The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-07-22
A BICYCLE CONGRESS-.
Denver Will Have a Week Of Strange
Costumes and New Tangled Drills.

coxey to Thank the Riders For Sym
pathy-one of the Most Imposing BIZ
cycle Parades Ever Seen Will Wind
Up With This National Session.
New York, July 21.-Most persons are
accustomed to look upon the riders of BIZ
cycles as people who enjoy a healthful
practice-scarcely more. That the wheel
is becoming one of the most potent fact
ors in the settlement of such questions as
international arbitration, Iwoman's rights
and the like, is an idea hard to grasp.
There seems TO be no connection between
these things at first sight. But any one
only casually follows the proceedings of
the coming international concourse of
wheelmen at Denver next month will see
why this is so.
In the first place there will be not only
gathering of men eminent as bicycle
riders-the delegates number nearly 900
from all parts of the country apart from
| other thousands who are to participate
unotficially in the doings. but representa-
tives of the militias of twenty states will
attend in the interest of the movement
for the development of the wheels posi-
bilities as an instrument Of war. In ad-
dition the convention will be attended by
numerous committee from the
league for the reform of
woman's dress. The ladies, c2rry-
ing as they will, the idea of dress reform
to the extent of appearing in Denver and
before the convention there In trouser-
cites and silk stockings, known as the
| New Zealand costume, are expected to
| create something in the nature of a SEN
sation. 1t is interesting, too, to note that
Gen" Coxey will also attend the con-
vention, and is to deliver an address on
good roads. so that altogether the wheel
men will find that their bicycles have
become very important factors in various
| problems of social evolution.
| To begin with the soldiers side Of it
| all. Mai. Gen. Nelson A. Miles is taking
| a personal interest in this convention,
and in a letter to Mr.. Gustav Kobbe, the
eminent authority on the subject of bicy-
| cles in war, he declares that the bicycle
is destined to be of great value in mill
tary operations, and that the proceedings
| of wheelmen at their meetings can thus
| be said to'form almost a chapter in tao
tics. He declares that the next step in
| our military development will be the
| formation of body of $4,000 men scat
tered over the states, forming an army of
| bicycle riders, when drilled, that weuld
prove practically invincible in case of hos
tilities.
The general, however does not rest con-
tent with mere predicting, and at his
command at Fort Sheridan, ILL.,, in the
department of the Missouri, is drilling the
military bicycle detachment for the bene-
fit of the Denverltes this August. The
| men go through the customary drills
strapped to the handles Of the cycles in
stead of to the shoulders of the men, as in
infantry drill
Equally eminent in this way is Mai.
Howard A. Giddings, brigade signal
officer of the Connecticut national guard.
The men under his command are expected
to make fine showing on parade, and
are now daily drilling for the bicycle
turnout. There are forty men in Maj.
Giddings' corps of soldier bicyclists, di-
vided into sections under the orders OF
| lieutenants. This body of riders, accord
ing to MIR. Kobbe himself, shares with an
English corps, the Twenty-sixth Middle
sex, which is 100 strong, the honor of be-
ing the most thoroughly equipped COM
mand of military wheelmen in the world.
"Cyclist soldiers" and military ICY
clists" are the accepted terms for this
new,order of soldiers. The uniform to
be worn at the Denver gathering differs
| slightly from that of the regular infantry.
| A pair of leggings are conspicuous feat
ures of it, and the rifles, instead of being
| slung across the back, are adjusted to the
ed in military cycling, as even the slight
est damage TO it might prove serious to
| the wheels efficacy In drill and in action
1t is expected that the bicycle corps can
out distance even cavalry Indeed, very
few are aware that Gen. Miles sent dis
patch from Chicago to Gen. Howard at
| Governors Island, New York, distance
of thousand miles, by cyclist messen-
gers.
Illinois and Massachusetts, will be rep
resented at Denver by cyclist soldiers
| from their respective militias, and Penn
| sylvania is to appoint q special delegate
to attend the convention for the purpose
| of looking into the matter. The states
which have at present no bicycle corps in
! their militias are also preparing to look
| into the question of introducing the feat
ure when the Denver convention opens.
The women's rights parties will be a
| novelty at the meet Their interest in
the bicyclers has been aroused much as
the interest of the Coxeyites was-by the
discovery of sympathy of endeavor, SO
! to speak. Jenness Miller does not deny
nay, glories, rather-in the power of the
J bicycle as factor in dress reform, and it
| is well known that the bicycle clubs in
| New York, Boston and Chicago have
! women mem bers who wear their trouser-
cites not onlywhen astride their bicycles,
| but even when their machines are left at
/ nome. Like many OLuSr new IDEAS, the
rational dress bicycle clubs are Austria
| liam importations. The custom of men
and women riding long distances at
! tired very much in the same kind
! of costume regardless Of the sex of
! the wearer, is due to the wedding trip
| fashions of the country The bride and
| groom 60 on their honeymoon not in rail-
way trains, but on bicycles. Should they
temporarily abandon the wheels, no
| change of dress is deemed necessary. The
Maoriland national dress wedding party
have been in Europe this spring, and are
now on their way to the United States,
having announced their intention OF rid
ing across the continent on bicycles
Their tour of the world is certainly one Of
the most unique ever undertaken. They
expect 10 reach Denver by August, and as
the wheelmen will be in session for a
week there will be lots of time for a gem
eral inspection of the party and for form
ing conclusions as 10 the direction In
which the bicycle is carrying tho matter
of womans dress.
However, there is decided opposition
among the members of the National
League of American Wheelmen 10 this
utilizing of the bicycle habit as means
70 the furtherance of fads OF all kinds.