Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1881-10-15
The nIcycIIst.

The RfcycIIsf.
WI. Alden, New York Times.
The questions whether bicyclists
shall be admitted TO the Central
Park Is still under discussion, and
in all probability will continue to
be discussed for years to come.
No matter how many witnesses
may depose that they have known
horses to take fright at the sight of
bicyclists, the number of witnesses
who have never seen a bicyclist,
and can, hence, swear that they
never knew one TO brighten horse,
is practically inexhaustibIe. BY
the time all these witnesses have
been examined Central Park may
be dreary desert, and the manH-
facture of bicycles will doubtless be-
come a lost art.
OF the fact that the horse has a
peculiar dread of the bicyclist, there
can be no possible doubt. Ii is
because this fact is so perfectly well
known that it is difficult to prove
it by legal evidence. Why bicyc-
list should inspire horses with
such uncomfortable terror that they
instantly run away at the sight Of
him is not so easily apparent, and
deserves to be the subject of special
scientific investigation.
Horses are timid, but their tim
idity is shown in peculiar, and
what TO us seem irrational, ways.
They never think of being afraid
of man with gun, although the
crow, whose whole body is smaller
than horses brain, IS perfectly
familiar with the dangerous prop
critics of agun, and will even distin-
guiSh between an old smooth bore
musket and a breech-loading rifle,
and accurately guaging his flight
according to the respective range
of those weapons. On the other
hand, a horse regards a sheet of pa
per with intense horror, and firmly
believes that a copy of the Mission
airy Herald which may happen to
lie in the middle of the road is ca
pable of tearing him all to pieces;
whereas all other animals know
that a sheet of paper, even if it is
a campaign extra" of the most
ferociOus type, is entirely harmless.
Dogs, cats, and even timOrous birds
look on bicycles with wonder and
with obvious signs of pity, but they
neveEdream of being afraid of them;
whereas the horse regards them as
only less deadly than an old copy
of the Tribune. We may, there
fore, assume that the terror which
the horse experiences at the sight
of the bicyclist is due not so much
to the terrific nature of the bicyc-
list, but to a mental idiosyncrasy
of the horse.
There is really nothing about the
bicyclist which science has adapted
to inspire terror in any intelligent
animal. Undoubtedly the bieyc-
list Is a curious object. His calves
are deliberately displayed, and are,
in most cases, as grossly improbable
as those of the ballet. His flannel
clothes, which sometimes emulate
the zebraic beauty of the uniform
of the Sing Sing convicts, and at
Others approach the simplicity of
the most delicate undergarments,
may perhaps bring a blush to the
cheek of young person, but could
hardly Brighten reasonable beast.
AS for his cap, it is usually no
more than the cap worn by horse
Jockeys, and there is no case on
record in which a horse has been
frightened by the cap of his jockey.
The bicyclist, so far from wearing
a truculent and dangerous express
sion, is nearly always mild man
in appearance, and seems humbled
and oppressed by a sense of the true
nature of his conduct. There is
absolutely nothing in the conduct
or costume of the bicyclist which
need inspire fear in anybody or
any beast.
A clue to the horror with which
n horse looks upon bicyclistmay
be gained by noting the conduct of
horses at our seaside watering
places. The moment horse sees a
lady in bathing dress he either tries
to get into the wagon to which he
is attached, with a view of hiding
his face in the cushions, or he runs
away with all the energy of outrag-
ed delicacy. This is unquestionabIy
due to the fact that horses have an
intense love of the proprieties of
life. The more elegantly the occu-
pants of a carriage may be dressed,
the more docile and respectful are
the horses. When a horse sees a
lady whom he has previously
learned to look upon with adj
miration arrayed In blue flannel
gown and wearing an unspeakable
straw hat tied down about her ears,
he cannot bear to look upon so ter
rible sight, and when he sees an
estimable young lady wearing the
bathing dress with !
short sleeves ahort-that is to say,
with bare-or, at all events, with |
obviOus-shall we say stockings P |
he wants to withdraw to remote |
and secluded place where he can |
blush unseen. OF the two, the /
modern style of bathing dress fills |
him with more horror than does |
perhaps the fact should be set down |
to the credit of the modest and tim
id animal.
Now, if we assume that the
horse mistakes the bicyclist for a
lady arrayed in a bathing dress,
we can understand why he flies
from him with every manifestation
of horror. The bicyclist so little re-
in outward appearance a
man of ordinary type and usual
that the horse may be ex-
cused for not instantly recOgniz-
ing his sex. Moreover, between
the Long Branch belle arrayed for
and the bicyclist with his
long stockings and improbable
calves the resemblance is undenia-
bly, close. Let US suppose that
when the horse sees a bicyclist he
imagines that q lady prepared for
is before him, and the
reason why he manifests such un-
horror need no longer
be sought.
1t has been alleged that the BIZ
cycle itself frightens horses. This
hardly needs to be refuted. No
nan ever knew horse to be fright
med by a bicycle when no bicyclist
vas visible. Besides, the bicycle
.annot be distinguished by any or
iinary horse from cart-wheel, and
A. preposterous TO suPiaa0se that an
ct so familiar as a cart-wheel /
Brighten q horse. 1t Is the