The Wichita daily eagle., 1896-01-25
TELLS IT STRAIGHT
COOLEY GIVES ADDITIONAL FACTS
OF THE RIDERLBsS BICYCLE

OF THE RIDERLEsS BICYCLE
he Says That Bis Dog was Not Killed But
That His Tail was Driven Up in His
Body and Teeth Knocked Out by the
suIphuric Atmosphe ere Which Sur
rounded the Wheel for Twenty Feet
Each Way-His Cat WAS Returning
Five Hundred Somersaults.
Peter Cooler Of 25O2 East Central ave
nue. called at the Eagle office yester-
day somewhat out Of sorts. He declares
that the reporter who had interviewed
, him the previous day had with malice
aforthought proceeded 10 put his story
in such a light as 10 bring ridicule in
| stead Of scientific investigation upon
what he declared TO be a serious sub
/ ject.
He was invited 10 be seated and a
promise was given that his side of the
story should be given in mis- own Ian
! guage without the least exaggeration
( whatever
The promise seemed to please the man
! and he asked that the reporter would
! take down his exact correction and eX-
anime what evidence he had with him.
You see,' said Mr.. Cooley, you start
ed out by putting me in a bad light
| about taking mixed drinks, and when
! the Eagle got TO my house today there
was a regular hurricane started. You
/ see my wife and daughter are great di-
/ ciples of Frances Murphy, and they are
down on drinking.
''Now l don't mind telling you pri-
/ vately that once in a while on special
J occasions, such as war excitement, etc,
! / will take a drop or two Of the critter.
/ but my drink is invariably half-and-half
/ and when I can't get that 1 take
straight whisky.
''Then another thing the Eagle did
( wrong was to say that I took cloves. I
/ wish you could hear how my wife and
daughter have tantaliZed ne about
! cloves. 1 know that little illusion will
/ cost me weeks of trouble.
What the thunder are you doing" ex-
claimed Mr.. Cooley, jumping 10 his feet,
/ What l am telling you now isn't for
/ publication.
why, man, don't you know that my
church relations are such that, 1t would
never do for it to appear in print that
l confessed TO drinking. You ought to
know that it takes more brains 10 know
what not to say than TO say it. SO please
draw you pencil through the notes you
have made and commence from now out
and be careful and don't say another
WORD about either cloves or whisky"
The reporter did as requested drew his
pencil through the notes, which gave
forth a sign the matter was to be loaded
and Mr.. Cooley was satisfied and being
asked to proceed, he said:
Il suppose you don't believe in ghosts,
I but | want to say that Notwithstanding
l am a member Of the orthodox church
that believe in them and will swear on
I a stack Of Bibles as high as the Eagle
office that l seen a bicycle running
I around as you described in today's Ea-
gle, and so did my dog and COW.
Now. there is where you fell down in
your report about that dog and COW, and
l have made arrangements 10 have
the matter thoroughly investigated by
a society of men and women, who will
| bring the thing 10 light.
IF / was the only one who had seen
the bicycle maneuvering and cavorting
about, it might be put down as a crea-
ture of my mind. But 1 want the Eagle
to explain editorially or otherwise what
( it was that the dog and COW saw. They
had not been down town. They had not
heard any war news and yet they saw
the strange apparation.
You made a sad mistake about the
dog when You said he was dead. He
did not die, but I want you or some of
your intelligent readers to explain TO the
world what caused him to be in the
condition we find him today. Before
Wednesday night the dog had long
tail, but since that night his tail seems
to be drawn up in his body by some
strange mysterious power.
Il called on John Lewis and Bob
Cook today and we secured a magnify
ing glass and made a critical examina-
ton of the dogs narrative and il looks
as though some unseen power had grab
bed that canine by the tail and with
something like a mallet drove it into his
body exactly 55s inches.
you see I want TO be very particular
about this thing, because some of the
guys Of the court house today were de-
claring the whole thing was a id
lie. 1t made my blood boil to hear them
talk and exposulate about something
they knew nothing about.
II heard Preacher Harmon and Dug
Caldwell shooting off their mouths to-
day and l tell you if the Eagles story
had been strictly true I would have Civ
en- them a piece of my mind. Now you
see why I want You to he so careful and
get the thing down just as it actually
exists.
Before that night buffers tail was
exactly seven inches long, but now Il is
exactly 27s inches in length. ana I want
some smart Aleck to tell me what has
become of the rest of that tail.
THE dog is living, but he acts as
though his stomach had been turned,
and I have an idea that the blunt end
OF that tail has upset his liver or some
thing else. I wish you would get May
or Cox. tas county ccmmi issiOn ers, judge
Dale, II he can get away from court
long enough, the board Of police com