The morning news., 1897-04-28
SIX HUNDRED WHEELS IN LINE.
THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE VIEWED
THE BICYCLISTs' PARADE.

Many Ladies' but No BIOOmers-The
Clubs Made Good ShOwfng-The
Parade "A Pretty Sight and Others
to FOIIOw-DecOrntiOns the Only
Thing Lacking in the Display.
The cyclists parade last night was
lively one. Fully 600 bicyclists took part
and the parade was witnessed by thous-
ands of people, including many bicyclists
/ who did not join in it. 1t was the largest
bicycle parade ever held in Savannah,
though the success with which the effort
met will doubtless result in larger parades
in the future Credit for its success is
due to Prof W. H. Lyon. physical direct
or of the Catholic Library Association.
The bicyclists began assembling at the
| monument in the parade ground shortly
after dark and by o'clock it looked as
| if an army of cyclists had gathered there.
| 1t must have been queer sight to the
old man on the monument. Bicycles were
| unknown in his day. The parade was
| formed at S:15 o'clock with Prof. Lyon in
| charge. He was assisted by an aid from
each one of the several organizations par
| ticipating. The line was formed in the
|
shall and aides Y. NJ. c. A. Club; c. L. A.
| Club; Y. NJ. H. A. Club: the Stearns
yellow Fellows" the Chatham Artillery
Club; Spaldng Club; Barnes White Flyers
and miscellaneous riders. 1.
The parade left the monument at $50
o'clock. The police escort, consisting of Of
ficers Mock, Tullis, Semken, Larissey and
| Sandiford, headed the line and was not
one of the least noticeable features of the
display The officers were all in full uni
| form and showed themselves to be good
| riders. In coming into CASTOR street the
| parade met the Oglethorpe Light Infantry,
| headed by the First Regiment band, on its
way to supper at the First Regiment
| fair The bicychsts followed in the rear
| of the Oglethorpes, and the crowd which
| had gathered on Bull street concluded
| that the soldiers and the band were part
/ of the programme. At Jones street, how
| ever the bicyclists abandoned the militia
| ry and moved 10 the right. There was
| large crowd at this corner, and the bicy-
| clists we're given an enthusiastic recep-
| ton. The small boys were especially DEM
| onstrative, and hurled remarks, both COM
plimentary and uncomplimentary at the
| passing wheelmen. The latter returned
| the demonstra ton by shouting their club
yells with all the might of their lungs.
| Each club had it's own yell, and the men,
| bers took great pleasure in giving vent to
| it with great frequency. Large crowds
| greeted the parade in front of the Guards
| Club, at the De Soto and on Broughton
| street.
The line which had been mapped ont
| gave pedestrians the opportunity of get
| ting half a dozen good sights at the pa
| rade. After going to East Broad on
! Jones, the line countermarched to Bull,
1 FL ~ ~
| down Liberty east to Habersham, past
| the police barracks to Oglethorpe ave
| nue., west on Oglethorpe avenue to Bull
/ and down Bull to Broughtoh, east on
| Broughton to East Broad and back to
| Bull, thence around Johnson square and
| back to Broughton, west on Broughton to
| West Broad and Back to Bull, out Bull on
the right of the squares to Liberty, west
on Liberty to West Broad, and back to
| Bull; then to Jones, and west on that
| street to Jefferson, out Jefferson to Gas
| ton, then back to the park where the pa
rade was dismissed. The distance cover
| ed by the route was ten to twelve miles.
There was a little attempt at oddity or
| display, and although there were a num-
Der of fine wheels in line, they did not
| show off as would have been in the case
| in daylight. The Barnes quad was in line,
together with two or three triplets and
several tandems. The Lindsay & Morgan
riders wore bicycle suits, but there were
a number who wore business suits. There
were probably fifty lady riders, a few
| with gentlemen riders on tandems, but
| most of them on single wheels. There
| were no boomers.
| There were a number of boys In line,
but the majority of riders were of age
and over, and a sprinkllng of solid citizens
| was noticeable Great efforts had been
| made by the three associations, Y M. c,
A., C. L. A. and Y. NJ. II, A., to turn out
| full ranks. Each had in the neighborhood
| of 100 riders and each club endeavored to
outdo the other with the righteousness of
it's club yell. The Stearnes' riders, forty
five to fifty strong attracted attention by
| their large yellow sashes, which the riders
| wore across their shoulders.
| Estimates of the number of riders in
line varied. There were not quite 500 by
actual count when the line left the parade
| ground, but a great many Joined the line
on Bull and Liberty streets, swelling the
crowd to probably 600 and over. There
are said to be 5000 bicycle riders in Sa-
| vannah. Two-thrds of this number, how
ever, are ladies and children, who were
not largely represented in the parade
| With a similar parade gotten up, with
some special features, 1t ought to be pos
| sible to get 1000 riders in line.
Notwithstanding the number of wheels
| In line and the large crowds on the Streets
no accidents of any kind were reported
One tire was heard to burst and a few
others were punctured. That there were
no accidents shows that it was a fairly
expert crowd of riders in line and that
the parade was well managed
| mo -,TS-.T-1 : - T1VT1 1-.S1c