The Wichita daily eagle., 1896-05-08


Another war is looming up in the
horizon of Wichita which threatens 10
10 down the men who propose what
those with war paint on declare is a
raid made upon their personal rights in
the interest of certain monopolies.
The war is with reference to a pro-
posed ordinance which il is alleged will
be offered at the meeting of the council
next Monday night, asking that an or
dinance be passed compelling ali bicycle
riders u ptr-ure q :e'i AMI a lante. 4
for their wheels
City Clerk Smith was asked if he had
any knowledge of such an ordinance
being ;'r~.s "a .na SAIL jn4t r' 80
only heard that some OF the bicycle
houses were working in this direction
as il would help their trade by selling
cyclists extra bells, lanterns, ETC., but
that no such an ordinance was on file.
In speaking of the question to one
Of the members Of the Wichita Cycle
club, who said:
Yes, 1 have heard OF the ordinance
and am not surprised that the bicycle
houses are trying TO force this law up
on the bicyclists. 1t has been done in
other cities. The move is not in the
interest of citizens but il is in the in
terests only Of those who are selling
bicycle supplies.
Il want to say one thing which my ex-
perience in riding a wheel has shown
me, and which l believe. is the eXper-
fence of every wheelman, that no person
has ever been run over by wheel ex>
cept when the pedestrian becomes eX-
cited AMI tries to dodge the approaching
wheel, and the ringing of the bell causes
the excitement every time. The rider
always sees the pedestrian and he VIII
miss him, but let him ring his bell and
the pedestrian will begin dancing
around as though ne was standing an a
red hot skillet, and the wheelman be-
comes excited and there is invariably
an accident. Ask any wheeman what
is his experience If he gets it into his
head that he is going TO strike an OBJ
ject and he will tell you that he is al
most certain TO do that very thing.
1.-The proposed ordinance is not in the
interest of any citizen or to escape ac-
cidents but it is to help lot of deal
ers 10 sell a lot of worthless supplies.
Supplies which will cause more accl-
ueHlS lIldH any lNlfS else. i dhe an OlQ
family carriage horse and let him see
glaring headlight coming at him,
noiseless, and he will break and run
nine times out of ten. This ordinance,
if it should go into effect would make
it unsafe for any lady to drive upon the
streets after nightfall. 1t is in the in
terest Of accidents and against the
peace and safety Of the citizens.
There is another thing that may not
be generally understood. yet it is a fact
nevertheless, and that is while we can
speak slightly of the mayor and council
tney are men with business sagacity
and they can see that there is a 'nigger
in the woodpile' They know that the
passage of such an ordinance as this
would justly arouse the Indignation OF
every owner of a wheel in the city, and
that these men would hold il up against
them and it would be virtually Ike
them digging their own political grave
The bicychsts of Wichita can carry five
wards in the city. and with their
strength and influence they can carry
the other ward. The councilmen and
the mayor are politicians and they rea-
lie that such a move would be like
placing the spade in their own grave.
Other city councils may have been
bambooZled into passing such ordinan-
ces, but l have too much respect for
the men representing Wichita TO be-
lieve they will do anything else than
lay the ordinance on the table where
It will die