The record-union., 1897-08-09

render this branch of the service es-
pecially efficient as scouts. With this
end in view, the men learn to ride over
every sort of obstacle, such as large
stones, fallen trees. railway embank
ments, deep sand. ploughed fields; and
steep inclines must be negotiated:
mounting and dismounting done with
lightning speed, and the usual drill gone
through with the same precision as
under ordinary circumstances.
In consequence of this severe train
ing the Bavarian army cyclists have not
only fulfilled, but far exceeded the ex-
pectations of the authorities. The Prus-
sian military cyclists, on the contrary
are not so fortunate. The machines
with which they are supplied are fitted
with cushion tires, and are besides ex-
tremely heavy-weighing % kilo, or
more than 80 English pounds-(those
of Bavarians 10 kilo, or 80 English
pounds), and the perpetual shaking and
discomfort are terribly trying to the
soldiers"
The semi annual reports of two large
brewing and mailing companies of Chi
cago and Milwaukee have just been
published, and they furnish food for re-
Election on the part of the public as Well
as the stockholders. The reports state
that there has been a decrease in the
sales of beer by the two companies
amounting to AZ, ,427 barrels. The Of
ficials attribute this falling off in con-
sumption to the depression in CONNER
cial and industrial enterprise, and ex-
press the opinion that as soon as the
tariff question is settled an improve
ment may be looked for" The total
output of all the breweries in the Chi
cago internal revenue district decreased
120, 751 bushels for the six months and
although the hot weather has increased
the consumption somewhat it is still
below that of the corresponding period
of previous years.
Although the official reports relating to
the liquor business do not refer to the
effects of the bicycle on trade, it unques-
tionably has an important influence.
All the worlds awheel and, as every
body knows, a wheelman can not serve
two masters. Hence he has parted
company with Gambrinus, and the nu-
merous Sheriff sales of saloons indicate
that the bike is even greater than Bac-
chus. AS a temperance worker the
wheel has no equal.
%*%
Nellie McHenry, the comedienne,
says: 1 am very fond of bicycling, but
1 do not ride one in the vicinity Of my
home, because it is not considered tbs
thing here to ride in bloomers. l be-
lieve in bloomers. They are a far
more convenient and sensible form of
dress for this purpose than the divided
skirt, and if properly made l do not
think they are more immodest. They
are also far more comfortable.
If women had not gone to extremes
and worn their bloomers in inappropri-
ate places there would not be such a
howl about them. A woman has no
more business to go out walking with
bloomers, or to be seen in them in a
public dining-room, than man has to
be seen in his bathing-suit under SINH
lar circumstances. If I were to wear
my bloomers in the neighborhood of my
home it would cause talk, and it would
be said that I did it just because I was
an actress. Therefore, when I want a
good ride on my wheel, I go further up
the coast, where bloomers do not at
tract any attention.
Perhaps it is this that has made me
devote more attention to boating for
the past two summers than to bicy-
cling. When woman once learns to
handle a sailboat and is not timfd about
going into breeze and brisk water there
is an exhilaration about the sport that
nothing excels, in my opinion.
Ever since the agitation for more and
improved brakes for cycles began the
anti-brake crank has based his argu-
ments upon two pofnts-that he could
always hold his wheel in check by back
pedaling and that the ordinary form of
brake would in time ruin the ordinary
tire if applied with any force at all. 1t
is undoubtedly a fact that back-pedal-
ing is not entirely effectual at all times,
and the wear of any form of brake is
not worth considering when compared
with the damage resulting from back
pedaling.
Hard -pedaling imposes on the
bicycle the severest of all strains which
it can incur while being ridden. The
reversal of the propelling force while
the forward motion is maintained does
violence to the running gear, and if
practiced often will surely take the
starch, so to say. out of the stiffest ma
chine made. Note the throbbing and
writhing of a steamboat under reversed
action Of paddle wheels or propeller. or
the hitching and grunting of the trolley
car under like circumstances, or the
snappy snorting of the reversed locomo-
tive. and il is easily evident that each
of these machines suffers uncommon
strains when the motive power is ap-
piled to effect stopping. 1t is just so
with the bicycle, only more so.
The new woman who wears boomers
and rides a mans wheel is no gentle
man.-Phnadelphi Record.
Where shall we go?" She (on her
second ride)-That I think 1 shall have
to leave entirely to my wheel.-Brook-
lyn Life.
Arthur A. Zimmerman, in the New
York World" says that is a noticeable
fact thai many women who ride wheels
do not make a good appearance In
nine cases out of ten where the women
seem to be awkward the fault lies in
the adjustment of the bicycle The
saddle is often at fault Sometimes it
is too high, occasionally it is too far
forward, but more often it is too far
back or too low. Unless woman has
a male relative or friend who will ad-
just her wheel for her she should take
it to a bicycle store or repair shop and
have it properly adjusted in case there