The daily Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1878-1???, 1884-11-18
A New Use for the Bicycle.

Il
Deacon Smedley, a well-known worthy
of a Vermont town, after considerable
observation of the use of the bicycle by
Summer boarders in his place, has dis
covered new and valuable uses to which
it may be put. The Times says;
Curiously enough, Deacon Smedley
approved of the bicycle, and openly
said that he wished he could afford to
give one to his small boy. This was
the more remarkable siace the deacon
had never been known as liberal man,
and had never given his small boy any
thing except his board and lodging.
Not content with wishing to give his
small boy a bicycle, the deacon actual
ly opened negotiations with the bicyc-
list with view to buying his machine,
and one day when the young man was
under the doctors care in consequence
of severe confusion of the skull, the
deacon extorted from the bicyclist an
agreement to sell his bicycle at half
price.
The next step taken by this admira-
bic father was to advise his son to hire
out to a neighboring farmer and so earn
enough money to buya bicycle. Deacon
Smedley agreed to advance the pur-
chase money, buy the machine and hold
it in trust until his small boy could re-
pay him. Arrangements were soon
made by which the small boy was to
do chores" for Squire Bartlett, and
was to receive in the course of the Win
ter the aggregate sum of $50 This he
was to pay to his father, who had
agreed to purchase the bicycle for $50,
thus giving the deacon a profit of only
So on the transaction.
Spring came, and Deacon Smedley's
small boy paid his father S35 on the lst
day of May, and the two proceeded to
the barn, where possession of the BIZ
cycle was to be formally given to the
small boy. The latter. was somewhat
surprised when he saw the bicycle. 1t
was suspended from the rafters of the
barn at a height of about three yards
from the floor. The rubber tire of the
driving wheel had been removed, and
leather belt had been placed around the
wheel and connected with the crank of
a feed-chopping machine. With the as
sistance of his aiiectionate parent, the
small boy climbed to the saddle and be-
gan to work the pedals. The reyolu-
ton of the big driving wheel set the
machine in motion, and
the deacon Immediately proceeded to
chop feed enough to last his live stock
for a week. The excellent old man
found that he could chop twice as much
feed in given time by bicycle power
as he could in the usual way, and that,
instead of turning a crank, all he had
to do was to feed the machine. Once
or twice the machine abruptly stopped
in consequence of the alleged WEAKNESS
of the small boys legs, but the deacon
stirred up his offspring with a
pitchfork, and pointed out to him the
folly of growing tired of bicycle with
in the first hour or two of its posses
sion.
Since that day the bicycle has been in
constant use, and the ingenious deacon
has managed to utilize its power so as
to churn milk and pump water with it.
The small boy does not seem to retain
his original enthusiasm for the bicycle,
and it is suspected that he would pre-
fer to ride it through the streets rather
than put it to really bcneficent use in
tho barn. Fortunately, the deacon,
though he was so indulgent as to buy
his small boy bicycle, will not permit
him to abuse Nc Gift. "No, my SON.
he is said to have remarked Eve won't
have no such nonsense as falling off
bicycles in the street. You just enjoy
your machine in the barn where you
can't get hurt and can do some good;
] expect you to enjoy it three or four
hours day or else you'll hear from
me- The small boy evidently obeys
his parent, and, though he is growing
rather thin, there is no immediate dan
ger that he will injure his health hycx
ccssiyc indulgence in athletic sports.
q