St. Paul daily globe., 1896-03-29

with fountain pens have been put on.
the books are hopeiessly behind. Swear
words uttered now have no heavenly
show to get off the blotters of the short
hand reporters and into the general
ledger before next Christmas. Men
who have gone through the years of a
happy and peaceful lifetime without
even getting their names into the index
OF profanity record now sport whole
rows of figures. and each figure repre-
sents page OF unprintable matter,
ranging from the mildest of blanks and
dashes UP to efforts that could only
be expressed with exclamation points in
great primer and stars out of the "ad'
case. t,
A man who has never posed as pro-
fanlty expert was in one of the st. Paul
| riding schools the other day, and, after
Ills first fall. used 1877 new expressions
each one warranted to give a Sunday
school superintendent epileptic fits. y
man standing by, who has been ia
miliar with-th finest profanity of the
country since boyhood, regarded the
outbreak as the best example of catch
weight swearing he had ever heard
and yet the victim of the fall remarked
that he feared that he had done small
Justice to the occasion. He thought
that possibly a man with fluent com
mand of Sanscrit, old Anglo Saxon
and smattering of Scotch might do
himself credit under such circumstanc-
es, but that man who was not an eX-
pert linguist had better make up his
mind to let bicycles alone, or to allow
his feelings to go unrecorded. 1t is said
that one man relieves his feelings after
trying to ride wheel by shutting his
eyes and writing on a typewriter with
h3aIS nf ic .c1,a 49,
when read to him by his stenographer.
who Is German with a limited COM
nland of English, is said to have a
soothing effect.
To consider the subject from a slight
W more serious point of view, the truth
is that 1t Is not so difficult to learn
to ride wheel as many people sup
pose, while at the same time it is more
OF feat than many of the uninitiated
imagine. In the days of the old-style
high Wheel when the doubtful pleas
ureS Of the then machine were monop-
oi1zed by men, the matter of learning
was not fancy process. A wheel was
purchased, or borrowed If the beginner
was man of sense, extra accident in
surance was secured and after some
days the enthusiast was either an ex-
pert or hopeless invalid. That was all
there was to it. With the advent of the
safety there was revolution i'll more
ways than one. Women took to the
wheel, the bicycle became the popular
fad, and manufacturers and agents re-
allied that an unSat tisfied demand eX-
listed. 1t was very evident that the
more people who learned to ride the
greater would be the demand for ma
chimes. Riding schools were established.
where instruction was given. The
spread of the bicycle craze in st. Paul
is evidenced by the fact that there are
I now in this city half a dozen schools
where, for the asking, free instructions
may be had on wheels furnished for
/ the purpose.
One of the largest of the schools in
st. Paul is maintained by an agent who
represents line Of popular wheels. A
visit there any afternoon or evening
is we'll worth ones trouble II there
is any truth in the old adage about
mirth and obesity, 1t is safe to venture
that any one who will spend a week
at riding school can qualify as a fat
freak before the most critical dime mu-
scum manager in the country. First
attempts at bicycle riding and dignity
have not even the most distant ac-
quaintance. The president of a bank
would look ridiculous trying to drive
! himself into a riding school floor with
a bicycle acting in the role of hammer
Agents riding schools established to
teach beginners in the hope that they will
eventually learn and purchase a wheel OF
one OF the makes represented by the institu-
ton. But the lines are not strictly drawn.
There is no obligation to purchase after learn =
ing.
I 'All we ask said the agent who was show
ing his school to II obe man. us that
/ people who come to learn have not already
| purchased their wheels. We will furnish them
wheel on which to experiment and an at
tendant will give instructions. We want them
before buying TO look at our line of wheels
! That is all. They are free to do as they
| please Where people have already purchas SER
wheels that we do not represent we make a
small charge for instruction.
The particular school I'm question is open
during the day ~and evening There are
| wheels for all who wish to try Three Young
men in red sweaters and gray caps and
! trousers are ready to lend a helping hand tc
| any who need assistance. During the after
| dles Men are not barred during the after
noon but most of them come in during the
noon hour and in the evening The school has
been open sixty days. and during that time
nearly LOCO persons, about two-thirds of them
women. have taken lessons. The daily at.
tendance is about 100. and on one day it ran
mp TO total Of $780, None of the other
schools OF the city so large but at least
300 people are taking daily lessons riding ir
St Paul and in the last two or three months
not less than 5000 have learned to ride The
| life this summer
| riding school in appearance is compro.
mise between a roller skating rink and g
| padded cell. Walls and posts are cushioned
| TO prevent accidents, and a smooth even floor
makes riding easy. Men as a rule take their
| lessons without very much fuss They gel
| a few falls, bump about for a day or two and
| then are ready for the street With woman
the process of evolution from the taior-made
| girl to the boomer stage is little more eIah.
| crate. For her first lesson in riding The ay.
erage woman comes to the school nervous and
anxious. She is shown into a dressing room
| and asked to don a skirt a little shorter than
tnose used for street wear. This is not in.
| sisted on. but the progress of the beginner
is much more rapid when such a change is
made. Then the woman is ready for her frs,
attempt 10 master the wheel One of the
young men in red sweaters is at hand and
| when she Is safely seated he wheels her
| slowly about while she accustoms herself In
The motion Of the treadIes and learns tbe
mysteries OF the handle bar. The first lessen
ordinarily does not go much beyond this
Seven lessons is about the average nun1ber
required by women. In the second there is
little Independent riding, though the begin
ner does not know it, and never susbects
! that the instructor has withdrawn his aid
! The third day is spent largely in charging
| full tilt into the walls and posts until ali
! have been hit. Then progress Is rapid and
in about week new devotee of the vince
| has been created out of the nervous beginner
AS a result of the experience of the in
structors, 1t is stated that men and women
learn to ride in about the same length OF
time. Older women find the art more dificuIt
/ but even grandmothers learn Some few men,