Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1896-07-28
BICYCLE BUTTON FAD. \
" You Wear One You Take a Ter.
rib!e Risk.


prising young man, as he accosted o
reporter of the Rochester Post-Ex-
press on Main street the other day
You get around among people a
good deal, and you viii DO me little
favor by giving these TO some of
your friends, who will wear them in
the buttonholes of their coats.
Here, just let me put this on Q, j
see you are an L. A w. man. o,
well, just put that button in your
pocket for afew days and wear this. "
And so, without any further ado, he
slipped the new button into the posi-
ton lately occupied BIZ the insignia
of the League Of American Wheel
men and stood off to survey the ef-
feet.
Looks first class was his yer.
dict. ''You're awfully accommodat-
ing. Well, so long, old man, and
away he went.up the street, leaving
the reporter to study out whether
he had been imposed upon or really
honored by the flattering generosity
of his friend. ''Well, I''ll wear it
for a day or so, anyway, just &c
please him" was his decision. That
morning an assignment took him tc
the Office of a well-known lawyer,
and the two were soon deeply en-.
gagged in conversation. In about
three minutes in came the 14-year.
old son of the disciple of Blackstone
with Hello, dad, let me have ten
cents, will you? There's a kid out
here who's got bike button l want
to buy" The father was in an in
dulgent mood, and the dime was
forthcoming. AS the lad turned tc
go, he espied the button in the
lapel of the scribe's coat.
20, say, mister, that's a new one,
amt it? Got another one2 Thanks
awfully," was the rejoinder as the
reporter reached in his pocket and
produced one of the coveted prizes.
TN have some more before night, :"
and away he went
'That boy has bothered the Life
out of me for week past" said the
lawyer as the door shut with bang.
This bicycle button craze is the
worst ever saw"
After the conclusion of the inter
view, and as the reporter was about
to leave, bootblack entered. In
stantiy sighting the button, he doffed
his hat and said: Gimme that,
will, yer2" OF course the reporter
was accommodating. He produced
another button and FASTENED out.
AS he left he heard some one say.
THAT fellow over there gimme dis.
Go ask i'm for one" A violent tug
at his left arm caused the reporter
to look down on a mite of humanity,
who pleaded for 1.-THE button on your
coat" The wish OF the little fellow
was gratifed, and the reporter went
away in peace. That afternoon he
started to wheel up East avenue and
fell in with an acquaintance Of the
fair sex, who is an ardent devotee of
bicycling. Seeing the pin she asked
what it was, and upon receiving re-
ply demurely said: That's some
thing new, ] haven't got one Of
those"
you, too, gasped the reporter.
Here, there's three, distribute
them among your friends"
All these buttons having been dis
posed of, the l. A. W, pin was re-
stored to its former position. That
evening at party a pretty young
lady in a divine creation" of a
dress noticed the ornament and be-
gan: isn't that pretty" The
reporter took fright at what might
follow, and, to be explicit, "broke
away" Reaching another room he
tremblingly removed the league en-
blem and carefully placed it in his
vest pocket He was allowed to rest
in peace the remainder of the even
ing The next day he handed the
button over to his youngest sister
Just wear that few days, sis, if
you want to; don't dare" was the
accompanying speech.
That noon at the dinner table his
sister looked over to him and said:
by the way, ] let one of the boys
at school take that button. He said
he would wear it."
That was too much and spoiled the
flavor OF the dessert for the uniucky
owner OF the button.
1t seems that this spring a manu-
facturer of bicycle tires conceived
the idea of having number of
thousand of buttons made, of tin with
the name Of histtire painted on them
distributed among bicycle dealers all
over the country. Other enterpris-
ing manufacturers followed suit. and
then the small boy, with an eye open
to a novelty, caught up the idea and
began rnakiuO a curfa,,o a. sitLL