Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1881-08-10

N''NNsA So
is of all sorts of personal and local item
Q. and news, and everything, and ther
was peace in that town for the spac
y of a long time.
THE BICYCLE.
II The bicyclist realizes in the last Quai
: ter OF the nineteenth century the oil
4 myth of the centaur. Thousands G
? years ago, in that part Of antiqu
4 Greece known as Thessaly, now 10
!, several centuries under the baleful dc
4 minion of the Turkish crescent, ther
lived a rough wild mountain peopl
; who fought on horseback. They KEEP
, their seats so well and were apparent
ly so inseparable from the steeds the,
bestrode that there arose a fable tha
! they were monsters Of a double form
, the upper parts human, the lowel
, those Of hOrse-sons of Ixion and o
a cloud in the aspect of stately Juno
No small part Of their prowess wal
due to the terror their preternatura
appearance inspired among their foe
men. Not only men but animals were
frightened at the sight of them. The
prodigious spectacle overwhelmed the
moro civilized horses of their less bar.
barous antagonists, and they were,
perhaps, more appalled, than those
who rode them. Just so the modern
urban horse is put in sudden and over.
mastering fear when the bicycle and
its portentious looking rider comes like
an animated cartwhecl unexpectedly
upon him.
The bicycle is profoundly scientific
and wonderfully interesting toy. As
such it is admirably suited to children
of a larger growth 1t is the veloci.
pede idealized. As the years roll on
something more remarkable yet and
more advanced may be evoluted out
of it. A good deal may be said, how.
ever, in favor OF the invention in its
present stage. Certain great and val.
liable principles are emphasized TO bi.
cyclism. To maintain the physical
equilibrium is the first condition of the
new knighthood of the twoiold wheel,
and from this comes TO him who en-.
ters it the noble lessor 10 preserve un.
der all circumstances his equanimity
of mind and heart Still another les
son is that of moral uprightness, natu.
rally suggested by the perpendicular
bodily position necessary to be observ.
ed to save the cavalier on two wheels
instead Of four hoofs from coming ig.
nobly to the ground. Progress is yet
another ethicle lesson clearly deduct
bic from this gymnastic exercise. The
mounted man must keep moving in
order to keep his seat. He cannot
very well stand still and hold his place
IN the saddle. II he halts nc must get
off or fall
Again, the bicycle is so quiet. 1t is
not a noisy affair. 1t does not disturb
the sick unless they come across it
when they happen TO be driving ont
and the horses of the carriages they |
occupy take a notion to run away and |
spill them on the highway. Then it |
does disturb them TO some extent, es
pecially if they break their bones or
get killed outright What il is about
this machine and the operator, who
works its pedals very much as q wo-
man runs a sewing machine, that
scares horses, is difficult problem to
solve, and one as to which our pro.
foundest speculhtions are likely to
bring us to but an approximative and
c0njectured result. 1t certainly does
not make clattcr or din enough, it
would seem, TO alright even so little a
thing as mouse, much less great,
big horse. Possibly, as some investi-
gators are inclined TO think, /. is the
very silence, ghostlike and sepulchral,
of the bicycle that alarms this sensi-
tive and wondering quadruped. 1t
may be that when this lofty, narrow
phenomenon glides swiftly and noise.
lessly before him the strange appari.
ton exeites the superstitious fears in-
herited from some past metempsycho-
sls, and the horse, not stopping to rea.
son calmly about the matter, inconti.
nently runs away. Or he may in
foresee in this contrlvance
a competitive intruder which may
eventually rob him of employment in
light and pleasant lines of service,
such as drawing ladies and gentlemen
In vehicles or carrying them on his
back, and so remand him to dull and
heavy drudgery as mere beast OF
burden. There is such thing as
'horse sense" and the horse that has
D soft place in life may well feel the
same dislike for the rivalry Of machin.
cry which disturbs so many men. The
bicycle is kind of iron horse with
The rider for its locomotive or source
Of propulsivo power, and one of these
lays carriages may be drawn by out.
riders mounted upon bicycles. But
however accurate this or any other
guess at the truth Of the matter may
be, the fact remains that bicycles, at
east when in motion, scare horses,
md scare them badly. Being therein
dangerous to lie and limb, their use
n any but quite secluded places must
)e regarded as in the nature Of nui.
Philadelphia Record.