Semi=weekly graphic., 1896-07-04
The Mission of tI.n Wheel.
IL. A. ". RulIetIn.

Q on the opposite sides of waterwa,
 or mountain chains felt it was the
 bounden duty to fall upon or
 another whenever they happened { meet, and to Smite one anothcr hi
 and thigh, above or below the bel
 Most Of the wars of history wer
 geographical wars. Had the surfac
 of the earth been made all in on,
 piece and all of one character, with out distinguishing lines or marks O
 rivers or ridges; no highlands oI
 lowlands; no seacoast or interior
 much of the bloody nightmare calle,
 history would never hnye been writ
 ten. Creeds and parties would no have been born.
 Boundary lines, their establish
 ment and maintenance, have caused T whole lot oi trouble. one way ant another.
 And why? Because boundary line usually marked the limit of tho peoples knowledge of men, The, did not know, hence they did not love the people on the other side ol the waterway or the mountain ridge.
 They were strangers and distrusted the motives of one another. They had not learned that deep down in the hearts of all mankind. black and white. savage and civilized, are hid den the same hopes and incentives and that all the peoples of all the earth are forever doing that which to them somehow seems Ia be the right and proper thing to do under the circumstances.
 evil of the world. The mountain chain that separated nations was the innocent cause of the mountain of ignorance that stood like frosty shadow between two peoples. They did not know one another They lacked knowledge and intercourse.
 They could not reason. They were shut away from the congress of nations, the parliament of re- ligions, the tournament of peoples, and the Illuminating and uplifting forces of q universal convocation of the worlds thinkers.
 The great world 'sfairs are designed to bring all nations into closer and betterrela tionship. They are thought to be humanizing, ciyilizing and Ghristianizing in their effect.
 Anything that facilitates travel and communication among the peo- ples of the world does those same things.
 The bicycle is a leveler and har- monizer of peoples. 1t is knitting the world closer together and is broadening and deepening the brotherhood of men. 1t is bringing the peoples of city and country into pleasant relationship with each other. They are becoming ac- quainted They will love each other more as they know each other bet ter.
 During the summer the bicycle will be the means of inducing thousands of citizens of the United States to en. joy tours through Canada. The St. Lawrence river, that has marked their boundary line of knowledge of that beautiful country, will be over come and the horizon of their in telIigence will be broadened. Can ada and this land of ours will be brought within sight and hearing of each other They will be nearer and better neighbors therefor. And thousands of American wheelmen will tour through Europe learning the good things to emulate and the evil things to avoid.
 During this winter many northern wheelmen will tour through the south as southern wheelmen are now touring through the north.
 Knowledge will come of all of this.
 Not the knowledge one gets from q car window and n guide book, but a knowledge of the real peoples of the land, those who till the soil and do the worlds work.
 What the ship and the railroad train have done in a crude, whole some way, the multitudinous wheel will carry to il happy finish in min- ute manner. They will remain the great trunk roots of the inter national tree of knowlcslgc, but the wheel will be the fibrous fingers that touch the people.
 The bicycle, and the smooth and beautiful roads it is, by the force of merit, compelling the world to bnild, is an evangel of peace and light.
 With it the prisoner will break away from his isolated cell 0fnafrow ignorance and fly to where the sails of truth from all the harbors of the world come bringing their cargoes of joy.