  their coming.   But a telegram from  a
friend had been received, bespeaking the hospitality
of the  host  for "Mr. Lovell and fifteen friends"; 
A PREPARATION  OF IRON.          15
and now a receipted bill  for the dinner was laid at
Lovell's plate, running to " D. V. Richmond, Dr."
  The home return, after a siesta and a walk around
town, was by a different  route, and full of  pleasure
to  the  wanderers.   The afternoon  shadows  were
growing long as they approached a town adjoining
Chevauxville.   Here one of those "hogs," usually
found  in the trail of an inferior  horse, which in
scattered instances still infest trte common highways,
was <■■••. "t.!'..'.:i.
  "Room on your left,  please," politely called the
leader, as he led his company up behind an unloaded
team where the beaten road was narrow for a short
distance, and  the margin rough.  The request was
answered with a  profane  suggestion that " them
things  have  no business on the road, and would get
run down whenever he could do it."  When two or
three of the riders had passed by careful  riding, and
barely escaped a cut from his whip, he drew quickly
to the left and fouled one of  their number, causing
him an unwilling  dismount, but, fortunately, no
damage.  A whistle of distress from the fallen rider
caused those before  him  to turn and blockade the
road,  while  two  of those behind  him  sprang up
behind  the  driver  and   seized  his whip.   The
apothecary's clerk was executioner.  One lash was
administered to the driver, stinging him severely,
and a lighter one to the horse, which started thereat
upon a brisk trot, pursued by  the wheelmen.  Every 
i6
WHAT AND WHY.
few  moments for a mile  or two  the  approaching
executioner laid on the las'h  to the helpless driver;
and whenever he succeeded in slowing up his horse,
a stroke at the flank would renew his speed.
  Forty stripes, save one, were dealt to  the offender,
when the wheelmen tossed him back  his whip, and,
making a  unanimous " spurt," left him to his re-
flections.
  There was a halt for crackers and soda lemonade
five miles  out from  Chevauxville; and just fts the
moon rose nearly  full over the eastern tree-tops, the
wheelmen  mounted in good order for the " home
stretch " of their  fifty-mile excursion.
  If there  is anything more  charming  in bicycling
than a morning run it is  a  quiet evening spin by
moonlight. The  stillness unbroken  by the sound-
less wheels, the absence of dust  and wind, and the
coolness of the air, the weird and shadowy charms
of the landscape and street vistas, make it delightful
to the imagination as well  as to the senses.
  For some unexplained reason Clarence Lovell had
resigned the lead  to Reemlin at the last mount, and
was thoughtfully riding at  the rear.
  There was aclick of mallet and ball in the grounds
of the Richmond  mansion as the wheels rolled  by,
and  the  thoughtful  rfcler caught  the  words   of a
gentle  soliloquist  within the  hedge : —
  "I wish I had a partner."
  "And I wish I had, too!" replied Clarence, gal- 
            A PREPARATION OF IRON.          17

lantly raising his cap as he wheeled  up tiie  drive-
way and dismounted on the lawn.
  The game was croquet, but Clarence did  not
miss the wicket, nor Belle remain a rover.

                       in.
  One day in October there was a bicycle seen lean-
ing against  the little stone church in Chevauxville.
Dr. Sisson  had  stopped long enough  on his daily
round of visits to attend a wedding in which he took
a peculiar interest.
  Fifteen other bicycles were stacked  on the church
green,  and  their owners,  in fresh  club  costume,
were attending a wheelman's marriage  inside.   For
that day Clarence Lovell and Belle Richmond took
matrimonial vows.
  Thus had the preparation of iron prescribed by
Dr. Sisson  proved its  efficacy.  The patient  had
found the bicycle indeed  a  wheel  of fortune,  for
health  and happiness  were his.   And  perhaps
wealth too  has  been added, for  Clarence Lovell's
"Columbia" often stands now at  the door of Rich-
mond &  Lovell, bearing  on its silver name-plate a
motto from  the prescription, —
              Agit. pluck et gumptione.
Charles E. Pratt. 
[8
WHAT AND WHY.
     Common Questions Answered.

                  DEFINITIVE.
  Question i.  What is a velocipede?
  Answer.  A carriage propelled by the feet of the
rider.
  Q. 2.  How long have velocipedes been in use?
  A.   More or  less, and in different  forms, for a
hundred years.
  Q. 3.  Are they much used  now?
  A.   They are, in several  different  varieties, in
nearly  all  civilized  countries,  to the number  of
hundreds  of thousands.
  Q. 4.  Are,  then, all .carriages propelled in whole
or in part by the rider properly termed velocipedes f
  A.   No, not exactly;  for  there  have been  and
still are many varieties  of vehicles propelled by the
hands  of the rider, and a corresponding name for
this class is velociman; they have been well called
manumotive carriages, and by other names.  Veloci-
pedes are pedimotive carriages.
  Q. 5.  What was the origin of this generic name,
velocipede ?
  A.   Prior to  1816 the  French applied the term
v'elocifere  to  certain carriages  drawn  by animals.
When, at about that date, the  first comparatively
practicable and considerably-used vehicle propelled
by the  feet of the rider was introduced into that 
         COMMON QUESTIONS  ANSWERED.       19

country, they soon gave it the  corresponding name,
velocipede.   By common and long-continued usage,
that term acquired, in nearly all the  modern lan-
guages, a sort of generic meaning, while the differ-
ent species  of velocipedes have their more specific
names.
  Q. 6.  What are the  principal species of veloci-
pedes ?
  A.   Bicycles,  tricycles, quadricycles, and mono-
cycles, are  the principal species, and each has sev-
eral varieties.  Another species includes the various
water velocipedes.  There are also several varieties
of so-called " safety" machines, most of which have
but two wheels,  variously arranged,  and which are
as  widely  distinguishable from the above-named
species as they are from each other.
  Q. 7.  What is a bicycle?
  A.   It is a velocipede  having two wheels in the
same plane, one of which is both driving and guid-
ing wheel,  and  which  is  operated  directly by  a
cranked axle and  pedals and  a swivelled fork and
handle-bars connected with the same wheel.
  Q. 8.  What  different varieties  of bicycle  are
there, and how do they differ?
  A.  Almost as  many varieties as  there are mak-
ers, —hundreds of them.  They differ mostly in the
materials used and in the shape and complexity of
the parts.   For instance, some have wooden wheels
and some iron, or steel;  some have  tubular frame- 
20
WHAT AND WHY.
work and some have solid;  some  have iron tires
and some have rubber;  some  have plain bearings
and some have ball or roller bearings ;  some  have
socket heads and some have spindle heads, and so
on..  But they are all constructed on the same prin-
ciple, and of the same generic form.
  Q. 9.   When was the bicycle first used?
  A.  In 1863, so far as any authentic accounts are
extant.
  Q. 10.   Where was the first bicycle used?
  A.  In Paris, France.  Its first street use was on
the Boulevard St.  Martin.   Its first country-road
use was in Ansonia, Connecticut, by the same rider.
  Q. 11.   Who was the first to  ride a bicycle?
  A.  Pierre Lallement,  a  Frenchman, afterwards,
and still,  a resident of the United States.
  Q. 12.   When and where  was the name bicycle
given to this machine ?
  A.  In 1867, in  Paris.  Before that,  and for a
short time after, it was called Velocipede a pedales,—
a pedal-velocipede ; and in 1868 it was given a brake
on the rear wheel, and in that form called Velocipede
a pedales a et frein, — pedal and brake velocipede.
In that year, however, the name bicycle mostly super-
seded all others.
  Q. 13.   When  was the  bicycle  first  brought to
America ?
  A.  In 1865, by Lallement.
  Q. 14." WThen was it first taken to England? 
         COMMON  QUESTIONS ANSWERED.       21

  A.   In 1868, and from  Paris.  It  is in dispute
who was the first to take one to that country.
  Q. IS-  Has the  bicycle been in constant use since
its first introduction to these countries respectively?
  A.   In France it has, and to a very large extent,
although the Franco-German war checked its prog-
ress, and nearly crushed it  out for a few years after
1870.  In the United States it came slowly into use
until 1869, when it assumed almost a craze.  The
carriage-makers got hold of  the making of the "velo-
cipedes"  (as they were  almost universally called
here)  and produced so many  wooden and cheap
machines, and opened so many rinks, that a reaction
and failures set in, and the  business died down, and
bicycling fell with  it.  From 1870 to 1876 there were
very few bicycles used in America, and almost  none
made.  Since that time the art and the business have
both steadily advanced together, and the mutual  in-
terests of organized bodies of riders, and  of  large
enterprise and  investments in  manufacture and in
mercantile dealing, have promoted a permanent and
increasing spread of the use of the bicycle in America.
In England its use has been constant and increasing
from its first introduction.
  Q. 16.  Was the bicycle, or "velocipede " of those
early years the same kind of machine as the "mod-
ern bicycle," or the "wheel" of to-day?
  A.   In general character or structure, yes ; in par-
ticulars, no.  It has been  improved by  invention, 
22
WHAT AND WHY.
by skill in manufacture, by experience in differentiat-
ing its points for effective use, and by the general ad-
vance in the mechanical arts.   It is different now as
the gun or the sewing-machine of to-day are different
from those of sixteen or eighteen years ago.
  Q.17.  What is-a tricycle?
  A.   It is a velocipede having three wheels upon
the ground for support, traction, and  steering.  In
the mechanical means for propulsion'by the feet and
guiding by the hands, and in the arrangement of the
wheels, and other particulars of construction, it offers
a considerable number of varieties.
  Q. 18.  When and  where  was the tricycle  first
used?
  A.   A three-wheeled velocipede was used and pat-
ented in France in  1826; and velocipedes of this
species have been  more or less used, and from time
to time  improved since that time.
  Q. 19.  What is the origin of the name tricycle?
  A.   The French gave it  to this carriage, some
years prior to 1848.  In that  year it appears in the
title to a patent for an improvement.
  Q. 20.  Has the tricycle been long in use in other
countries ?
  A.   It has been used in very small numbers both
in the United States and in Great Britain prior to the
introduction of the bicycle;  but it is only since the
successful and general use of the latter,  that the
makers have given tricycles sufficient attention to im- 
         COMMON QUESTIONS ANSWERED.       23

prove them, and  have ventured on  the expense of
making them with the care and accuracy of bicycles.
It may be said also that it  is the success of the bi-
cycle, and the results obtained by it, that have made
the demand for good tricycles.
  Q. 21. How extensive is the use of tricycles now?
  A.   There are hundreds of them in use in Amer-
ica  and thousands  in  Europe.   Tricyclists have
their  own  clubs  and associations, besides forming
a part of the membership of the other  leading  ve-
locipede fraternities; and they  consist to a very
considerable extent of ladies.
  Q.  22.  What is a quadricycle?
  A.   A quadricycle is a four-wheeled velocipede,
generally having  the four wheels on the ground in
pairs of nearly equal size, abreast like wagon wheels.
The arrangement, however, differs in different varie-
ties.  This class  has never  attained the success of
the bicycle or tricycle, and is almost out of vogue,
except in two varieties ;  one of these  is an American
one, having two large wheels abreast in front; and
two small ones abreast back of them ; the other is
an English "Sociable," or velocipede for two riders,
having two large wheels  abreast, and  two small ones,
arranged one before  and the other behind the main
axle for guiding-wheels.
  Q. 23.  What is a monocycle?
  A.   It  is  a velocipede having but one  ground
wheel;  and in most varieties  this  wheel is large, 
24
WHAT AND WHY.
with space for the rider inside ; in some varieties the
rider  sits over or on the wheel.  This species  is
mostly confined  to  patent-office reports and the
hands of a few acrobats.  It has never been put to
practical use to any extent.
  Q. 24.  What was the origin of quadricycles and
monocycles ?
  A.  They were first made and named in France,
like the  whole class of  velocipedes.  The  quadri-
cycles have been made  in the effort  to reduce the
wagon to human propulsion, and the monocycle in
the effort to reduce the velocipede to one wheel.
  Q. 25.  What relation have the water-velocipedes
to the land-velocipedes referred to ?
 "A.  Only this, that in them although one or more
hulls or floats take the place of wheels, the operation
of them is  through mechanism for foot action, con-
nected with paddles or propellers, so that' they are
propelled by the  feet of the rider.  One or two of
them have been made quite practical.   But the cir-
cumstances of water  travel are not so  favorable to
this method of locomotion.
  Q. 26.  What are  the  characteristics and  com-
parative  constructions of the "safety"  velocipedes
referred to, in a general way?
  A.  They are mostly called, by the inventors or
makers, " bicycles," in order to gain for them the
favor accorded to that most successful species ; and
they are put forth on  the  taking, but erroneous, idea 
         COMMON QUESTIONS  ANSWERED.       25

that they are safer from accidents.  Some of them,
by  means of levers  and treadles, attached to the
frame and cranks of a machine nearly resembling
the bicycle, otherwise enable the  seat to be placed
farther back from a perpendicular through the axle of
the fore-wheel, so that the liability to be  thrown
forward by striking an obstruction in the road is re-
duced ;  whilst others by similar means enable the
rider to take a machine with  a smaller fore-wheel,
and so ride at a  less height from the ground.  The
two fairly successful varieties, one  in each, of these
are of English origin and make.
  Another, of the same origin, is  the "dicycle," as
sometimes  more properly  called,  and has its two
ground-wheels of equal size and abreast.   It  looks
like a tricycle with the guiding-wheel removed, —
the steering being done by  releasing one of the
wheels, or by brake action, or by both.
  Another of this species, though of English origin
in its parts  and  general divergence, is of American
make, and has two ground-wheels in the same plane,
the smaller one in front;  but one is a guiding-wheel
and the other a driving-wheel, and the operation is
by levers, bands, and clutches.
  These are the only four  kinds that  are now used
to any extent.
  Q. 27.  How  does the use of  these "Safeties"
compare in extent and practicability with the others ?
  A.   In extent, the use of them all is a little less 
26
WHAT AND WHY.
then one per cent, of that of bicycles and tricycles.
In practicability or effectiveness, they are neither of
them equal to the bicycle for speed or distance, nor
better than the tricycle ;  while for safety or comfort,
they are not equal to the tricycle.  As to the matter
of safety, compared with bicycles, it is very like that
which is sometimes  provided  by mistakenly careful
fathers  in  giving knives  to  their boys, — a dull
one  being thought  safer;  whereas  the dull  one,
when it does cut, is worse than the sharp one, and
when it don't is not so effective.


                  MECHANICAL.
  Q. 28. Why are most  bicycles made with metallic
wheels,  instead of wooden ones?
  A.  Because they can be made lighter and stronger,
and to take less air resistance when in motion.
  Q. 29.  Why are rubber tires used on them ?
  A.   Because they prevent  noise, jarring,  and
slipping, to a great degree over metallic ones. ^
  Q. 30.  Why are not  two rear wheels put on be-
hind, instead of one ?
  A.  Because it adds weight and  friction, makes a
grave mechanical  difficulty on curves, and is unnec-
essary and ineffective for  the purpose of stability, for
which they have been suggested.
  Q- 31.  Why isn't the  small wheel in front?
  A.  For several reasons it is better to have it be- 
COMMON QUESTIONS ANSWERED.
 hind:   the steering is steadier, the drag of the little
 wheel is less  than the obstruction if it be pushed,
 and the whole machine is more easily and completely
 controlled by having the steering and driving wheel
 combined in  one, — which cannot practically  be
 effected  with the small wheel in front.  Amongst
 other reasons is* this, that  the easiest  learned and
 most practical way of mounting  is  by a low step in
 rear of the saddle, and this is only obtained by the
 present construction.
   Q. 32.  Why don't you have  some arrangement
 so that you can stand still when you stop.
   A.  First  because you don't need it; and, second,
 because  you  can't.  Many contrivances for that have
 been tried, and all have failed to be of service, be-
 cause you can get off when you  stop, and on when
 you start, easier than you can carry  around any suf-
 ficient bracing device.
   Q. 2>2>-   Why aren't bicycles  made so they will
 never break?
   A.  They  are calculated and  made  (good ones
 are) so  that they will  not break  under any  or-
 dinary or reasonable use, or  any common inci-
 dental strain.  There is no reasonable implement
 in the world that cannot be broken under ingenious,
 stupid, or forcible misuse, or by extraordinary calam-
 ity.   To provide against  these  would require so
 much additional weight  and other  modification in
structure as to impair very seriously the effectiveness 
28              WHAT  AND  WHY.
of the instrument  for its  proper uses.   This insur-
ance would be too expensive.
  Another thing:  pedal-pins and handle-bars, etc.,
are subject to a large amount of jarring, which in
time makes any metal susceptible of easy breakage,—
just as  in the  well-known instance of  railway car
axles.
  These remarks also apply to tricycles.
  Q. 34.  What is the advantage of ball-bearings ?
  A.  About  the  same, in a general way, as a fine
edge on a knife.   Mathematically, the advantage of
ball-bearings to the front wheel of a bicycle  over
plain bearings  is ■£$ of one  per cent, of the whole
resistance, or of the labor of riding.  This  is sup-
posing a good ball-bearing and correct adjustment.
Similar advantage  is obtained by ball-bearings on
the pedals, and a  little less by having them on the
rear wheel.
  Q- 35-  Why are not " double " ball-bearings used
on  the Columbia machines?  •
  A.   Because there  is  no especial  advantage in
"double" ball-bearings per se, any more than in
triple or single ones; and  because  the  bearings
made for these machines are  mechanically  correct
for reducing both journal and pivot fiction,  and for
adjustment, steadiness, and strength.  One advan-
tage of these bearings is in their great adjustability,
taking up to a nicety all end shake and  lost  motion
in the wheels. 
         COMMON QUESTIONS ANSWERED.       29

  Q. 36.  What is the difference in practical value
between a Standard and an Expert Columbia?
  A.  The Expert has more rigid forks, ball-bearings,
is a little better "style," and a little more expensive-
ly finished.   Its extra cost  requires the difference
in  price, and the  value is there for the rider.
  Q. yj.  Why are "dropped" handle-bars put on
some bicycles?
  A.   Because some riders desire them.  If a  man
has long arms and a  short body they are better for
him.
  Q. 38.  Why  are  not all  machines  made  with
"dropped" bars?
  A.   Because some riders do not want them ; and
because for many riders the straight ones are better.
The object of bent handle-bars is to place the handles
at  a point where the individual rider's arms will be
brought to  the right position.
  Q. 39. Have bicycles and tricycles any commercial
value after they have been ridden awhile ?
  A.  Yes ;  the great demand for them makes them
good property, and second-hand machines usually
bring but a few dollars less than the original price.
  Q. 40.  Why do bicycles cost so much ?
  A.   Because they  are made of  costly materials
and by expensive skilled labor; because the peculiari-
ties of their  structure  require expensive machinery
for constructing them with truth and accuracy; and
because it  costs money to do business.   The finest 
3°
WHAT AND WHY.
 things cost most.  You can buy a watch for $2.50 or
 for $250 or more, and  the percentage of profit is
 more on the lower-priced ones.  You can buy a bi-
 cycle for  $45 or  for $145;  and  the  percentage
 of profit is  less on  the higher-priced ones to  the
 maker and  dealer, while the purchaser  gets  more
 than his ratio of money's worth in the difference.
   Q. 41.  Why  do tricycles cost so much, and so
 much more than bicycles?
  A.   See last  answer for the first part; the differ-
 ence is in the cost of construction, — more material.
 more labor, more machinery, etc.   You can't get
 anything valuable in this world without paying for it.
  Q. 42.  Why  do machines  cost more here than
 similar ones do in England?
  A.   They dotCt cost so much more as is made to
 appear; because the real standard of values is differ-
 ent in the two countries.  There is a popular fallacy
about that.  But what real difference there is, is due
to the tariff, which makes an  addition of duties to
the machine made abroad and  brought here, and an
addition of price, on account of duties, of materials
and labor and plant on machines made here.
  Q. 43.  What  difference is there between the
Columbia tricycle and others in the  market?
  A.  Taking it throughout it is made of more ex-
pensive material, and is more stanch and durable for
it;  it has adjustable ball-bearings at all  working
points  in  the  propulsion; and it  is  on the  inter- 
         COMMON QUESTIONS ANSWERED.       31

changeable plan, and  is warranted.   It  has also
other differences,  learned  by comparison or from
the maker's catalogue.


                    PRACTICAL.
   Q. 44-   Is it difficult to learn to ride a bicycle?
   A.  It  is rather difficult to a  novice to learn  it
alone.  In a riding-school, or under a good instructor,
it  takes from twenty minutes to six half-hour lessons
to acquire  the necessary rudiments.  After that, one
can learn something by experience until he becomes
an expert.   Those who have ridden the old "veloci-
pede " can ride the bicycle at once without aid.
   Q. 45.   Is the bicycle a safe machine to ride?
   A.  Yes, the safest  vehicle used.  There  is no
appliance of our modern civilization that is  not more
or less dangerous, or  liable to cause  accidents, by
abuse,  or by careless and indiscreet use.
   Q. 46.   Is it more dangerous  than the so-called
" safety" machines?
   A.  Not a whit.  By  <*s careful use, by proper ad-
justments,  and by equal skill in  using,  it is just as
safe; and want of care  or skill is no more productive
of accident with it  than with most of the others.
You don't need to use  a dull knife, because  a  sharp
one cuts.
   Q. 47.  You can't go over a curb or even a pebble
with a bicycle, can you? 
32
WHAT AND WHY.
  A.    Yes,  you can  go over any reasonable ob-
struction, when  necessary;  and you " take" an ob-
struction that is  large, just as a  horseman takes a
fence.
  Q. 48.  Isn't  the brake likely to throw  you over?
  A.   Not if you use it properly.  You can't come
to a dead stop while running  swiftly without being
thrown forward.   The brake should be  used only in
descending hills, as a restrainer, and should  be ap-
plied gradually.
  Q. 49.  How fast can you go with it?
  A.   As fast  as you  would drive a  horse, and a
little faster.  It  has been  ridden twenty miles an
hour under the best conditions.  Average road-riding
gives a strolling gait of eight miles an hour, a lively
gait of ten to twelve  miles, and a  fast pace of fifteen
miles.   Twenty miles an hour have been done on
the  racing-track.
  Q. 50.  How far can you ride in a day?
  A.   If you are riding several days in succession
on a tour, plan for thirty to forty miles a day.   You
can ride fifty to  eighty  miles without weariness on
good roads;  and  by the tables on another page you
will see that one hundred miles or more is a frequent
day's ride, and  even two hundred miles and more
have been accomplished.
  Q- 51.  How  does bicycling compare with walk-
ing, or horseback riding?
  A.   It is less wearisome  and  more  exhilarating 
COMMON  QUESTIONS  ANSWERED.
33
than either for the same  length of time; and with
the same amount of exertion you can go three times
as fast or as far as in walking, and about once and a
half as fast as on horseback; while for a day's ac-
complishment to the same extent of weariness you can
bicycle four or five times as far as  you can walk, and
twice as far as you can ride on horseback, with the
same amount of previous practice.
   Q. 52.  How much exertion  does it take'to ride
the bicycle?
   A.   For part answer see the preceding. On down-
grades comparatively none; on  level ground and
good fair roads about one third  that of a brisk walk,
or less, according  to pace; on up-grades or very
rough roads, it is like walking up-hill, — more exer-
tion according to grade and length.
   Q- S3-  Is it tiresome to ride much?
   A.   It is a little tiresome the first few times, as it
is to do anything else  in  muscular exercise.  After
that it is not  more than explained in preceding an-
swers.   It  is  just tiresome  enough  to  induce good
appetite and sound  sleep.
   Q. 54.   Isn't one strained up  all the time to keep
his balance?
  A.   Not at all;  one has  to  keep an  eye on  the
road in a general way, just as an engineer of a train,
or a  driver of a horse does ; but he has freedom of
eyes and one or both hands for  anything else.   The
steadiness of riding gives the impression of effort at 
34              WHAT AND WHY.
balancing.   Is a  sailor "strained  up" when he
walks the deck in  an ordinary sea ?  The balancing
and  steering of the bicycle become, with practice,
involuntary, and expert riders wheel  in company for
miles with no more interruption in their conversation
than if they were walking.
  Q. 55.  How steep a hill can you ride?
  A.  In a general way any hill  that you can drive
up with a horse and buggy, and two on the seat. If
you are driving a long distance you get off and walk
up a steep hill to save the horse, if you  are  a good
driver, — to save your  strength, if you  are  a good
rider. Take the country through,  there is one hill in
a hundred  which  for  its steepness,  or length, or
looseness of surface, one will not  ride, except he be
expert or on a short run.
  Q. 56. Can you ride through sand?
  A.   Yes, if it isn't  deep, or if it has  been wet
down hard; but a sandy road is to be avoided, when
possible. Mud, ruts, snow, stones, gulleys, up-hill,
head wind, — anything else is  better than two to
five inches  of loose sand, with no strip of turf or
beaten walk to exchange it for.
  Q- S7- Don't you have to give up riding in hot
weather ?
  -4.   Not  at all; then you like to ride more.  Rid-
ing is  cool for the breeze it gives, and it takes you
to cool places; you avoid the direct midday sun, and
find it delightful morning and night. 
COMMON QUESTIONS  ANSWERED.
   Q. 58.  Can you use it any during the winter?
   A. A considerable number of riders in the Northern
States use it every day during the winter.  Even in
the inclement State of New Hampshire  a bicycler
rode through the streets and on the roads during a
part of each of the 365 days of 1881.  But the aver-
age rider  will not use it when there  is much snow
on the ground, or when the roads are rutted and
frozen, except for short distances.
   Q. 59.  How often  do you have to oil the bear-
ings?
   A.  Plain bearings about once in fifty miles, and
ball-bearings about once in two hundred miles, if
they are well made ones, and the machine is in con-
stant use. When allowed to stand a great deal
without use, the oil runs out and gums up.   A ma-
chine should  be oiled on starting out, if it has pre-
viously been standing some days.  The principle is,
the bearing surfaces should have a  little oil between
them all the time.
   Q. 60.   Is  it necessary to carry a bell ?
   A.  Not necessary, except in  certain cities which
require it, but convenient and useful everywhere.
   Q.  61.   What does it cost for  repairs?
   A.   A trifle, — an average of a dollar  or  less a
year.   One spends a  Jittle  money every year, how-
ever,  incidentally, oa  added accessories and com-
forts.
   Q. 62.   Do the tires stay on? 
36              WHAT AND WHY.
   A.  They  do on  Columbia machines, and on
 nearly all first-class ones.
   Q. 63.  How long do the tires wear?
   A.  We have seen them where they have been in
 use for four years over 8,000 miles of roads, and were
 not much worn.
   Q. 64.  What does a set of new tires cost?
   A.  About $10, for a fifty-inch bicycle.
   Q. 65.  Are bicycles used for business, or practi-
 cal carriage ?
   A.  They are so  used  to an increasing extent by
 students, going to and from'schools and colleges; by
 physicians on their professional rounds ;  by clergy-
 men making pastoral calls  and exchanges ; by busi-
 ness men and  clerks and mechanics, going between
 their homes and their  places of business; by collec-
 tors,  mail-carriers,  and telegraph  boys, and  mes-
 sengers and agents, and by many others.   They are
 used by mounted orderlies in the Italian army.
   Q- 66.   How does the tricycle compare with the
bicycle for speed and ease of riding?
  A.  It  has about one-fifth  disadvantage  as to
speed, Avith the same exertion, or else as to exertion,
with the same speed. It is heavier, has more faction-
al  parts, another track on  the road, and  takes rather
more air resistance ; hence it must always be at some
disadvantage, as to  speed, as compared with the bi-
cycle. 
         COMMON QUESTIONS  ANSWERED.       37

   Q. 67.   What are the compensating advantages
of the tricycle ?
  A.  It  is  a steadier machine for the timid, the
old, or the disabled, and is adapted for ladies' use as
well  as  for  gentlemen's.   It  is  the  best form of
"safety" machine.  It admits also of easier stopping
and starting  where this is necessarily frequent, as in
a crowded city, or for carriers, etc.  It is also adapted
for carrying more luggage ;  and some bicyclers have
it also as an  additional machine for its greater com-
fort in night-riding and for winter use.
   Q. 68.   What kind of roads can the  tricycle be
used on?
  A. Any that the bicycle can be, or that you could
drive pleasurably over with horse and buggy.
   Q. 69.   Can it be ridden up-hill?
  A.  It  can, and  is  ridden by many  up any hill
likely to be met on excursions, or tours.
   Q. 70.  Is the tricycle made as strong and as care-
fully and finely as the bicycle?
  A.  It is  now; the Columbia tricycle is built in
the highest style of the art, with every valuable ap-
pliance for adjustment, and with the finest attention
to details.
  O. 71.  Will a tricycle fit a whole family?
  A.  It is easily adjustable  to suit equally well the
use of adults of either sex, or of youth or maidens,
of a height of four and a half feet or more.  This is 
38
WHAT AND WHY.
effected by simply changing the position of saddle
and handles.
  Q. 72.  Is  the use  of the  bicycle  or  tricycle
healthful ?
  A.   It  is healthful  in every aspect,  and in any
reasonable use there is  no element of injury. — See
"Words of the Wise," on other pages.
  Q. 73.  Is it not difficult for a busy man to find
time to ride ?
  A.   Some of the busiest men in this country ride
from 1,000 to 3,500 miles each year. »The bicycle is
so ready to mount that odd minutes of  the day can
be made use of, and for short rides  no change from
the ordinary  business dress  is  necessary.   The
climbing of a steep hill will exercise more  muscles
and organs in a beneficial way, and more  quickly,
than any form of gymnastic exercise.
  Q. 74. How long will this bicycle  and  tricycle use
and interest be kept up?  Won't it go out by and by
as a fashion or craze?
  A.   To the latter,  no ;  to the former,  always.  It
is a  permanent institution, so far as any human im-
plement and industry can be said to be so.  So long
as there are men and women  and roads  ; so long as
vehicles are necessary  and  convenient;  so  long as
bodily exercise profiteth ; so long as  wholesome rec-
reation has any charm,  bicycling and tricycling will
hold their place,and continue to advance toward the
foremost favor.  They have  continued too  many 
FACTS  AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS.
39
years and taken too strong a hold in all civilized and
enlightened countries of the world, for any consid-
erable recession or arrest in their course.
      Facts and Accomplishments.

  The ability merely to ride a bicycle, and to  man-
age  it decently,  safely,  and pleasurably,  is easily
acquired,  and is  an accomplishment no gentleman
should be without.
  Even on the most disinterested grounds it will be
admitted  that every gentleman should  be able to
drive and to ride a horse, to  handle the simple me-
chanical tools, to swim, to row a boat, and to ride a
bicycle.
  The art once learned is never lost; and the oppor-
tunities of learning are now almost universal in the
cities, and are to be found by applying at agencies
throughout the country.
  For further explanation of the  why  you should
learn to ride, read the brief extracts under "Words'
of the Wise," on  another page.
  Karl Kron, a well-known journalist and amateur
bicycler, rode a "  right away" distance of 1,422 miles,
from Detroit, Mich., to Staunton, Va., in the fall of
18S3, at the  average rate of 42 miles a day,  on a
Columbia  bicycle.   His distance on  one of those
days was over 100 miles. 
40              WHAT AND WHY.
     One hundred miles on bicycle within twelve hours,
   including stops and rests, have been a frequent per-
   formance, and have once been done inside of ten
   hours.
     One hundred and  nineteen miles, each within ten
   hours' riding time, were covered by some  riders of
   Columbia bicycles in 1883; and so were 120  miles
   by several in 1882.
     Two  hundred and thirty-six miles on a bicycle
   without a ;dismount  have been done on an English
   track; and 1,404 miles in six days, of eighteen hours'
   riding time each, by one rider.
:    Mr. W. F. Sutton, in Oct., 1883, rode 260V4 miles
   on a bicycle, over English roads, within the twenty-
   four  hours.
     One English tricycler's record of  road riding on a
   tricycle amounted to 6,053 miles during 1883.
     In six )iears and a half the number of bicyclers in
  the United States has increased from 3 to 30,000.
^    In about that time the number  of bicycle  clubs
;  has increased frqm 1 to about 400.
    There is now no State or city, and  hardly a town
- or village, where the sight of a bicycle  is  not a
  familiar one.
    Prejudice has subsided, opposition  been  quelled,
•  restrictions removed, almost everywhere.
    It  has  been proved a vehicle for  men, an instru-
  ment of dignity and genuine value,  and not a mere
  plaything of boys. 
FACTS  AND  ACCOMPLISHMENTS.
41
   As  such it  has  been perfected to a  remarkable
 degree in its construction  and manufacture, and its
 capabilities developed,  and  its  patronage  fallen
 largely to the best and most  enterprising and hon-
 orable in the different communities.
   Its interests are promoted by a national organiza-
 tion  (The  League  of American Wheelmen),  of
 about 4,000 members, with branches in most of the
 States.
   Devoted to it are a high-class literary and artistic
 magazine  (Outing  and  The  Wheelman), two
 weekly papers  of considerable importance,  and
 several smaller ones.   Books  have been  written
 about it, and  our current literature is  permeated
 with it.
   The medical profession  actively favors bicycling
 for its healthfulness, and  the clergy for its utility
 and moral influences.
   The young find it  full of wholesome fascination,
 and the  older  find in it needed recreation, and a
 renewal of youth.
   What has been done and recounted is the  success
 of the genuine bicycle, which has had some imita-
tions  and substitutes as a natural consequence, but
which still stands supreme among velocipedes.
   There were seventy successful participants in all-
day runs of 100 miles and upwards, on bicycles and
tricycles, in 1883, on American roads. 
42
WHAT AND WHY.
  The total  distance covered by the seventy was
7,773.47 miles, — an average of 111.5 miles.
  Fifty-six per cent, of the machines  were Colum-
bias.   Over 55 per cent, of the distance was covered
by the riders of Columbias.
  Of  those who  rode more  than  the  average dis-
tance  60 per cent, were on Columbias.
  The two longest distances, each 2ooTYj- miles, were
done on Columbias.
  Of  those riding more than no miles in the day,
the riders of Columbias  made the fastest rates of
speed  (highest.  10.27 miles  an  hour),  and the
shortest riding times.
  The trotting and other of  the following records
were  made,  of course, with  flying start, while the
bicycling  records are  from a still or standing start.
  The best bicycling record for a mile from a flying
start is that  of 2.312'.-,, made at the end of a twenty-
mile race, and which compares still more favorably
with the horse records.
  It is noticeable from the table and from experience,
that,  for distances over ten miles, the rider of the
bicycle  has  much the advantage over the rider or
driver of a horse as to speed, distance, and  endur-
ance,  not  only on the track, but also on the road;
and the greater the distance chosen or the longer the
time the more advantage is found. 
Some Comparative  Best Records.
Ul						
2	Walking.	Running.	Rowing	Skating.	Trotting.	Tricycling.
	k. m. s.	h. m. s.	h. m. s.	//. m. s.	//. m, s.	h. m. «.
i	6 332/s	4 16i/5	8 361/,	3 °°	2 093/4	3 "
2	13 493/5	9 "Va	13 2I1/--'		4 46	6 28
3	21 lllJ2	14 36			7 21V4	9 49
5	36 08	24 40			13 00	16 24^2
10	1 17 40%	51 26	I 23 OO	43 53'/4	27 231/4	33 45
20	2 50 05	1 54 00		1 31 40	5825	1 15 24
5° 8 io 54		6 19 00	8 55 20	4 13 56	3 55 .40V2	3 '8 27
IOO	18 53 40	13 26 30		11 37 45	8 55 53	7 23 5°2/.-.
nicycimg.	. *A
	> O H 1Z1
A. wz. 5.	
2 4i3/s	>
	id
5 363/5	c >
	n
8 41 Vs	n r,
	
	
H 392/5	
	
	L^
29 22	i,
	3
58 34	^
	;/:
2 43 583/s	
5 5° °52/5	
 
44
WHAT AND WHY.
                 Legal Lifts.

  On the 29th May, 1877, Alfred D. Chandler.'Esq.,
took his first bicycle, an imported" one, from  the
custom-house in Boston.   He  paid, under protest,
forty-five per cent, duty on it, as for steel, claiming
that it was  a " carriage,"  and should be  subject to
only thirty-five per cent, duty, as in that class.   He
appealed to the Secretary of  the Treasury, sending
two elaborate briefs, and was successful.  Secretary
Sherman, under advice from  the law department at
Washington, decided that the bicycle was a carriage,
and carriage  it has been  at the custom-houses ever
since.  That was the first legal  contest, since  the
revival, in America.
  On the 22d April, 1878, an order was  passed in
the  Boston Board of Aldermen, "That the Com-
mittee on Police consider and report if any measures
are  necessary to  regulate the  passage of bicycles.
through the  streets  of our  city."  By the  effort,
principally, of another lawyer, who was  a wheelman,
and member of the City Council, this order was re-
ferred directly to the Police Commissioners, without
other action ; and the whole  movement resulted in
an order promulgated in  the police department: —
"In regulating the use  of  bicycles,  you will  be
guided  by  the  same  laws  as apply   to ordinary
vehicles, and see that they conform therewith, both 
LEGAL LIFTS.
45
as to speed and  location."   That has proved suf-
ficient for Boston ever since,  and  had much in-
fluence elsewhere.
   In July, 18.79,  ten gentlemen  were  taken into
custody, in Brockton, Mass., after an attempt to ex-
tort money, on a complaint of violating the Sunday-
laws, by riding their bicycles.  They were fined ten
dollars each by the trial justice ; but, on appeal to the
Superior Court, at Plymouth, in November, before
Mr. Justice Wilkinson, presiding, were acquitted.
   In the meantime the leading English case of Tay-
lor vs. Goodwin, in the Court of Queen's Bench, had  •
been decided, and reported in Law Journal Reports,
part 6, June,  1879, vol. 48, N. S.; in which it was
judicially established that a bicycle is a carriage, and
the rider of it a driver of a carriage, in respect to all
legal rights and duties relating to the highways.
   In the fall  of  1879 another case  arose  (and in
Massachusetts again), that of McFarland vs.  Brown.
The plaintiff  brought a suit for damages against a  •
Worcester wheelman, for spilled milk and other in-
juries  received through  the  fright of a horse,  by
reason, as was  alleged, of the presence of  the  de-
fendant on a bicycle  in the  highway.   The trial
occurred on 8th November, before Associate Justice
Taft, of  the  Second District Court of Southern
Worcester, and was a well-contested one.  The court
held that it seemed clear that " bicycles cannot be 
46              WHAT AND WHY
deemed as nuisances, but are  entitled to the reason-
able use of the highway; that there were two ques-
tions involved in the case : first, whether the plaintiff
was using  due care; and, second, whether the de-
fendant  was  negligent"; and  rendered judgment
for the defendant.   There was no appeal taken.

   The next contest  arose in  the City of Brooklyn.
There a section  of an ordinance, which had been a
dead letter for some  ten years, was, in 1879, revived,
to the annoyance, to some extent, of bicyclers in the
streets.  In April, 1880, a petition was presented in
the Board of Aldermen praying that the freedom of
the streets be granted to wheelmen,  subject only to
the regulations  applying  to  other  carriages.   A
second petition  was also presented.  The  matter
was referred to the law committee, who gave a public
hearing on the matter; gave it thorough considera-
tion ;  took advice of corporation counsel, and made
a full and interesting report.   " As a matter of legal
right, your committee believe  that bicyclers are en-
titled to the use of the  streets  the same as other
vehicles,  no more or  less subject  to the same rules,
liable to  the same  responsibilities, and (pr violation
of the laws relating to vehicles to be visited with the
same  penalties," they  reported.   " In  all  courts
where the question has  arisen, it  has been, without
exception, decided that the bicycle is a vehicle, and,
as such,  has  equal right with  other vehicles  to the 
LEGAL LIFTS.
47
use of the streets, without discriminating  restric-
tions ;  and that no authority  exists by which  the
peculiar form of a vehicle or its motive-power can be
arbitrarily determined, to the exclusion of some other
particular class.  Your committee  believe this to be
good law and common-sense."  And, further, " that
the Common  Council,  in  restricting  the  use  of
bicycles, exceeded its jurisdiction, and not only did
an act  of unjust discrimination, but interfered with
actual  existing legal rights."  The ordinance was
repealed,  and  the  only  regulation additional  to
those  relating  to  other vehicles  was the  require-
ment of lamps between sunset and sunrise.
  What was known as " the Haddonfield Turnpike
case "  also arose in 1880.  The Haddonfield Turn-
pike Company, a New Jersey corporation, instructed
its  keepers  to  exclude bicycles,  and one  bicycler
was actually ejected, and  several others had  the
gates closed on them.   There was a good beginning
made  for a  suit,  and  counsel were retained,  and
investigations made on both  sides.  The Turnpike
company found its ground  untenable, and was per-
suaded, without a  suit,  to  withdraw the  obnoxious
orders, and leave its roads as free to bicycles as to
other  carriages,— and  a little more so, — without
tolls.   The  expenses of this last matter, to  the
extent of $50,  were borne by the  League of Ameri-
can Wheelman, whose officers also aided in  the pre-
ceding Brooklyn matter, as they have in many others. 
-j.8              WHAT AND WHY.
  On the  15th January, 1881, quite  a number of
New York wheelmen held a meeting, to devise and
consider some method of procedure to open Central
Park to bicycles ; a  committee was appointed, who
presented, on the 16th  February, a petition to the
park commissioners.  A counter petition  was also
presented.  Both petitions were tabled at once.  In
April another petition, signed  by the officers of the
local clubs*, asking more limited privileges, and also
a petition signed by the officers of the League of
American Wheelmen, supported by statements of
various mayors and magistrates, and other prominent
men in cities and towns, where the bicycle had had
free  or slightly conditional course, were presented.
The commission  was still divided, and it seemed
impossible  to make any change.  Meantime  the
president  of the  League  interested  Col.  A.  A.
Pope in  the  matter,  who  immediately obtained a
careful and exhaustive legal opinion upon questions
involved in the validity of the order of the commis-
sioners of Central Park,  passed July 7, 1880,  " That
no bicycles or tricycles  be allowed in the Central or
city  parks."  On  the  strength of that opinion,  he
offered to pay all the  expenses of  any New  York
wheelman who would  make a test case under that
order.
  On the  1st  July,  W. M. Wright, S. Conant
Foster, and H. H.  Walker, of that city, rode  into
Central Park, two of them on a "sociable"  tricycle, 
LEGAL LIFTS.
49
and  one on a  bicycle, were arrested, taken before
the police court and fined, refused to pay, and were
taken to the Tombs; thence they were taken before
Judge Lawrence of the Supreme Court, on a petition
for writ of habeas corpus.  The  course of proceed-
ings under this petition was unique in some respects,
and  was continued in the courts until the" expense
on the part of the petitioners amounted to more
than $7,000, and more than two  years had elapsed.
In the meantime the L.A.W. meet was held in New
York City, in the summer of 1883,  and  that, com-
bined with other  causes, including  a change in the
membership  of  the  Park Commission,   brought
about  the opening  of Central  Park and the River-
side drive to wheelmen, under certain reasonable
regulations;  and all  interest  in that cause cilebre
abated.

   At the  April, 1881, term of the  Supreme Court
of New Hampshire, sitting at  Exeter,  for Rock-
ingham County, was  brought to trial,  before Mr.
Justice Clark and a jury, the case of Ladd vs. Allen,
et al.   The plaintiff was  a lady,  who had been
sitting in a buggy, by the side of a road,  talking
with a friend, when the defendants, riding bicycles,
approached in the  road; the plaintiff's  horse took
some alarm, turned  about in the road, throwing  the
lady out, and  ran.  The  suit  was  for  damages
against the wheelmen.   The court  charged the jury 
5°
WHAT AND WHY.
that the defendants had the right to a reasonable
use of  the  public highway,  with any sort of  a
carriage, and submitted the usual questions as to
whether, a"nd by whom, there was negligence,  etc.,
and the jury found for the defendants, and the court
entered judgment accordingly.   This is the nearest
to a " Supreme  Court decision," as to the rights
of bicyclers  in the highways, obtained in  America.

  On the 2d of July, 1883, T. D. Chapman was ar-
raigned on a charge of assault upon Frank R. Lane, a
wheelman, in Washington, D.C., by forcing his horse
upon the latter so as to cause a violent fall and in-
jury.   Judge Snell found  the  pri.soner guilty upon
the evidence and a full hearing, imposed a fine often
dollars and costs, and accompanied his decision with
some wholesome remarks, that "in consideration of
the fact that Mr. Lane  had sustained only slight in-
juries,  and that the damage to  the bicycle could not
be considered  in a case of assault, a nominal fine of
ten dollars was imposed.   The amount of damages
for injury to the bicycle is a matter for after-consid-
eration by a civil suit.  In the eyes of  the law a bi-
cycle is a carriage, having, in common with other
carriages, equal rights  to the streets and highways,
protected by the same laws, and their riders amena-
ble to the same  road-laws governing the drivers of
other vehicles.  When a man  driving a team turns
out of his course to obstruct the course of a bicycle, 
WHAT TO SELECT.
51
he does so at his peril."   Subsequently, in the same
month, John Jackson, a colored man, was brought
before the same court on a similar charge, for riding
his bicycle over an elderly gentleman.   Judge Snell,
meting out impartial  justice, and  finding the pris-
oner guilty of  an  assault, imposed a fine of twenty
dollars.
              What  to Select.
  So far have the manufacture of velocipedes and
the trade in them  been  developed in America  that
every one, from  the little boy or girl to the aged or
disabled adult, can be fitted with a machine.
  Nearly  every purse can be accommodated with
prices and  terms; as the prices  for bicycles vary
from $7 to $175, and of tricycles from $20 to $240.
  There are in the United States eight manufact-
urers and several small makers, eight importers, and
about four hundred dealers and agencies; and in
almost every town of considerable  size there  is a
place to examine, to buy, and. to get information.
  Of the large  manufacturers,  one  makes only
first-class  bicycles and  tricycles;  one,  first-class
tricycles; one, first-class quadricycles, and a cheaper
one, youth's and a cheaper line of men's bicycles ; .one,
a cheaper line of  youth's bicycles and velocipedes;
one, boys' and a cheaper line of youth's bicycles and
tricycles  and  velocipedes;  one, a line  of men's 
52
WHAT AND WHY.
," Safety"  machines;  and  one,  a cheap line of
children's velocipedes and bicycles.
  The importers deal  in bicycles and tricycles of
different  foreign makes, mostly for adult use, and
also in some special velocipedes.
  So  that there are  about three  hundred different
variations of size,  style, construction, and  finish,
offering something to suit  boy,  man, or woman,
curiosity hunter, or sound mechanic, racing student,
touring vacationist, or business traveller.
  It  may be for the convenience of some who wish
to learn the art of bicycling to find  here the addresses
of dealers who have  Riding Schools, where one
may learn more quickly and easily.   The principal
ones having permanent schools are these : —
  Albany, N.Y., W. G. Paddock, 54 State st.
  Baltimore, S. T. Clarke & Co.,  22 Hanover st.
  Beverley,  Mass., J.  G. Wood, Jr.
  Boston, The  Pope M'f'g Co., 597 Washington st.
  Chicago, 111., John Wilkinson Co., 68 Wabash ave.
  Cincinnati, O., B.  Kittredge &  Co., 166 Main st.
  Cleveland, O., Davis & Hunt, 147 Ontario st.
  Dayton, O., Gump Brothers, 34 N. Main st.
  Hartford, Conn., Weed Sewing Machine Co.
  Milwaukee, Wis., Meinecke & Co.
  Newark, N.J., Zaccharias & Smith,  Broad st.
  New Haven,  American Bicycle  Co., 79 Orange st.
  New York, N.Y.,The Pope M'f'gCo., 12 Warren st.
  Philadelphia, H. B. Hart, 811 Arch st. 
PUBLICATIONS.
53
  St. Louis, Mo., Missouri Wheel Co., 12th st.
  Troy, N.Y., F. B. Edmunds, 279 River st.
  Washington, Wm. C. Scribner, 1108 E st., N.W.
  Besides these, nearly all  other dealers  have some
way and  place of teaching the rudiments of  riding
the bicycle without accident or difficulty, and there
is hardly a city or town where such assistance may
not be had.
                 Publications.
  For suggestions as to selecting a machine,  for
further  explanation of its use, facts relating to  the
art  of wheelmanship, as well  as  its delights  and
picturesque opportunities, reference may be had to
the following books and publications: —
  1.  " The A. B. C.  of Bicycling." By H. B. Hart.
36 pp.  Illustrated.   Paper.  Price, 10  cents.
  2.  " Suggestions for Choice, Care, and Repair of
Bicycles and  Tricycles."   By an  old  Wheelman.
New edition.  36 pp.   Price, 10 cents.
  3.  "The American Bicycler."   By Charles E.
Pratt.   266 pp.   Illustrated,  1880.  Price, 60 cents.
  4.  " Ten Thousand Miles  on  a Bicycle."   By
Karl Kron.  300 pp.  (in press).  Price, $1.50.
  5, 6.  "  The  Wheelman."   Volumes  I. and  II.
480 pp. each.  Finely illustrated.  Price,  $1.50 a
volume. 
54
WHAT AND  WHY.
  7.  " Outing and The Wheelman."   Volume III.
Finely Illustrated'.  Price, $1.50.
  Numbers  1,  2,  3,  and 4  (the latter as soon as
issued) can be obtained  of most of the dealers in
bicycling  literature or  sundries,  or of  The Pope
Manufacturing  Company, 597 Washington street,
Boston,  Mass., whose revised  36 pp.  Illustrated
Catalogue for 1884 is also valuable as a sound little
treatise on velocipede construction.
  No.  1 contains very practical elementary instruc-
tions  for learning  to  ride,  and  some  other in-
structive matter.
  No. 2 contains practical information about select-
ing a machine, and the care and handling of it.
  No.  3 is still  the  standard work on  bicycling,
though somewhat out of date, and contains histori-
cal and mechanical matters of interest, besides very
useful suggestions as to rules of the road, training
and condition, formation of clubs, roads and routes,
music  of bugle  calls,  and  much  other valuable
matter.
  No. 4 is, besides the personal notes and log-book
of ten  thousand  miles  of American  travel on  a
bicycle by the  author, a  collection  of routes, with
descriptive information  and distances, and of other
valuable information.
  Nos.  5, 6, and 7 are bound volumes of a high-
class  monthly  magazine,  illustrated  by  the best
artists with the best illustrations, pictorial and liter- 
PUBLICATIONS.
55
ary, of bicycling  and  tricycling, anywhere to be
found.  They contain also descriptions of American
and foreign  travel, practical  articles, mechanical
papers, poetry and humor, as well as  an epitome of
the principal  occurrences  during  the pe'riods from
September, 1882, to February, 1884.  They are most
entertaining as well as instructive volumes, and are
obtainable direct from the publishers, The Wheel-
man Co., 175 Tremont street, Boston, Mass.
  "Outing  and  The Wheelman" is an  elegant
illustrated eighty-page monthly magazine,  published
at $2  a year in  advance,  by The  Wheelman
Co., 175 Tremont street,  Boston, Mass.  It is de-
voted to the out-do'or positive amateur  recreations,
including bicycling, tricycling, canoeing,  yachting,
tennis, etc., giving the leading place to bicycling,
as its rank entitles it to hold.
  Besides the above, there are  "The  Bicycling
World," "The  Wheel,"  " The Western  Cyclist,"
"The  Cycle," and several  other wheel papers;
Chandler's " Bicycle Tour," etc., and several other
books  of American  publication, the addresses of
which will be found in the publications given above.
  In England, France, Germany,  Italy,  Belgium,
Australia, and elsewhere, are  published  bicycling
books and papers, lists of which there is  not room
for  here. 
56
WHAT and why.
                The  L.A.W.

  The League of American Wheelmen is an associa-
tion of riders of bicycles, tricycles, and other veloci-
pedes, in  the  United  States  and the Canadas
(including ladies also), organized 31st May,  1880,
and having for its objects " to promote the  general
interests of bicycling; to ascertain, defend, and pro-
tect the rights of wheelmen; and to encourage and
facilitate touring."
  At the time of this writing it has a membership of
about 4,000,  representing nearly  every section of
North America.  Its president is Dr. N. M. Beck-
with, of New York City; its corresponding secretary
is Mr. W. V. Gilman, Nashua, New Hampshire, to
whom all inquiries  may be addressed;  its member-
ship is open to all amateur wheelmen in good stand-
ing ; and the admission fee is one  dollar.
  Although the  League includes little more than one
in nine of the actual wheelmen, it is  by  far the most
influential as well as the largest organization on this
side the Atlantic, and accomplishes many good re-
sults every year.  "The  Wheel," published at 22
New Church street, New York, N.Y., is the present
" official organ " of that body, and may be consulted
for further information. 
DRESS AND CONVENIENCES.
57
         Dress and  Conveniences.

  The dress of wheelmen has long ago ceased to be
chosen generally for show;  and their costumes no
longer attract so much attention or repel the would-
be wheelman.
  The beginner will ride in any usual suit, but the
sense of comfort and appropriateness, and the de-
sire to economize, which prevails with reference to
equestrianism, cricket, yachting, or any other recrea-
tive exercise, will suggest a riding-suit.
  The dress usually chosen  by those experienced
and  considerate consists of  nearly  uniform color
throughout, of the quieter, darker shades of woollen
materials,  and of  a short  coat  or  jacket,  knee-
breeches, long stockings, woollen shirt with detach-
able collar and cuffs (of celluloid for warm weather),
a  cap or  helmet of same  material  as suit,  and
comfortable low shoes.
  The favorite ladies' costume for tricycling is, in
England, of flannel or merino combination, with an
overskirt, made as simply as  possible,  of ordinary
walking  length  (style and  bodice left to taste of
wearer),  loose trowsers  to match the dress in  color,
black woollen stockings, Norfolk jackets  (for  slight
figures, at least), straw hat, with a club ribbon,  and
a free and substantial walking-boot. 
58
what and why.
  There are several convenient things, called "ac-
cessories," for wheelmen to carry or  to use in con-
nection with bicycles and tricycles, which are to be
obtained from most dealers.   Such are : A stand for
the bicycle  when not in use;  a cyclometer, for
measuring  distances;  a  lantern, for night-riding;
and a  bell,  for signalling.  These are in various
forms.   One might add a luggage-carrier, for small
parcels, and a bag for use when off for several days.
  Much interest  may  be found in taking certain
other conveniences  not  so commonly thought of,
such as a  pocket  compass, a folding rule, a tape-
measure, a  memorandum book and pencil,  and a
map, with roads  indicated.  These  are  sufficient
(though they may easily be added to) for use in ex-
ploring, in finding one's way, in taking the topogra-
phy of  the country, the height and  grade  of hills,
direction of roads, distances of places and objects,
etc., etc.   The wheelman is the land-mariner, so to
speak;  and he may well be a geographer, a geolo-
gist, a  naturalist,  a chartographer,  etc.,  and  add
much to his pleasure thereby.
  One can carry on bicycle within a  weight of from
five to ten pounds, a small camera and attachments,
and sufficient articles  for a  week's  absence.  On
tricycle one can  carry any amateur photographic
outfit, convenient changes of dress and other articles;
or anything  up to fifty pounds' weight, and not be
materially impeded on a tour in either case. 
extracts .
59
                  Extracts.

  Extract from a speech of the Right  Hon. Robert
Lowe, M.P. :—
  " I have been from the first a very strong advocate
for the bicycle (Cheers) ; in fact, I may claim to have
been an antebicyclist (Laughter), for I hardly know
whether any  of you  remember  or perhaps know
that in the  reign of George the Fourth there was an
attempt made to have something like a bicycle.   It
was called a ' dandy-horse.'  ...   I had the honor,
in the reign of that monarch, of riding one of those
machines ;  so I may call myself an antebicyclist, or
an anticipator of the bicycle  (Cheers).  I remember
riding a mile  race with the mail on one of those ma-
chines, and I  contrived to get in before it, to  my infi-
nite delight (Laughter and cheers).  Therefore, hav-
ing had this  experience in old  times, I hailed the
introduction of the bicycle with great  pleasure, not
only because  I thought it would be an amusement,
but more than that, because I thought I saw in it a
great many advantages (Hear! hear!).   I thought it
was a fine employment and exercise for young men,
and would keep them out of a great  deal of mischief,
and I thought it better for them to spend their morn-
ings  and evenings in this exercise than in many
of the ways that  might  be mentioned (Cheers).  I
thought it would do a great deal of good, and I am 
6o
what and why.
satisfied that if persons who are not young would
addict  themselves  to  the use of the bicycle, they
would find it a very good thing, and the best possi-
ble antidote against the gout (Laughter and cheers)."

  "How did Colonel  Pope happen to go into the
bicycle business as he did ? "
  This is a question so often asked that the following
extract from an " interview " with that leader in the
bicycle, movement, published in 1880, is of inter-
est: —
  "In the  summer of 1877 an English gentleman
was a guest at my house, spending several  months
with me ; and he was so enthusiastic over the bicycle
that in order to show me what it was, and its practi-
cability, he had one made.  On that I learned to ride,
and, having learned, I began to think, as  he did,
that  the bicycle was worthy of the attention of the
American public.
  " He went home in September, and I told him to
send me over a few bicycles;  .   .   .  but he de-
layed sending them, and  later in  the  season  we
ordered eight  bicycles through our English corre-
spondent in Manchester.  They arrived here about
the first of January. ' After we had received and ex-
amined them I made up my mind  that there would
be enough in the business  to warrant a proper out-
lay of capital, and decided to go in.
  " Believing  that if there was much to do  in bicy- 
WORDS OF  THE WISE.            61
cling we should have to manufacture in this country,
I early in that  year [1878] interested the Weed
Sewing Machine  Company  in the  manufacture.
After getting them started on the way, I went over
to Europe to study up the manufacture, and to see
what hold it had upon the English people, and also
to determine whether we should be justified in mak-
ing the large outlay that would be necessary in order
to make it a successful business.  I  returned in the
summer well satisfied, and  fully convinced in my
own mind that  in  process of time the bicycle in-
terest in this country would equal that of England."
  The short of it is, that he  had the sagacity to dis-
cern a business  opportunity in advance, to assume
large  risks, to work persistently and wait patiently
for  results.
            Words of the Wise.
  " But the bicycle and tricycle are not  only enjoy-
able modes of locomotion, they are also without a
peer in  their  hygienic  capacity." — Dr.  S.  M.
Woodburn.
  " I am of the opinion that no exercise for women
has ever been discovered that is to them so  really
useful." — /?. IV. Richardson, M.D., F.R.S.
  " If  there  ever was  a manly  exercise,  a manly
enjoyment, it is  that which you represent as riders
on the  steel horse." — Gen. E. L. Viele. 
62
WHAT AND WHY.
   " I want to lift my voice in favor of the 'wheel1
as a thing of beauty, as an instrument of pleasure,
and as one of the most practical of modern  in-
ventions, looking towards  practical ends." — Rev.
George F. Pentecost.
   " For  men of sedentary life a bicycle is the best
of medicine.  ... If bicycles were more generally
used by  American preachers, there would be  fewer
hollow cheeks, round shoulders, sensitive  stomachs,
and torpid livers." — Rev. John L. Scudder.
   " This manly pastime, which now ranks as the
prince of all health-giving sports." — F. J. Drake,
C.E., U.S.A.
   " A year's subsequent use of  the new vehicle
[bicycle] has confirmed my first impressions  as to
its practical value for preacher and pastor.  It is no
longer a  whimsicality,  but has become  an  estab-
lished and sober factor  in the round of professional
work." — Rev. Marcus D. Buell.
  " I use  the machine [bicycle]  daily in visiting
patients, and find it  not only practical in  this direc-
tion, but  also a money-saving  arrangement."—J.
Edward Smith, M.D.
  "With  a good bicycle,  well ridden,  any  man,
old or young, may enjoy the finest and most exhila-
rating  exercise the world  has yet seen, and be as
safe as the occupant of a carriage, and  safer than
the horseman." — Henry IV. Williams, Esq. 
WORDS OF  THE WISE.
63
   "What  the  industrial  school  compels  to,  the
bicycle allures to.  For the old-fashioned remedy of
' Send the unruly lad to sea,' let us substitute, ' No !
buy him a bicycle."' —,4.  Wynter Blyth, M.R.C.S.
   " Don't argue the thing, for a  foregone conclu-
sion admits of no argument; and  that the bicycle
is a practical,  useful,  safe, and healthful invention
has  been  settled beyond controversy." — Charles
R. Dodge.
   " The more evenly effort is distributed over the en-
tire body, — muscle, nerve, brain, and blood, — the
better  the results attained.   The advocates of  the
bicycle claim, and my experience  leads  me  to con-
firm the statement, that this is supplied  by its use
better  than  by any other means." — Rev. S. L.
Gracey.
   "Finally, I would  say that it  [the  bicycle] is
better  than any system of gymnastics  in its simplic-
ity and efficiency in affording health and happiness."
— S. M. IVoodburn, M.D.
   "The  comfort  and pleasure  which  well-fitted
glasses give to ametropic eyes cannot  be told in
words.  No more can be revealed, to one who  has
not tried, the value of a  machine which multiplies
his locomotive powers by three, and transfers a  due
proportion of the work he  does from  his lower to
his upper limbs." — Charles A. Kinch, M.D.
  " Bicycling is a sport both innocent and health- 
64              WHAT  AND WHY.
ful, and  supplies a want  deeply felt in ministerial
life and  labor." — Rev. John L. Scudder.
   "The geologist, botanist, artist, and astronomer
can all find in the tricycle, not a hinderance to their
beloved  pursuit, . . .  but a means whereby their
existing pursuits of knowledge and pleasure may be
facilitated." — Walter D. Welford.
   "It maybe interesting to some  to  learn that I
have been the great promoter of the cause in this
town of  Brighton, more especially amongst the fair
sex, from whom I am constantly receiving thanks
for having, in the  first instance, induced them to
mount the tricycle." — Henry Belcher, M.D.
   " Young and  middle-aged ladies can  learn to ride
the tricycle with the greatest facility, and they be-
come  excellently   skilful." — B.  W.  Richardson,
M.D., F.R.S.
   "We think we have shown two things: that the
bicycle or tricycle  can  be practically and profitably
used by physicians as an adjunct to, or even in place
of, the horse  ; and that it solves, beyond any ques-
tion, the problem  of exercise for a very large class
of our patients." —7. F. Baldwin, M.D.
   " This summer I have turned both my horses out
to grass, and have trusted  to  my  bicycle  alone,
doing on an average about fifty miles a  day.  I find
I  get through my day's work with less  fatigue than 
WORDS OF  THE WISE.           65
on horseback, and without  the monotony of driv-
ing." — " A Country Surgeon,'1'1 in The Lancet.
  " I am very glad that the League of bicyclers is so
very prosperous ajid flourishing. They have attained
so large a development, and command so large a share
of public attention and respect, I  can  only say now
that, having made so good a start, I hope you will
go ahead." — Hon. Smith Ely, Jr.
  " The tricycle is, in fact, now with  me a not un-
common prescription, and is far more useful than
many a dry, formal, medicinal one which I had to
write  on  paper." — B.  IV.  Richardson,  M.D.,
F.R.S.
  " The tricycle is becoming every day more fashion-
able among ladies ; and I am very glad to know that
it is so."— "A Family Doctor,'1'' in Cassefs Family
Magazi?ie.
  " I  had ridden 994 miles (from Land's  End to
John o' Groat's) in  13 days, less 45 minutes.  This
gives an average of 76 to 77 miles a day.  I  had no
difficulty  in rousing the landlord, and was  soon
asleep."—Hon. /. Keith  Falconer.
  " A general adoption and  proper use  of  the
bicycle and tricycle will result in a national blessing,
by making us a more vigorous, hardy, moral, and,
therefore, a more happy people." — S. M. Wood-
burn, M.D. 
66
WHAT AND WHY.
   " I was half a century old before I ever mounted
one, and am now riding mine for the third season,
and with much  individual benefit.  I have ridden
my bicycle with ease and pleasure twenty-five miles
in an afternoon over our country* roads, which are
not  the  best, making several  professional  calls
during the time." — G. E. Corbin, M.D.
   " The bicycler is, indeed, the modern Asmodeus.
In him is realized the myth concerning the traveller
with the seven-league boots and the invisible cloak.
He can  swiftly betake himself to  remote regions,
can see and hear all things, while his own presence
is undisclosed." — Karl Kron.
  " I shall rejoice to see the time  when this exercise
shall be  as popular amongst girls and  women as
tennis and the dance ; for the more fully the physical
life of our women  is developed, the better for men
as well as women." — Dr. B. W. Richardson.
  " I kept taking my road practice on level ground
and in seclusion,  « at  5  o'clock  in the morning.'
Then followed the riding  up  of gradual  ascents,
with equally gradual  success.  Then short runs  of
two and more miles, and I began to use my bicycle
in my regular business, which  I have kept up ever
since, with increasing interest and  never-ceasing
exhilaration." — Rev. S. Hamilton Day.
  "Tricycle-riding, if not  carried to excess and
weariness, relieves brain fatigue and incipient con- 
WORDS OF THE WISE.            67
gestion of the  liver;  it causes the kidneys to act
more freely  and lightens the  whole  system;  it
banishes ennui and lowness  of spirits,  strengthens
the whole muscular system, induces a free action of
the skin, braces the nerves, and  insures a healthful
sleep."—'■'■A Family Doctor,"  in  CassePs Family
Magazine.
  "To busy brain-workers,  the bicycle is a God-
send;  almost, if not  quite, a  necessity." — Dr.
Blackham, President of  the American Society of
Microscopists.
  " I have myself been made a new man by the use
of  this machine.  I was  broken and unnerved by
long study and pastoral-work.  The bicycle fell in
my way, and I learned to ride, more as a pastime
than with  serious intent.   ...  As an instrument
for the restoration of weakened  frames  to strength
and health, I believe it has no equal." — Rev. Her-
vion F. Titus.
  " It is a pleasure to  me to note that few of the
earlier riders have.turned from bicycling;  it is  rare
indeed that an old 'cycler  relinquishes his wheels."
— H. B. Hart.
  " A contractor and builder in Pennsylvania writes :
■ I am using my * wheel' night and day to make
business calls, and  conveying hardware and other
things. ...  I  would not exchange  my bicycle for
the best horse in the country.' " — The Wheelman. 
68
WHAT AND WHY.
   "The tricycle is  coming  rapidly into favor, and
 will be the favorite of the ladies, and of such men
 as  are too old, too  timid, or too weak to ride the
 bicycle;  .  . . but for the young, active, and enter-
 prising of mankind, the bicycle is the  ideal steed.
 ...  It is  the coming  horse  for doctors  and for
 patients."— George E. Blackham, M.D.
   "Talk about frightening  horses! there isn't  a
 man on New York island  that has ridden  as many
 miles for the last twenty years in Central Park as I
 have; and I have driven all  kinds of horses, from
 one to  four, and I "never saw one yet wink at  a
 bicycle." — Mr. Clarksofi N. Fuller.
   " A great preacher says :' Living a religious life is
 like riding the  bicycle : you  must go on  or come
 down.'   I find it a powerful teacher of the impor-
 tance of  having 'a single eye.'" — Rev. J. Benson
 Hamilton.
   " After an* early breakfast mount your Columbia,
 and take a wild run  up hill and  down  for just one
 hour.  Return to your  study  or  place of business,
 kindle up the fire, and be  surprised, as you will be,
 to see how smoothly the  mental engine  does its
 work, accomplishing twice the work in the  ordinary
 time.   Try it, and  be convinced, as you  will be.
 Then,  ten  years from  now,  thank  the writer for
 calling your attention to the  wheel." — Rev. C. E.
Bristol. 
WORDS OF THE WISE.           69
  " I have another friend'who is the working editor
of one of  our largest  church papers,  who  was
almost broken down when he took to  the bicycle,
a few  years ago, who now does most heroic work
all the  year round, sleeps sound, eats heartily, and
has renewed his youth, as his active, lithe step and
vigorous  articles testify.  He  wheeled  himself up
the hill again to perfect health." — Rev. S. L.Gracey.
  '' The pleasures from being a rider, the agreeable
change from  carriage-riding,  the  exercising  of
muscles ordinarily but little used by the physician,
and  thus assisting  in keeping  the balance  in the
economy so necessary for perfect health, and other
advantages, which need not be  spoken of in this
connection, lead us to the inevitable conclusion that
the  bicycle will soon be  as indispensable  to the
physician as his horse." — J. A. Chase, M.D.
  "  A  Lady's  Testimony. — A recent  recruit from
the fair sex, in bearing evidence as to the utility of
the  tricycle,  writes: ' My sister and  myself have
just  returned  from  a tour on  a Sociable,  having
ridcfen  from Leeds  to Woodbridge (Suffolk), and
home again by Halstead and Walden (Essex), or a
total of 470 miles whilst we have been away ; and,
as we have  had such a successful time of it in every
respect, we intend having another tour next year.'"
— The C. T. C. Gazette.
  "  I can ride forty miles on  the tricycle, experienc- 
70
what and why.
ing, I can safely say, less fatigue than from walking
ten, or from  riding on  horseback twenty, although
I am a practiced hand  in both the last-named ex-
ercises  all my life through, while I am compara-
tively a novice on the tricycle."— Dr. B.  W.Ward.
  " Personally, the equipage is a comfort to a cleric,
in view of the etiquette  expected  from him.  His
long coat-tails wave in vacancy, unsoiled by either
wheel;  his boots have  been out of the mud every
inch of  the way; one hand on  the steering-handle,
the other is free to lift  the hat or hold an umbrella
from rain or heat.   The  luggage-bag carries all he
needs for his work  or play.  Within three or four
weeks  the tricycle  becomes a part  of his body
....  Of  the physical  benefit derived from  tri-
cycling, there can  be  no question." — Rev.  F. H.
Houghton.
  " A brother clergyman  informed me  that he  had
received great benefit  from riding, and, being in
delicate health myself,  in the  spring of  1881 I de-
termined to try the  experiment.  Since that date I
have taken regular exercise on the wheel, in runs of
half a mile up to forty miles a day.  I have received
great benefit from  the  practice." — Rev. A.   0.
Downs.
  " From the saddle we  perceive things which are
hidden  from them who only walk upon the  earth.
Our senses  are more   acute, the  sunshine  seems 
WORDS OF THE WISE.
71
brighter  to  us,  and  nature is  more  lovely.  We
climb the forbidding hills, and rejoice  in the strug-
gle, or we dash across the plain with a wild sense of
freedom and power, which no one ever knows until
he rides the magic steed."— C. E. Hawley, C.E.
  " Our  conclusion, then, from  our brief acquaint-
ance with the machine, is, that with all  its various
incidents, pleasurable and otherwise, it ' pays' the
professional man to bicycle; and if he has sons of
ten years or more nothing  can  be used to greater
advantage as  a means of recreation, and at the
same  time as an assistant  to  moral influence, than
the ' wheel.'"—Rev. L. A. Bosworth.
  " For  more than a year I have been accustomed
to forget the cares incident to the  school-room by
an occasional ride of an hour on the  nerveless but
nerve-resting wheel.   I  have found  daily relaxation,
and that cheering sense which wheelmen know of
increasing power,  of  reserve force,  while slowly
climbing and  swiftly  coasting  our  long-swelling
Wisconsin hills." — R.  De Lacy Evans.
  "In nine  cases out of ten walking or horseback-
riding, as a means  of exercise, is a failure.  Resolve
and resolve, as many of us do, yet we neglect it
still, are prematurely 'shelved,' and call  it ' a mys-
terious Providence.'   Learn the  easy  art of  bicy-
cling and all this is changed." — Rev. C. E. Bristol.
  " The  wheel is always at hand.  Epizootic hath 
72
WHAT and why.
no  terrors for it;  distance  does not furnish  ex-
cuse  for inactivity; sunlight  and  open air  are no
longer unknown quantities in human life.  Exercise
can be taken, where it should be, in the open air.
A few moments suffice to put the city behind us, and
then green fields, blue sky, fresh air — all are ours.
Every muscle is brought into play, from the soles of
the feet to the head; from the hips down to propel,
from  the hips up to control, the machine." — Rev.
O. P.  Gifford.
  " I  simply wish  to give my voice heartily and
cordially in favor of the bicycle.  If I could not get
another I would not give up mine  for its weight in
solid silver.  I wouldn't  give it up  for its weight in
gold.   For  fifteen  years, up  to six months ago, I
lost from three to .six and eight days,every month on
my back, with incurable,  stubborn sick  headache.
Since I have been riding the bicycle I have lost only
two days from that  cause.  I haven't spent a dollar
for a  doctor since  I have  had a  bicycle."—Rev.
George F. Pentecost.