The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1889-08-10
Bill Nye on a Wheel
Bill Nye in Once a Week.

weeks, learning to ride the bicycle
without a master. [ do it in the
evening, In the barn on my estate on
Staten Island. That is why the barn
is reputed to be haunted. Strange
sounds are said to emit themselves
from this barn and loud thumps
also walls of the damned. Boys who
used to go there and shoot cats now
60 elsewhere. They cannot bear to
Wrestle with the supernatural or lis.
ten to the wall of damned soul,
they say.
got very large wheel, because /
run somewhat to legs and could pro-
pei an enormous vehicle, if / could
once maintain good poise. / have
forgotten what size the wheel is. 1t
strikes me that it is twenty-five
inches in diameter. l mean the large
wheel, of course. The Smaller wheel
is LESS large. This small wheel is
used mainly for tipping up and buzz
zing in the air when the machine
goes oyer. which is quite often.
l have a stage leg which looks well
behind the footlights. but it is most
too homeless to work well on a bicy-
Gle. 1t droops too much. So does
the other. When l get to thinking
about the propuIsive power, / forget
the helm, and when / once more al
low my mind to revert to the helm, i
become ratified and fall off in an OBJ.
lique manner.
l first began to ride the bicycle
about year ago, not in public. but
as means of personal relaxation. 1t
was smaller instrument than the
one / have now, but good. 1t was in
every way equal to this one, and had
a little fiat Oil can and an alarm on
the Wlthers, which could be rung in
case should be crossing railroad at
night and desired the engineer of an
approaching train to save himself by
instant flight.
This bicycle / gave to the physi-
clan who set my leg for me. He did
it so well that l gave him the instru-
ment, together with the wrench l re-
ceiyed while falling from it. He
loans it to the boys of his neighbor-
hood and is building up good prac-
tice in compound and Comminuted
fractures, hernias and concessions.
Last year he tried it himself, one
evening at the twilight hour. He
rode down Mr.. Gryme's celebrated
hill, and killed a child and COW.
He had forgotten how to play on the
brake. He offered TO replace the
child with one whose mother he had
treated professionally up to the hour
of her death. But he could not man
age it that way. So he settled fol-
the cow, and now keeps the bicycle
mainly to loan to boys who other
wise might climb his fruit trees.
Ny new machine looks we'll. 1t is
what we wheelmen call full nickle
machine. l have had my photo.
graph taken with il. 1t is beauti-
full picture. You can easily tell
which is the bicycle. The portrait
was made by friend of mine who
has homeopathic photograph out
fit. He is quite clever with it. He
is a Wall street operator. His father
was so before him. His father oper-
ated In Wall street before anybody
else. He used to sprinkle Wall
street. My friend does not make his
living by photography. He makes
his money honestly by speculation,
but desires, of course, to have some
means of obtaining livelihood in
case of reverses. So he is taking
pictures by the dry plate process.
He got good picture of my wheel
and myself the other day. l wore
NY WhCCIuidA . uullOl LAs l. DOuRul
my uniform before 1 got the wheel.
and looked so we'll in it that conclu-
ded to buy myself bicycle and learn
to ride upon it.
1 belong to a club. but do not fig
ure in it very much, except at the
festive board, where / frequently
speak or preside. l also belong to
an athletic club, which has made me
quite robust. Formerly 1 had very
poor health but of latterly 1 am al
most too healthy. 1 60 to the even.
ing sessions of my athletic club, and
when go home at night l fell real
hopeful.
Bicycling is noble sport. Some
day l am going to go around the
world and take my wheel with me
in shawl strap. Bicycling tones up
the muscles, enlarges the lung area
and teaches one self reliance. If l
could only ride on my bicycle am
confident that it would benefit me.
1t certainly benefits the bicycle to