The herald., 1895-03-25
GOOD ROADS AND THE BICYCLE

The bicyclists of Oakland have decided
to abandon their effort to recover the
right to ride on the sidewalks, and pro-
pose now to devote their energies toward
the improvement of the streets. They are
| showing good sense in this change OF pol
icy and are putting themselves in line
with the riders of the wheel all over the
country. The movement for better roads
has been coincident with the general
popularity of the bicvcle. 1t is singular,
but true, that although the farmer uses
the roads to carry his produce to market,
and they are, so to speak, bread and meat
to him, the demand for better roads did
not originate from that quarter, but it
came from the bicyclists, who use the
road for convenience or for mere pleasure.
All over the Nation this cry has been
raised that we must have better roads in
the country and better streets in the
cities. The agitation had its beginning
in the central Eastern states and has re-
suited in the passage of laws in number
of commonwealths by means of which
a better and more permanent style OF
roadbulding has been possible. 1t took
an immense amount of writing and talk
ing to bring it about, but at last the peo-
pie came to realize the fact that good
roads are a profitable investment to
country, in much the same sense that
railroads are-eXcept that they are free
and open to the people, and the profits
they earn go back to the very taxpay RS
who constructed them. In all this agita-
tion the bicyclers led the way, forming
themselves into leagues and societies for
the purpose, and publ, hing unique and
wel-edited monthly devoted to the SUBJ
ject of good roads.
In the sections of the East where the
work of the bicyclers has borne fruit, and
where the construction of good roads has
been undertaken in earnest the most
gratifying results have ensued in the
increase in values of property, the i'm
provemeIt of places along the line of the
good roads, and the better returns for
farm produce secured by agriculturalists.
1t goes without saying that the construc-
tion of a railway increases the value of
every acre of land along the line and
within reasonable distance of it The
construction OF a good road operates in
the same way, to a lesser degree.
In some parts of the East the bicyclists
have wearied of the efforts to convince
the farmers that they would be benefited
by better roads, and have set about the
construction of bicycle roads a little
wider than a footpath, which they have
graded rolled and protected from storm
water for hundreds OF miles along the side
of the main road. There are indications
that this movement is becoming quite
general, and in short time the old road
silurians will be left alone in their mire
by the bicyclists who will enjoy good
roads of their own.
The bicyclist is here for business. He
rides his wheel not alone for amusement
but for legitimate profit as well. He is
generally young man and is naturally
progressive. When he puts his hand to an
undertaking success is pretty sure to fol-
low, if not in one form then in another.
When the bcyclists OF Southern Cali
fornia go to work on the good road ques-
ton in earnest we shall expect to see
some results. AS yet they have not
shown the disposition to take hold that
has been displayed by their order in the