Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1888-04-19
BICYCLE LESSONS.
Tho Proudest Man Taught by It to Re.
spect His Fellow Beings.


Cycling gives man a new view of his fell
low man. He who has been accustomed To
only walk on the pavement, or be horse con.
veyed in the roadway, has his eyes openes
directly he mounts a cycle.
He never took much notice Of drivers be-
fore, merely observing that they were gen.
orally of a rubicund countenance, from ex-
posture to our moist climate; but now he is
forced to reckon with them, and soon begins
to look on them as potentates, and rather
autocratic ones too. Here is the butcher boy
coming with his fast trotting pony. As .long
as you were on the pavement you would pay
him no attention beyond casual glance at
his bare head, whence the adjacent scenery is
reflected by the mutton suet. But now you
are on cycle you feel an uneasy sense of
being in his power. He has only to touch
your wheel or treadle by accident, as he
seems inclined to do, in order to send you
sprawling, so that this butcher boy, whom
socially you have never before recognized,
becomes in your relative positions parsonage
to be propitlated by bland smile, or even in
extreme cases, a nod.
Then there is the man in the tax cart, who
drives with loose rein and encourages his
horses vagaries IN running all over the road
He, you can see. is just the man to delight i'll
a close shave and a right down good swear
afterward, and, if you do not hug the curb
stone, he viii oblige you with both. So be
again asserts his position in your mind as a
man and brother. There is also the pri-
waite coachman, who, with jeans of the
folded arms by his side, spanlls along with
the pair Of grays. You have no spill to fear
from him, as he has too much respect for his
horses and carriage, if not for you; but they
both plainly regard you with considerable
contempt Us a small, noxious insect, not
worth while stopping to crush. Thus the at
titude assumed by drivers is calculated to
counterfeit any little personal conceit the
cyclist may chance entertain.
Not only drivers, but pedestrians also, &C.
quire new interest in the eyes of the cyclist
He imbbes the drivers own carefulness, not
to say dread, with regard to children. 1t is a
curious fact in physics that the aggregate of
phosphorus and blubber called a child is al
ways irresistibly drawn to cross road just at
that moment when there is the greatest dam
ger in its doing so. Given a child walking on
a solitary road, and he would never think Of
crossing it, but stud that road with Wheels
and it becomes a necessity Of his being to
rush across every few seconds. So 'mind the
chLd' is the ever present thought OF the
cyclist, as he has no wish to lose his mileage
by attending lnquests. This cannot but tend
10 soften his manners and open his heart to
the gentle influences of bib and tucker And
he has adults to reckon with as well. Some
pedestrians prefer to walk in the roadway,
and the tinkle of the cyclists bell behind is IA
great temptation to some to walk zigzag. A
clever walker may in this way keep a cyclist
behind him for long distance, for he has fer
less to fear from the collision than the rider
So the cyclists temper gets tested again here,
and he reaps no end of moral benefit.
Then he has another source of moral i'm
provement which he did not before enjoy. He
comes into a new relationship with what may
be politely termed the "outspoken' classes.
These had never come between the wind and
his nobility till he mounted those wheels; but
now they claim him as a confidential friend
and the proper recipient of their thoughts on
matters generally, and more particularly on
his personal appearance. The custom enables
the cyclist to get new view OF himself as
others see him, and decidedly makes for
righteousness. -London Standard.