The herald., 1895-10-20

ed little or no attention. But if England
has the bicycle craze, over in Paris they
have gone stark mad over it. There
everybody rides, and it is alone worth a
trip to Paris to see the cyclists that
crowd the broad boulevards. l could not
describe it. but imagine, if you can.
what it must be in big pOpulous city
like Paris if three-quarters or more of its
people deserted carriages, street cars,
cabs ana even the sidewalks and went
about on bicycles, whether on bus-
ness or pleasure. rhe Parisians have
one great advantage over us in their
bread. dsphaltsd streets, which stretch
out for miles and miles. We made the
m ost delightful suburban trip imagin.
able. Bicycling tours to the nearest
towns are all the go with the Parisians
and OF course we caught the infection
and had no cause to regret It, Go in
what direction you will from Paris. and
roads that are q pleasure to ride upoa
lead you past the m ost interesting spots
and to beautiful cities. As ! look back
to our visit 10 Paris It seem: lils" a inne
sweet dream but it la. this acvautage.
that one may repeat II, and that's what
! hope to DO next summer
AS to costumes, one sees the most
fetching, or | ght truthfully say. be-
witching bicycle suits in Paris. a great
many wear bloomers, and many more
wear knicker bockers, but the better class
of ladies still retain skirts. The ladies'
take more pride IN their chic cycling
costumes in and about Paris than do the
la les of cny other city we visited.
"Whiie | would most heartily advise
would suggest thar instead of taking
bicycles along that they rent them over
there. Our party paid something like $50
duty on our wheels going into France
there is no duty going into England or
Germany, but ono can rent wheels sc
cheaply that considering the wear and
knocking about of the machine, think
it is the cheapest to rent one and then
one avoids the care and trouble of taking
the bicycle from port 10 port or on the
trains. There is one advantage, how.
ever in an American wheel and that is
that it is lighter, which counts consider
ably IN making long hil;y trips. | have
a very distinct remem brance of one hill
we ulim bed. 1t was quite steep and three
and half miles long. In u climb Of that
kind ten pounds or so in the weight OF a
bicycle makes quite difference. The
Englis and French wheels are built
mucn heavier than the American, but
doubt il they are as much stronger in
proportion. However, the foreign bicy-
cles have doubie tires which in a meas
ure accounts for their extra weight but
give the added advantage of less liability
to puncture. On the other hand l rode
my wheel all over Europe without pune.
turing tire once and | do'not know
that the tires were specially prepared for
the trip. Our wheels attracted great
deal of attention, not only in places
where bicycles are seldom seen, but right
in Paris where everyone is as familiar
with horses or bronchos. American
wheels are now on the boom in France
with the CulunIb ba in the lead.
Zone advantage of traveI in France is
that all along the route one finds, every
few miles. repair shop where compe-
tent workmeu skillfully clean and repair
or cara for your wheel at minimum of
cost but maximum of convenience to
the wheelman.
81 cannot tell you the pleasures of the
trip and the cost of travelling is so cheap,
very much more so than here. In Paris
one can get excellent meals for two
francs. | mean by that meal OF ten or
twelve courses with wine. Wines, as
YOU know, are used in France and Ger
many as we use water here. recall one
instance. We stopped at farm house in
Germany ana asked for drink of water.
The good natured housewife looked at MS
in blank astonishment and recovering told
us that water was very unhealthful. but
we were welcome to wine and forthwith
produced it. But such wine. Sour! oh !!
now sour believe it would have made
one of Mugby's pigs squeal to drink it..
ay for it, no indeed, she would not ac-
cept paw, but wanted us to take some
along with US.
"Tbrough the country sections OF
France and Germany, particularly the
latter, we were looked upon with wonder
and astonIshment. Bicycling has not be-
come as popular as in France or even in
America. However, this is quickly chang
ing, for the emperor has taken to the
sport and that sets the pace for all Ger
many. By the way, there is clever
story in connection with this. One day
not so very long ago Queen Victoria saw
q Mrs. Quarter speeding by on a wheel
and promptly sent for that lady and
asked her to give instructions to the
Princess Louise, Princess Beatrice and
the Duchess of Connaught. They soon
learned to ride and tho news reached the
German court. The emperor was not to
be outcome by his aunts and cousins in
such little matter as bicycles, and forth
with wheels became the order Of the day
at the German court. and therefore the
fad of the country.
"We visited Strasburg, Frankfort, Ber-
lin, Vielna AMI Berne. Mentioning these
polnts gives an idea of the stretch OF
country we covered and the smaller
towns we passed through. l shall never
forget the Black Forest. 1t is one of the
most beautiful spots on earth. l could
ask no fairer Paradise. | also have pleas
ant remsm brances of Berlin and Vienna.
| must see them again. and it Will be
awheel. Having been over the ground
once, we would do better next time in
selecting our route.
''As to roads, one finds much better
roads in England, France or Germany
than in America. France is a nation Of
fine roads. Over there the roads are not
built by the farmers working out their
taxes. This IS a matter of government
supervision, in fact the whole affair is
m managed after a system as carefully regu-
lated by rules as is our mint. One chief
-II - L. -.axo.,a;Llo fo. 4ha oopdi.;o., oj