Evening star., 1896-12-19
S O ME CYCLING CHAT

~ ~ Ni - ~ ~ GttN ~ VII ~
There is perhaps no more deluded indi-
vidual than the pedestrian who imagines
that the wheelman finds great sport in run
nirg him down when making street cross
iEgs. Some people in reading newspapers.
and especially the comic papers, get this
idea, and 1t is hard 10 convince them to the
contrary. Such an idea would be possible
If the wheelman manages TO escape with
out injury to himself, but this is some
thing that is by no means certain. Every.
time rider is thrown from his wheel he is
apt to get hurt, though what may seem
strange is in the fact that a heavy throw
oftentimes results in less bodily harm than
comparatively easy header. With the
knowledge that he is apt TO get hurt, no
rider is foolhardy enough to invite a col
lision, especially with pedestrian
While there may be a few cases on record
where the pedestrian was hurt, and the
rider fortunately escap ped injury the great
majority of collisions of this sort clearly
show that the wheelman gets the worst of
the bargain. The pedestrian. already ou
the ground, is struck by the pneumatic tire
and possibly thrown or pushed aside by the
FORKS or the handle bar, while the rider
the other hand, bears the brunt of the coll
Esion and receives a fall. Those who do not
ride bicycles, almost without exception, over
look the fact that the cyclist not only suf-
fers from the force of the collision but
also the results of the stumbling and push
ing on his own accord that may follow
This is explainable from the fact that af-
ter The rider strikes the ground. he is
rushe1 sideWard by his momentum. with
out being able to free himself from the
wheel, and the injury 10 himself is apt TO
extend over the hands, knees. head shou-
ders or limbs according to the efforts he
M finx I..
direction in which he stumbles
1t is gratifying TO the local cyclist that at
least some show is being made of punish
ing those who willfuly throw glass in the
street. When these regulations were first
framed the idea in view was to protect the
hoofs of horses. With the advent of ;ne BIZ
cycle in general Use the necessity of the en-
forcement of the police regulation became
more apparent. While there may be a lew
cases where horses have been injured by
glass on the public thoroughfares. the num-
Der is insignificant as compared with the
damage and harm done to bicycles. BIZ
cycling has fully shown itself not to he a
fad. and 1t Is believed the statement can
be safely made that the aggregate value of
all Of the machines in use in the city will
almost equal the aggregate value of all of
the vehicles in use in the District. This be-
ing the case the riders are certainly entitled
TO consideration. More damage is occa-
stoned to wheels from glass in the street
than from any other one cause. To those un-
able to repair a puncture. the accident rep
resents an outlay of 80 cents for each and
every puncture. While this in itself may
be a small sum, the aggregate of the cost
of such repairs foots up to large propor-
tions Judge Kimball of the District side
OF the Police Court as strict as he may ap-
pear to be in holding wheelmen within the
limits of the law, is opposed to this practice
of throwing glass in the streets, and Las IN
open court spoken to the members of The
police force in regard TO the matter. In
recent case of this kind his stateiacat in
the disposition of the case was as follows:
This practice has got to be stopped. 1t is
dangerous to horses 10 throw glass in the
streets, and particularly to bicycle tires,
ard causes the expenditure of hundreds of
dollars each year by our citizens for re-
pairs 1t Is impossible TO translate ihe laws
of the District into all the known Ian
guages for the benefit of foreigners COM
mon sense should prevent people from Co
ing such thing. Hereafter l shall be very
severe in dealing with this class of Of
fenders.'
The bicycle can be brought into use for
decorations for the holidays. and supply
of holly and other greens secured from the
country. Many who start out for holly re-
turn home empty handed. simply because
they do not know where to go to get it,
There is an abundance of holly in this vi
cinity that can be easily gathered. There
Is also plenty of moss within radius of
few miles of the city limits, which can be
bottom for the Christmas tree box. There
is an abundance of small evergreen trees
that can be used for Christmas trees but
it would be rather inconvenient to carry
such large thing into the city on a wheel.
1t would prove to be very troublesome and
it is probably cheaper to buy the tree from
some of the stores than cut It and bring it
home. Mistletoe is quite scarce in this sec
tiOn. The evergreen known as crows
foot grows In some localities few miles
outside the District line. Cedar and pine
ta1ar ftr1 IN, or,1 MI
trict. and sprays of this can be used for
decorative purposes with more or less
effect.
bicycles. but perhaps the most foolish is
the subject of this article. She was out rid
ing with some of her friends. A trip was
made to Cabin John bridge. and the Incl
dent occurred while the wheels were stand
ing alongside the picket fence of the
hostelry. One of the girls had the COM
pound known as puncture cure Just placed
in her tire, and when she bought IL the
dealer, by way of Illustrating the merits of
the mixture, stuck several pins in the tire
with no loss of air. The girl remembered
this, but did not tell her friends At the
bridge she said:
Il can stick pin in my tire and not bit
of air will escape
Her friends received this statement with
incredulity. which rather nettled the
speaker. and she wanted to prove her asser-
tion. The others were of course anxious to
see this done, and there were some nudzes
passed in anticipation Of seeing the tire
fatten out. The girl, however, stuck the
pin I'm deep. and there was no escape of air
There was murmur In the crowd, and
some disappointment. Finally, one OF the
crowd said:
my tires the same make as yours and
If you can do ii, why can"
She did 1t. She walked home. No one |
had a repair kit for the tire. and man |
was In the party to tow the punctured ma
chine home for her. A fortunate escape for |
some man. 1t might be added that this |
particular young lady will not stick any
more pins In her tire. Once was enough for |
her.
Hill climbing may seem easy to some
and difhcult to others. There Is no reeu-
lar rule for this kind Of riding. 1t all de-
pends upon the person who is on the ma |
chime. Some people are what are known |
as long -winded-that is. they are not easily ]