Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1897-04-09
A WHEEL STORY.
ny 9. X. soHImANslxr.

a..a " iioe, out 10 my, story of an
"u.eahpt TO teach her to ride.
nhe was sweet sister, was this
n1aiuen, a sweet sister of John Jones,
wien she came to me one evening lust
~ oia sol was hiding his fire-rcd yisage
eN o. tne trees in the far west. and
askea me in an enhancing, apologetic
way II wouldn't assist her in her hi
cycic practice, as Brother. John has n
puessing engagement. and can't be with
me- and, anyway, he says you know
more about bicycling than he does,
DAY, just then could have Rugged
'onn Jones, and his sister, too, for that
matter, but John was not there. and ms
TOT ms slster-well, did not dare.
MISS Jones had been the possesssor of
q bicycle about three DAYS. and ms wa
wended our way side by side to her
nome 70 get the steed of steel she in
formed me that she was doing lust
ioselJ' And she also ventured the re-
mark that she actually believed she
could ride alone, only she got SO terribly
frightened.
When we arrived at Miss Jones' home
she excused herself for few minutes
saying she wished to don an appropriate
costume, and when she emerged from
tne house little later, clad in neat
l''ing garb of the bloomer type and
leading diamond-frame machine. why.
~ simply took my breath away. oh.
put she looked clipper, chic and de-
oonair, and my heart was at once smit-
ven with her, though always had , pe-
cunarly sympathetic feeling for her.
nhe certainly was the most beautiful
ana sweet morsel of femininity it had
Deen my pleasure to gaze upon. There
was no doubt about this, this lesson
would be extremely interesting. There
would be no skirts to get entangled in
the wheels and chain and to bother her
IN her awkward manipulations Of the
came, and the time spent in teaching
her to properly manage the steed would
surely be just SO long time of I'M
olloyed pleasure.
Miss Jones md / walked to street
seldom Travelled after sundown and the
walk over the intervening thorough
fares was an exceedingly short one. We
arrived Mt our destination. The first
thing was to show her how to mount
and this was sumner. l had assisted
many young ladies' in their efforts to
master the bicycle but all Of them rode
drop frame machines and they all wore
Skirts. This case was far different.
However, got on and off the wheel,
using the step, 'man-fashion,' and ex-
planned to her in detail every succeed
ing movement. Then Miss Jones tried
It. First firmly graspcd the handle
bar with one hand, holding the frame
in front of the saddle with the other.
Miss Jones reached over my arm, tool,
hold of the grips, put her right foot on
the step, made a lunge for the saddle
and kerflop, we both landed on the
hard road. l was underneath, the
wheel made up the second layer of the
pile, while Miss Jones sat, not too
gently, on top of the whole. / thought
one of the handle bars had punctured
my side and that / was swallowing a
heterogeneous mass of bicycle spokes,
good solid clay and rubber tires. Miss
Jones did not get off the heap at all but
sat there half sobbing, half laughing,
and said she hoped was not injured,
that she was so sorry, etc. With an
almost herculanean effort rolled from
my position under the wheel and It's
fair, but heavy burden, and after pull
ing myself together, gave Miss Jones
my hand and helped her to her feet. /
inquired If she were hurt but she re-
ioicingly informed me that she came
out unscathed and WIS ready for an
other trial.
II was not much injured--no-but
whatever thoughts had had of spend
ing an enjoyable evening were rudely
dispelled from my mind. No, was not
Injured, but could almost swear that
one of the pedals OF that machine had
cut out few square inches Of my shin
bone and / imagined could feel it
dangling about my ankle. was also
aware of the fact that there were several
non-repairable punctures in my trous-
ers and that my anatomy was bruised
and sore in more places than could
enumerate In three-page article.
ITO tell the truth l was not at oil
ka hon, nr.oI i1ip fr
lesson. as was sure that this expert
euce would be the death OF me but /
wouldn't for an instant think of tell
ing my fair companion that l had to
give up. !.
mo! she should be the first to say 1t
was time to postpone the practice until
another day. / was in hopes the wheel
was in such condition, after the hard
fall. that it would be impossible to use
a hut outside Of few scratches, 1t
came out Of the tumble as did it's owner
not in the least damaged.
"yell, we tried the mounting bust
rcss over again, and this time ! was
,,,,erared for the shock and she did land
ON the saddle most beautifully. After
had balanced the seemingly uncon-
trollable wheel and told her to get ready
for the start off. she said to me that she
could ride fairly well now that she was
~ and If would just take hold under
The back of the saddle and follow her in
that way she thought she could pedal
forward very well. ] did as she told !
me and after giving the wheel slight
,,,,sb she moved off. Yes, she went it
alone all right. All / had to do was to
follow her. At first she went slowly
at what you would call dog-trot, Then !,
~ increased her speed. And still all
Md to do was to follow her!
"a we we're booming mcrrily onward
=. IN the bicycle and ! on foot, she
sa,'ed me il didn't think this most 7
eyhiIerating sport. OF course, ! sa !. \ \
,,as Then she said she enjoyed It 80
, was: that she would continue on this
same course until she became ,ired
'''" - would dismount, ana a1er Q