The Portland daily press., 1894-05-28

suarus, VINO set up howl against SkirGS,
and advocate those hideous bags called
boomers in which thin woman is lost
and fat woman is ridiculous beyond COM
parlson. Some even go so far as to don
hnlckerbockers, sack coat and cap, to the
amusement of some people and the disgust
OF others, and ride around apparently I'M
der the impression that they are greatly
admired. Could these women hear the re-
marks that follow them they would, if they
had any feeling of womanliness, certainly
retire to the privacy of their own home and
never again emerge therefrom in any such
grievous array. They can never make any
great Roadway against the common-sense
OF the majority OF women, but they can for
time retard the advancement of wheeling.
A great many women have SO little under
standing of the subject that they are not to
be blamed for falling into the error of
thinking after beholding few of these IN
pleasant specimens of wheelers Il will not
say wheel-women) that they would on no
account identify themselves with any such
un-sexed fanatics. Give a woman of this
kind who loves notoriety, and who would
rather be conspicuously ridiculous than not
conspicuous at all, a wheel, with liberty to
indulge her capabilities unrestrainedly and
ing into disrepute not only herself, but to a
certain degree all who participate in the
sport. There is still another class, who feel
themseles called upon to adversely criticize
that of which they know SO little. These
people are not to be seriously considered,
because they can be converted. And once
converted there can be found no more zeal
GUS advocates of the cause they once so
D,,+, = h. l;.rl+ f, la to-,
their minds in some Ito themselves unex-
pected way, they are the most provoking
individuals with which an enthusiastic cy-
cler can meet.
They advance their musty and wormeaten
arguments, until one wonders where they
can have kept themselves during the last
decade. Motion like a sewing machine
must necessarily be very hurtful to wom-
an" mo support for the back, must be
tiresome;" $50 hard to balance, must be
very trying to the nerves;'' are a few lucid
arguments brought forward, even by some
physicians, who certainly ought to know
better. These objections would be laughable
were it not for the fact that they have an
infience over women, and work against the
Immediate adoption of this life-giving and
invigorating exercise.
can never produce the direful results that
enemies in camp are bringing about.
Among the minor abuses, 1.-The little foxes
that gnaw at the roots of the vine,'' may
be mentioned the girl whose ambition leads
her to ride too far and too fast, trying with
soft muscles to emulate tough and seasoned
riders; regretting her folly when too late
with much grooming and lameness. The
ybn +ri,, CHI M
with bit of hanging braid, may come to
grief and a broken bone, all through her
own carelessness, no fault of the wheel.
The girl who goes out thinly clad, rides
fast, gets in profuse perspiration, and sits
down in the shade, to perhaps catch her
death in chill. The girl who climbs steep
hills, when she should walk them, and then
recklessly coasts down on the other side,
with no break, perhaps getting a bad fall
thereby. The girl who rides in corsets, and
wonders what makes her heart beat so fast
and her breath so short. All these things
are abuses of the wheel, and not it's fault.
Common sense is as rare a commodity on
the wheel elsewhere, and much that is
seemingly unattractive, and which impels
many people to prophesy the wheel never
will become popular with the great majori-
But there is another than the ''seamy''
side to this question, much to be considered
many things which can be looked at and
approved in the light of investigation to far
outrank and outvaIue anything that can be
brought forward against it.
popular and well-known authoress re-
Gently said to me, my common sense tells
me that the wheel is just the thing for
women; every other sense repels it, AL
though l could very easily guess, asked
for her reasons. Because" said she, II
never saw a woman on the wheel who look
ed pretty or moved in a graceful manner"
There are hundreds of women riding to-
day who would have scorned the idea a sea-
son or two ago, and tomorrow there will be
thousands riding who scorn it to-day. All
this in spite of the ignominy, through
which it may be dragged and abuse to which
it may be subjected.
MARY SARGENT HOPKINS.
Wilmington, Mass, April %, 1894.