The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-09-26
THE WHEELS PSYCHOLOGY.
rAGARIES or THE BIorCLE snoyy
TO IT'S RID

AbuNHFN WIFE NNN ANNNN W " NklHntnnuN-
Immunity or the wnbbler mud Luck or IN.
TncE-symptomH or Malice ana Disi,one,,-.
THE bicycle lie the most bcncfccnt machine
ever invented,' said the man in tho blnck
sweater with yellow stripes. II suppose. IL kills
only about ono in n hundred Of the riders who
deserve to be killed"
"If it's kindness, it's misplaced in the worst
way" growled the man in blue and green. ~
supposed 1t was fool luck"
Fool luck can't explain everything" replied
tho other. so II must be the bCnciiccnce Of
the machine itself. | saw n man cominv Loms
from the Coney Island cycle path though Lin.
coin place in Brooklyn the other night. Lincoln
place is n steep hill paved with asphalt and pcr.
fectly smooth, so that a man can get to going A.
whizzing II he only lets go Mt the top and lets
the bicycle run itself. In Seventh avenue there
is u trolley line. The trolley cars stop at Lin.
coin place to see that all is clear before crossing
tho street. We'll. n trolley car halted at Lincoln
place, and must have stood there u fun minute
while passengers were getting OFF and on. Then
1t started slowly. At that instant the man
saw shot into sight. He must have been com.
ing down Lincoln place at the rate Of fifteen or
twenty miles an hour. II he'hnd gone on
straight he would have pumped SQUARE
into the trolley car and broken hs
neck. He tried to save himself by turn
ing around into Seventh avenue ahead OF
the car. II things had happened in n natural
way the wheel would have slipped and hurled
him right across the trolley track. and the troll.
ley car would have gone over him and crushed
him to death under the wheels. But the wheel
didn't choose to slip just then. or course YOU
couldn't expect any wheel going Mt such n speed
to turn a corner. II ran across Seventh avenue,
hit tho curtstonc. and threw the man over the
handlcbnrs. Hurt Not a bit OF il He inst
stood up and swore at the motorman. though
the least he could have expected was that he
would land on his head and smash his skull. It.
all happened as quick as you could slap your
hand, and yet, quick rs it was. he had escaped
three modes Of death in that brief space Of
time"
That's rather rubbing 1t in" commented tho
growler. Il don't call 1t bcncficcncc on the
part OF the wheel TO let a man like that go on
riding to the jeopardy OF us sensible people"
IT'S queer about that turn. now said a
third man.. THE way wheels nct does make
you think that they take freaks just like human
beings, The wheel didn't happen to slip in that
was riding slowly and c~@rcfully, mine suddenly
slipped and let me down in q sea of mud just
because ] had n new suit on
drunken mel and fools, said the GROWER.
up behind a man man who Ip Sc seemed ne p 10 be ridin. T on a
new principle: As he pushed each pedal down
cali it webbing, wa6bling wasn't in It with lin.
got an impression that he was a German Just
s isnssa' B mia S w6b!s there eo %ss took 4i,t C up hslf o,an,e
nothing ever touched him. He sailed along
serencly and everyday kept, out of his way.
the hill on Riverside Drive, riding as straight 40
a string, and idiot ran into Inc from behind and
upset me. How do you explain the difference
between my case and the if it isn't
Its just ordinary luck" answered the third
man. Take my case. ] used to hear when I
was a child how some celebrated Alpine climber,
after escaping all the dangers of avalanChes,
prGCiplCeS, and glaciers. had been killed Ivy
tumhiing down stairs. All summer ! escaped
the ta,ks, glass. and other things that p%uncture
tires along the cy cic routes hereabouts. and then
went down into the country. where there wasn't
a repair shop within ter miles. The first day
hotel piazza and gave a sudden swerve and ran
right upon i, ana there my lire was busted,
wheel. asserted tho iourlh'man. Sometimes
a wheel Will carry you through anything. and
thing for you to do is to get II new one. I've
known bicycles TO make a set against nm entire
an aged father in the family. 10 one SON the
bicycle gave an affection o. the knee Joint which
the other IL brought II species OF nervous pros.
tration; IT induced the daughter TO elope with
a biryslc seized the moment when lie was get
ing on a car one day and jumped on TO his back,
ibn nn u hum SO ihIt he wasn,, able TO leave he
da!ss. and other dcI aiis TO prove that story"
Why; If YOU fellows take What view OF tho
what l can give some evidence OF actual dis
honesty in addition to malice on the part OF the
bicycle. A friend OF mine was one day riding
his bicycle along a country road. 1t was n high.
grade wheel, and he had always shown Tho
greatest Kindness toward it and given Il every
care: but some how he had never been able 10
get in sympathy with it,, Well. as the subse-
time and had planned a regular clopement. At
the proper moment it selected a suitable stone
and ran against it with a jolt that threw my
friend from the saddle into the road with
such violence that he lay there insensiblc. Then
the rider with whom the bicycle had planned 10
elope came along, found my friend lying there,
proved himself a man who knew how to grasp
his, opportunity by taking my friends fine wheel
and leaving his own rattletrap in its place. and
then rode away. When my friend recovered
consciousness he, found a Ten. toll r wheel in
place OF his hundred dollar ungrateful beauty.
ma that was all there was to II. Now. II that
know what does"
Wheels dishonest Well, I should remark"
shouted the man in the black sweater with yell
low stripes, and he began talking about tho
cases he had known of wheels that had inIu,cd
men 10 steal them, to purchase them or the in.
staiiment plan and default on the paymen:A,
and to hire them and not return them.