The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-07-19
THE BICYCLE FACE Is NOT NEW
Sportsman Who Holds 1t to be an
Indication of Character.

From the New York Tribune.
How many persons have been annoy
ed by the criticisms of cycling and tests
about the so called bicycle face?" said an
enthusiastic sportsman. 1T is indeed
singular that the learned persons who
have discovered this bicycle face come
from the ranks of the vast army who ride
in either cable or trolley cars. For centu-
ries 1t has been known to close observers
that all men and women who ride horses.
camels or elephants have set faces. When
Alexander commanded his orderlies to face
| Bucephalus toward the sun that he might
| not see his shadow, and mounted the fret
ful charger, does any one believe that the
Kings features were relaxed and that the
race OF the mighty conqueror wore a grin?
A hundred times no. The great general
wore the so called bicycle face. Did not
Julius Caesar say that the stern. warlike
features of his cavalry were a host when
ms troopers confronted the infantry of
Pompey?
Dld anybody ever see an ancient bas-
relief or sculpture in which the features of
| the equestrian figures did not bear the
stamp of the bicycle face? Down through
the ages OF every rider bears the set face
OF the cyclist. Nobody can ride any ami
tranzatlon OF thought without his fea-
lures rejecting the concentration. Rail-
road engineers, sailors, drivers of trottine
horses In races, jockeys, cavalrymen and
all other equestrians have the bicycle face
In riding horse, no matter where it
may be, either in the park or on the prairie
the riders mind should be on his horse.
II rider on either a horse or a bicvcle
is going through Central Park he NAV
chat with companion, but 1t is certain
mat the appearance of other riders com
ing toward him will cause his mind To
concentrate on the question of what the
persons coming toward him are going to
40 and how they will turn to avoid him
hls Wheel or his horse constantly requires
his attention, even if he continues to con-
verse with his companion.
The lone horseman on the prairia NOV,
thlhk OF nome or thousand other things
put MS safety demands that he keen his
MIND conferred on gopherholes and other
obstacles which may mean a fall The
boys VINO ride or exercise thoroughbreds
acquire the bicycle face in a few weeks
as their minds are on their safety even
II their fancy runs riot, and they imagine
that the horses they ride are future DERBY
or ST. Leger winners. They must be alert
and quick to act in an emergency. Conse-
quently all successful jockeys have the
bicycle face.
AAS RASA4CdHS, VINO rue as well the
Indians on the plains. have pronounced BIZ
cycle face. So have the Moors and Egyp-
tians, who ride the horse of the desert.
In the Russian Cossack the bicycle face is
hereditary, as the race is practically born
in the saddle. Nobody ever saw a negro Of
South Africa with a bicycle face
To many, and especially to women, the
bicycle face is a bugbear. The set face
of an expert horsewoman enhances her
appearance. especially if she is fair to look
upon. When the woman with the bicycle
face smiles she illumines everything about
her, and causes untold agony TO the wo-
men who would be beautiful if their fea-
lures were set. The woman who can ride
gracefully on either horse or a bicycle in
variably defeats her sister, who has never
permitted her pleasures or pastimes to con-
centrate her thoughts.
1t is the same with men. man who
has not the slightest claim to passable
good looks, who would be unnoticed as a
porter or laborer, would yet attract at
tention as trooper or cavalryman, when
concentration of thought caused his home
ly features to assume character by being
set and firm.
To sum up, anybody who rides every
day on wheel and does not acquire the
bicycle face lacks character, and is a men
ace to himself and everybody else when on
the road or on the track. The bicycle face
denotes strength of mind in the persons
who possess it. 1t means alertness quick
perception and prompt action in emergen-
cies. The idiotic grin of some of the ci
garette-smoking fellows who make fun
of bicycling can never be mistaken for the
bicycle face