Evening star., 1897-04-17
SOME CYCLE CHAT

La T. McEiWee OF 81. Louis, NO., VINO mas
been interested In the subject for some time
past To increase hts knowledge he Joined
century club. and while out on the road
was able to gain a good deal of infornia.
tfon. He gave the result of his observation
before recent medical society meeting IN
a paper which fully covered the subject.
He prefaced his remarks by an emphatic
statement that cycling is the best exercise
obtatnable for the general people. Among
other things he said:
Il have found that a great many riders
had noticed or complained of some kind of
| Inconvenience. also found a considerable
number who had no complaint to make; no
natter how long the run. Many at first
said they had not noticed anything, but
when pressed for details of how they felt
| after ride of ten or twenty miles learned
that all complained of chafing or irritation
of the skin where it came in contact with
the saddle. Inquiry was natural as to what
kind of a saddle those who complained rode,
and the kind used by those not complain
| Ing. 1t was agreeable to find that the sad
die l could ride without evil effects had
not occastoned Inconvenience and suffering
among others. 1t would be natural, there
fore. to ask what kind of saddle one can
ride for mile or a century without injury
or serious Inconvenience
The ideal saddle according to nv -ex-
perfence and observation, is one having an
unyielding base. with the cantle nose and
all In, one rigid piece. which in turn rests
upon the spring. The top preferably smooth
ana SO tapering from behind forward as to
comfortably adapt itself to the conformity
OF the rider and broad enough so that both
tuber ischfi can rest upon it and have room
On either side to spare. The top should
have an elliptical fenestra through that
part of 1t that will be Immediately under
the neck Of the bladder when the rider is
IN position, the purpose being refrigeration
and the prevention Of chafins. A remark
able coincidence is that this is modelled
aIter the principle of the old Mcclellan
army saddle-an unyielding base with u
smooth top and ventilated perinaeum
with this construction one can sit in
any position On the saddle at will and ride
with absolutely no fear of injurious pres
sure, unless one gets too far forward The
! Intithes1s an OF the saddle mentioned is cas-
Iiy recognized. First negatively because
| 1t VIII rot correspond with the above de-
scriptlon, and. positively, because 1t is
Vagrant-draWing no visible means of
support The ingenuity Of the bicycle ar
cnltect seems to have been largely spent
IN d1vestfng the saddle of every element
OF 1ts makeup except top and spring, the
result being after 1t has been ridden q
n wnlle II resembles a sway-backed cart
morse, having sides quite as gaunt, and,
wnen astride Of is about as comfortable
as ships cable In fact, one does not
roe uron the ordinary bike saddle, but
mere merely @ rides astride Of it. The deduction
from this is that there is no bicycle sad
Gle proper to ride for any length of time
except a hard saddle. The others are
classed under the general head of "soft,"
dies. In order for even these to be ridable
they must be blown up very hard, and the
original point Is sustained
One must become accustomed to a hard
saddie tne same as one must get accus-
toned to riding e horse. and after the
Chatting incident to that is over there is
| no further trouble. This seasoning process
must be gone through with and is the
DT1Eci iDaI objection he he r1
the chief reason why they are not univer-
sally ridden. The soft saddle Is seductive
and mostly favored at first, because of a
lack of chaf1ng, but one learns sooner or
later that it's sting is in disguise, for 1t
will surely be manifested IL ridden long
enough. 1t allows the weight of the body
10 rest upon the perinaeum, and though
the skin does not complain the continued
pressure Injuries all the delicate structures
subadjacent to it and permanent injury is
the result, though it may not be apparent
at first
The address delivered by Judge Thayer
on good roads before the Iowa Bankers
Association has been printed in full by
the Department OF Agriculture. and sent
all over the country. as one of the best
arguments in support of improved high
ways ever delivered. TT is an inside figure
to put the amount this country annually
contributes to the mud fend at $3.50 000,-
Co., said he, "of which amount Iowa pays
at least SS.OO0,O00. 4 total loss. Mud does
not give back anything to anybody. There
Is nothing reciprocal about it. 1t is a loss
complete. absolute, and irrecoverable even
in part. A man loses thousand dollars
by his house being destroyed by fire, but
somebody Is benefited by that loss. In
building, the sawmfIl, the sash and door
manufacturer, the carpenter, the painter,
and the plumber find market for material
and labor. II a bank discounts a note
which proves worthless. the money, while
a loss to the bank, goes about on it's mis-
sion and is a loss without Snmah0dv'S
gain. Mud knows neither friend nor foe.
In the natural organization of matter mud
may have place, but that place is not in
the read.
1.-The whole country Is aroused as never
before over the subject of better roads.
The necessity for such improvements is
everywhere admitted. No one says nay.
Public sentiment having become settled on
this point the agitation Of the question may
now be directed to some feasible plan for
obtaining money to make good roads. The
road tax has been doing its work ever since
civilization taught mankind how to use the
shovel and the hoe. But the road tax has
not made much headway in making perIna-
nent roads. 1t has made more mud, but
few better roads. 1t is idle now to even
seek to place the blame anywhere. 1t mat
ters not who is at fault The road tax is
all right. and 1t is the equitable method Of
raising money for road purposes. diff
ferent plan Of finance Is what wanted.
Not more taxes. Not more money.
MY plan would be to borrow money on a
longtime bond at a low rate of interest and
use the taxes to pay the interest and prin-
cipal. To do this great many people will
have to conquer their prejudice and listen
to a kind of reason and argument that they
turn from now with a solemn shake Of the
head and the exclamation: No bonds, IL
you please, and no debt for road building
But this plan of anticipating the payment
Of road taxes to obtain the means of build
ing roads does not depend entirely bof-
rowing money Of the government. 1t can
be borrowed Of capitalists and associations
engaged i'll loaning money. though the ina
bility to borrow on long time at low rate
of interest might reduce the number of
miles Of road a township may at one time
undertake to build. The plan, however, re-
matns."
In San Francisco cycling has won great
popularity. The people are not only wide
awake. but the corporations also. The
street car companies have provided car
rier for bicycles on the rear platforms. The
accommodations are in their infancy, ard
so far only two wheels can be placed on a
car at a time. For this privilege the wheel
men are required to pay an extra fare, but,
the cost is nothing to rider whose ma
chine is broken down. and who would 9TH,
erwise be forced to piod several miles
pushing the disabled silent stesd. rms .