Evening star., 1896-10-24
S o ME CYCLE CHAT

ehou Oue WOufO ordinarily suppose. 1ue
general impression seems to be that he
makes barrels Of money through the sales
Of bicycles. His profit. and he himself will
tell you, is not near large as thought.
the manufacturers making the bulk of the
profit. Regardless of this, however, the
dealer complains that the general public
in purchasing a wheel seem to think that
ne can throw in lamp. bell and other
sundries, and then allow a discount and
also Keep the wheel in repair for the full
period of the guarantee
In the matter of the guarantee IL is
Claimed, there seems to be a good deal of
misapprehension. The guarantee as given
Is to the eject that the wheel, if found in
any way defective in construction, will be
repaired free Of charge or a new wheel
supplied. The ordinary purchasers, the
agents assert, have different conception
of the meaning Of the guarantee, and a
wheel. IL smashed liz collision, run over
by vehicle or damaged In any other way
Is brought to the dealer, and the repairs ali
claimed under the guarantee.
A wheel was brought into the shop of a
well-known cycle dealer a few days ago
which looked as though It had gone
through Kansas cyclone. The frame was
bent and twisted, the rims of the wheels
were buckled so that their original shape
could never be guessed. the handle bars
were models OF compound curves, and the
tires We're split open in several places. The
rlder coilided with a cable car and strange
to say, escaped serious harm himself The
next morning he complacently brought the
vince! IN the shop and claimed the guaran-
zee. he was new rider. The dealer was
old enough to know that the condition of
the wheel was not attributable to a defect
In manufacture. but the rider insisted that
the wheel went down with him while he
was riding at fairly good rate Of speed
He stuck to his story. but 1t did not 60
and he took the wrecked machine to an
other repair shop, where he paid to have 1t
patched up.
On one occasion a young lady with an
escort came into a dealers store. and while
the young lady stood at a respectful dis
tance the young man brought up her
wheel and stated that he had come to
claim a guarantee. THE chain has worked
loose" said the gallant, land you will have
to put another one in" The dealer was
staggered for moment. He did not know
he was only joking. The escort was Sc
rlous. however. and the dealer remarked
that the guarantee was for defects in the
construction of the wheel, and not to keep
IT in repair. He showed how to tighten
the chain, and the pair went away happy.
There is a joke going around the city
about one Of the members of a well-known
cycling club The club has splendid quar-
ters. and during the recent cool spell the
members hugged the fire closely. 1t was
on a Sunday evening that the incident oc-
CURED. He came into the club dressed in
his Sunday best. intending to make a call
on his best girl. He wore patent leather
shoes. new cutaway coat. white tie and
white vest and a brand new derby. There
were some club members about the fire
and more coal was needed. Before any of
the others would make room for the new
conner TO sit around the CRATE he was told
that he must first go down in the cellar
and get some coal. There are a number Of
no
person Is not acquainted with the place he
can get lost in the labyrinth of passages.
Just at the bottom of the steps is the heat
ing apparatus, in front of which there is a
hole. walled with brick, where the fireman
draws out the ashes. The young man,
with bucket in hand, started down the
steps and when he reached the bottom he
tumbled IN the hole, which Is about three
feet deep. 1t SO happened that one of the
feed-pipes to the boiler had bursted, and
the water had filled the hole The young
man. dressed In his good clothes. went
sprawling into the mess, and he, thinking
ne was drowning. yelled for help He
nnaliy got out and came upstairs in a de-
plorable condition. The water was still
Transformation from a dandy to forlorn-
looking object had been as complete as il
was rapid. He did not get a chance TO call
on ms girl that night. Instead, he dressed
himseif In blue sweater and blue pair of
racing tights. and stayed in the club house
until near midnight, when his other clothes
were sufficiently dry to permit him to don
them and wear them home
Some Of the friends of Prof. John Cross
ley OF the Columbia Athletic Club played a
rather mean joke on MIN last week. The
instructor entered downtown lunch room
enc nlSht to get something 10 eat ana left
MS wheel standing outside. When he came
cut tne wheel was gone. and nc one knew
anything about it, Believing tha. some
one had stolen his wheel he reported The
Th.a
wheel was returned to the owner but he
Goes not know who had it. He was glad to
get 1t back, however.
A good story is toll en- we,,.known
paperhanger in Georgetown He mad a
job OF work out in the country near Falls
church. and with the paper and other par
aphernalia OF his trade bundled I'M he
mounted his wheel and rode over to the
place. For fear that some one would steal
his trusty steed he took his lock along and
carefully locked the wheel while at work
When he completed the job he packed his
material and started for his wheel He
searched for his keys, but lie could not find
them. and then he remembered that he had
left them home in mis- other clothes He
was mad; but he conl1 not help himself
He tramped all the way in town to get his
Keys, and then tramped all the way out to
unlock his own wheel and ride 1t in.
There is a good story told of a we'll
known local racing man, who went over TO
Baltimore and entered a race meet. One
of the prizes in a race in which he was en-
tered was ton of COAL which he won He
could not sell 1T, as 1t would have been a
violation Of the amateur racing rules ard
he knew of no one to whom he could give
1t. SO he bad the ton of coal brought to
this city. By the time the railroad freight
was paid and the price of hauling both in
Baltimore and this city, and the handling.
the coal cost him more than he could have
bought a ton in this city.
Mr.. C. Andrew Cook Of this city. who
was delegate from the local Cigar Max
ers' Union to the twenty-flrst annual con-
ventfon OF the International Cigar Makers
Union of America. held recently at Detroit,
returned home during the week. He was
considerably impressed with the use of the
wheel in the cities he visited. "One thing
that struck me as peculiar" said Mr. Cook,
was the large number of ladies who ride
wheels in Detroit 1t seemed to me as
though there were more female riders than
there were males and every morning strings
of factory girls. shop girls and working
girls could be seen riding along the streets.
while very few male riders were in sight"
One evening some friends he met at the
convention wanted him to go bicycle riding
They were surprised to learn that he could
not ride a wheel. "Wel," said one dele
gate from the northwest, Il Thought every
body in Washington knew how to ride
bicycle, you've got such nice streets there"