The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1895-08-25
BICYCLING FOR WOMEN.
DIR. HAWTHORNE SEyERELY Ar
RAfGXED FOR HIS ATTACK.
Tho wheel Defended BY an Atlanta Medi-
cal Journal-What Shall We DO
With Our Alcoholic Inebriates:

The following is taken verbatim from
an Atlanta medical journal;
"a local preacher. who enjoys some no
toriety as a sensationalist and 4 poseur,
has taken 1t upon himself, with all the
callov rhetoric OF country schoOimds-
ter. TO denounce the bicycle as a nest
diabolical Invention, especially designed
and executed for the subversion Oh the
morals OF women. In the face OF such an
athemas hurled from the very horns OF
the altar she must be a brave woman,
indeed. who would continue IN the er-
ror OF her way.
IF the feryid eloquence Of the very
reverend doctor had been tempered with
cold facts, the way OF the gentle trans
gressOr would not have seemed so ndru
These facts, 80 cCnspicuously absent IN
the clerical denunciation OF the bicycle.
are well set forth in the Chicago Medical
STANDARD. ana apply both 10 male ana
female offenders. In recent editorial
on the subject IL says: A very severe
Indictment can be brought against bicycle
abuse, but these abuses are common 10
hundred methods OF outdoor exercise
There Is no necessary emotional excite
mcnt about cycling. Despite lts "lue,
spread use, racing is rarer with the wneei
than With the horse. 'ScorchinS mas
been largely. II not entirely, response ore
for all evils charged to the wheel W heei
HYPNOSIS spinal curvature Is result
OF bad position, and. as women cyclers
have shown, avoidable. 4 very caifn' Ju-
dicial critic, DR. Justus champonier.' "c.
cares that for grace and regularity OF
motion, woman IS mans superior IN the
use OF the bicycle. She cycles as wei as
she dances.
TO the sedentary clerk the wheel has
brought fresh air and exercise previous
Is impossible from the cost OF horses.
BY hygienic dress, the wheel has beneht-
cd woman 10 an extent which far OUT
weighs any possible evils resultant on us
use IL has doomed the corset ana WAIST
attached skirts. the source Of unlimited
evils The ease and freedom with which
outdoor exercise is obtained, has tempted
into ire sunshine women with mOplnS
tendencies to invalidism. To none Is II
the former woman. Among these, De
cause of ISOLATION, nervous disease and In
sanity are rife.
Decades ago. Or. Patterson, who had
studied insanity In Iowa Ohio. Indiana.
and Illinois farming regions, remarked
The wives and daughters Of farmers.
during Indictment seasons. have fewsr
comforts connected with outdoor Ire,
and less adequate protection from colo
and humid air. than the women who
live in our towns and cities IL is prob
able. taking prairie far1u-life with all
fits SURROUNDINGS that tho average stand
ard of vita, force in those who live upon
farms is below that OF those who live
I'm cities aid towns. II must not be infer
red, hOSever, from these Suggesuons,
that the noble and pleasing pursuits OF
agriculture favor the production or insan-
ity The errors OF living. and the dis
comforts alluded 10, are not necessarily
connected with, and certainly not limited
10 farm life. Open-air exercise mot attn
leic) and visiting. which the bicycle
can secure break UP the dead routine un-
DERIVING inyalidism Bicycling, like AL
exercise. has its CANCERS, but il has be-
come of such practical use that they are
less. proporticnately. than those or other
modes. To point-out abuses is TO pre-
vent them.
"The most important objection "a
boomers is their unsightlness. No wo-
man can afford TO make herself ridicu-
lOus and with the use of boomers, she
comes perilously near it, There can be no
doubt but that this garb is merely tran
sitiOnal. and is designed as a compro-
mise measure before the Introduction OF
the more sensible knickerbockers. Mems
sana I'm corpore sano. Let. the women