The evening times., 1898-07-11

six or seven years .Prior to that time
most of the wheels used in this country,
especially the old ordinary. were made in
England the country that was regarded
as the home of the wheel. II now bears
that title no longer. -it~lost more than
this. There was a time when the Eng
lish riders held almost all the worlds
records in bicycling for long and short
distances, and now this glory is thing
of the past. The American riders have
lowered all Of the small distance records,
while the French riders and cyclists of
other parts of the world have taken away
the long distance records. leaving Eng
land with only small part of her pres
tige.
Up to little over decade ago there
were only six bicycle manufactures in
this country. with total yearly output.
of little over I0600 wheels. less than
the number which was imported annually
at that time from England. In the space
of eleven years the number of factories
in this country had grown from six TO
over so and in this last-named figure is
not included the small shops. From an
output of 11.000 bicycles annually in 1855.
the number increased close TO a million
wheels. The several hundred factories
having a capacity of 1.O0o wheels or less
a year. not included in the above num-
ber will swell the total output TO a full
million bicycles that were. made in. this.
country last year. Last season was un-
doubtedly the banner year fsE the ma n
ufacturers. The decrease in the price of
the wheels made it necessary to turn out
a larger number of machines in order to
make the profits equal those of the pre-
vious year. Though there was consider
able talk the season before last of the
manufacture of 1,e0o. 600, the total number.
fell far short of this figure. but last sea-
son. despite the depression in financial
circles. and the failure of more than one
concern. the total output Tor the year
amounted to fully a. milliap, bicycles
1t was only about six years ago that the
American capitalists s-recegnized~tl,e mon
ey in bicycles. and then there was stir
to compete with the imported wheels.
Seventeen factories were started, manu-
featuring l0.o00 wheels. and the sale Of
these had an effect uppn. the imported
goods from England. The success of these
pioneer factories encouraged others to en-
bark in the field. and the old ones to en-
large their plants. so-thHt four years lat-
er the output for the country amounted
to over 100, 600 cycles for that year In 1896
factories were built in all sections of the
country, nd the tai output for that year
was placed at G000t4- a. big jump from a
year before. And in the face of all this. II
is predicted that the totaf output this
coming season will far exceed that of any
previous year. Truly, il Seems as though
every able-bodied American will be riding
the bicycle within the next few years, and
not content with this the riding will
be general all over the world.
If all the wheels that were manufacture
ed in this country were sold within the
borders the percentage of the bicycle
riding population would be much larger
As has been stated, large proportion are
shipped to countries in all sections of the
earth The Treasury Department keeps
on record every bicycle that is exported
from this country. and though the re-
suits for the past year have not been
tabulated as yet. an approximation is CIV
en- of the value of the machines shipped
abroad. The tables are reversed, and the
lion has been bearded in his den. Instead
of England supplying US with wheels we
supply her. in spite of the fact that she
claims her factories exceed ours in point
of capacity and can supply the entire
world with wheels. if necessary. '7'os
The total valuation of the exported
wheels from this country last year is
slightly less than IS. 900, 600 and as the val
uation price is much less than the selling
price the number of machines Is much
larger than would be calculated. Eng
land took the largest share of the ex.
ports, the balance showing safes amount
ing to S,500.O00. while the French peo-