Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1897-07-16

minutes before.
He made the run in Il hours.
They gave it up and waited for train,
intending to head him off at Stilwcll,
a town 40 miles farther on.
In the meantime the baronct was
recling off miles, hanging on like grim
death, his motor gathering power with
every turn, his eyes sticking out and
his hair beginning to show gray spots.
Flapping and pounding his ribs, the
flask Of spring water and fieldglasses
set him half crazy. Dogs ran out to
bark at him, but he had disappeared
before they could get their jaws work
ing. A few minor runaways are all
the casualties reported from this
stretch OF 40 miles, which was covered
in 80 minutes.
Between Stillwell and Kankakee
the road measures 30 miles. The bar
onet covered the distance in so min
utes.
Kankakee prides itself on being
modern 1t is a town of about 5000,
and it has bicycle policeman. The
latter is conscientious official, and
always arrests scorchers without Ian
terms. BY the time the baronet's
steed reached the west end of the town
it was dusk. John Davis, the afore-
said copper, saw him coming down,
and he promptly made after him.
Davis recollectiOns are of receiving a
tremendous jolt in the eye and seeing
an aged man apparently, with smutty
face and glaring eyes, shoot by like
the wind. The fieldglasses had hit
him. Davis reported to headquarters
that the devil had gone through town
on a wheel which spit fire and acted
like live animal.
The baronet's friends had not for
gotten him in the meantime. They
had missed him at Stillwell and de-
cided to head him off by telegraph.
A message was sent all along the line
to "stop man on a Wheel"
At Walkerton, the next place be-
yond Kankakee, the telegraph opera
tor reported that bicycle thief was
en- route there, and although it was
already dark, two officers were sent
out the pike to stop him. They did
not succeed. AS the baronet APP
preached the little group one of the
policemen grabbed at him, while the
other presented a revolver. The bar
onet went on without looking. The
policeman who attempted to seize him
got a whack from the flask of spring
water and is suffering from conclusion
of the brain. The other policeman
cried, "Stop thiefW His revolver
went off, but never touched the barO-
net.
All through the So miles to Tyner
City the baronet had it easier and
scattered less devastation. He was
nearing the mile a minute gait and
flashed through Tyner City in so Sec
onds, upsetting party of loafers as
he passed, and Plymouth was only 30
miles away. At9: 80 O'Clock the Chief
of Police received the following mes
sage, signed by the name OF the young
inventor, whom he knew we'll:
"Stop bicyclist. Will enter city from
the west side on pike, on motorcycle, and
machinery beyond his control. Stop at
all hazards with barricade of soft ma
terial."
The famous modern. fin de steele, up
to date John Gilpin ended his ride
here. Chief Mannering and his assist.
ants held short consultation and de.
termined to take effective measures.
The chief had an idea which will
make him famous. The inhabitants
of nearby houses were aroused. A
few minutes sufficed to explain. All
the feather beds in the vicinity were
collected. In one huge heap they
were woven into barricade across the
pike. Hay, mattresses, quilts and
everything else to deaden the shock
was tossed on the heap.
In the meantime the baronet was
nearing the end. He was caked in
mud. His hair was white as the
driven snow, while his face was as
black as the ace of clubs. His hands
were rigid as steel and glued to the
handle bars. He was the apotheosis
of scOrcher.
1t was all over too quickly to COM
prehend. The watchers at Plymouth
remember hearing far away whizzing.
Then there was binding flare, a
smell OF burned feathers, and the bar
onet lit on the barricade at exactly
IL ~ by the clock, almost unrecogniz-
able. The wheel, like the one horse
shay, collapsed into its original ele-
ments, while the electricity went off
like lightning bolt, burning the bar
ricade to ashes. The baronet was car.
ried to q nearby drug store, where his
injuries were ascertained. His friends
arrived the next morning and took
him to Pittsburg in q private car.