The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-08-01
THE BIC YCLE IN ACTUAL WAR.
an English correspondence Success
full Experiment in ThcssaIy.

tul experiment in Thessoly.
From the London Daily Mail
A representative of the Daily Mail last
evening encountered a whilom sporting
editor of a contemporary looking unusu-
ally sunburned and pleased with himself
generally. 1t was Wilfred Pollock, just
returned from acting as special war CORE
spondent of the Morning Post with the
Greek army in Thessaly. And his special
cause for satisfaction was a claim to a
new record with che bcycle-viz., to have
been the first correspondent who had ever
been through campaign, practically from
first to last, mounted on a pair of wheels
instead of upon horse
But the roads in Greece are almost i'm
possible for bicycle, one would imagine
from the various accounts of the war;
By no means" said Mr.. Pollock; they
are pretty bad, of course, but to the BIZ
cycle no carriage roads are impossible.
Sometimes had to get off and walk mile
or two. Sometimes it was l that did the
carrying and not the machine. But this
was seldom, and never for any great dis
lance. On the other hand, the zIgzag cut
tings up the many mountain passes are so
well graded that it is quite possible 10 ride
up them if the surface be good and the
wind friendly. Riding down-and my ma
chine had no brake-oDe had to remem-
Der that the corners of these twists are
not banked, and the khud, as they cal. it
in India, often offer many hundreds Of feet
of sheer drop"
"Of course, you took your bicycle out
with you?"
Unfortunately, no. Every one who had
been in Greece said it would be useless.
And SO, of course, it would have been had
the war been confined to the mountains
of the frontier, where there are no roads,
but only precpitous bride paths. AS it
h, 10 Af
tween Volo and Larissa, and a pretty good
conviction that the Greeks would be driv-
en- back, induced me, after my arrival in
Thessaly, to telegraph to my agents in
Athens to procure me a bicycle with all
speed. About three weeks afterward, on
the first day of the affair al Matt, a Sec
ond-hand second-grade machine duly
turned up in Larissa. AS a matter of fact,
however, it proved thoroughly good Eng
lish stuff, and carried me all through
without anything approaching a break
down..
And the Greeks didn't steal it?"
mo. Fortunately for me, the bicycle
is still almost Unknown in Greece. But
my toOlbag was stolen on three separate
occasions And before they stole the bag
itself they took out of it the nice little
tin box containing the outfit for repair
ing the tires. No doubt this elegant little
case, tightly sealed as it was, appealed
more to The theft than the more prosaic
spanner and oil can. However, a lienten-
ant on the Dryad gave me a piece of
rubber strap and some naphtha solution
which they use with their torpedoes. Co
ing out to Volo next morning, l left the
machine in the tender of the locomotive,
all among the Goals, SO that there was
ample time for bag and all to take to it
self wings Only the naked bicycle was
left at Velestino.
by this time my success in outstrippRg
other correspondents in the several races
10 telegraph offices was becoming notori-
GUS and bicycles became quite common
adornments of the carriages in which my
colleagues chiefly Travelled. So l myself
stole the tools belonging to brother cor
respondent. AS a matter of fact. he lent
them to me, and then drove on without
asking for them back. They were of little
use, however, to me, for they and the bag
in which l had placed them, were stolen
within the next half hour, while l was
filling my water bottle at a spring.
My next set of tools, complete, with
outfit, we got at Athens. l no longer
left them on the unguarded bicycle. This
time the bag resembled a cartridge case,
and once more proved an irresistible temp
tat.on to a native, who had probably
watched me carefully put it down beside
me in the Dernoko cafe. Very luckily.
however, my machine held we'll together
all the time, and the nuts never wanted
altering.
so you beat the other men in racing to
the telegraph offices?'
well, not only did the bicycle prove
much faster even on the Greek roads,
than either the Greek horse or carriage.
but TO sling 1t onto a train or steamer was
the work Of moment, and a horse is by
no means so easily manipulated. on three
most important occasions my stuff reach
ed England a least a whole day In front
of that sent by any other English corre-
spondent thanks to the bicycle every
time But for further details please wait
for a little work entitled War and a
Wheel now in the press"