Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1898-10-15
WHEELS IN GERMANY.
Those of American Make Are Crowd
ing Out the Rather Clumsy
Native Article.

1t is surprising fact that the BIZ
cycle has made its triumphal entry in
Germany so quickly. Surprising be-
cause the Germans, generally speak
ing, are not quick in taking to novel
notions. Yet over here the craze for
the wheel is about as great and as
widespread as in America. Judges and
generals ride it. l have seen men of
10 or more riding wheels in the pub
lie streets. Even the university pro-
fessors use cycles. Among those, for
instance, who regularly come down to
their lectures at the Berlin university
on the bicycle are such professors of
note as Delbrueck. Jastrow, Hensel,
Graef, Won Wenckstern and others.
And the women, too, have taken it
up with a vengeance. Two years ago
1t was not deemed the proper thing
for lady of social standing to be
seen publicly on a wheel, and the pa
pers INDUCED in gibes and filings at
their expense. Now, however, it is diff
ferent. Ladies of the highest strata
of society ride their wheels with per-
feet unconcern-nay, with public APP
probation-especially since the Ger
man physicians have come out strong
iy in favor of such exercise for women
and girls. OF course the question of
how to dress properly when on the
wheel has cut-in fact, still does
quite a figure in the public mind.
Boomers, no matter how cut, were ta-
booed, and those ladies who defied pub
lie opinion in that respect were more
or less ostracized. OF those who now
ride the wheel, in Berlin, for instance
(where there are, according to the po-
lice returns, some $4,000 cycling wom-
en), about nine out of every ten wear
the divided skirt. An amusing feature
was the series of bicycle races got up
on one of the large race tracks here
for women exclusively, with the sole
end of deciding for once and all the
question which costume is the most
becoming and decent for reputable
women on the wheel. The contest
came off one Sunday. There were some
30 female competitors, all in different
costumes, and the umpires had to de-
eide which were the best dressed for
the occasion. AS the umpires, in their
majority, were of the male persua-
sion, it is, perhaps, needless to men
tion that the young woman who got
the first prize and whose costume was
decided to be the most becoming was
the prettiest one, and that she wore,
sure enough, bloomers. or, as the Ger
mans term them, 'pumphosen." The
other ladies, attired in severer garb,
were, naturally enough, correspond
ingly disgusted.
1 ought to mention, too, that the
American bicycle, despite its higher
price. is gaining more and more in
popularity in Germany, even in the
face of the desperate resistance made
by the German manufacturers. And
there has been this spring and sum-
mer something like crisis in the Ger
man bicycle manufacture. Some of the
best-noted German firms had to reduce
their output, as there was not enough
of demand for their goods. That has
been, for instance, the case with the
Corona bicycle works in Brandenburg
and a score of smaller establishments
had either to shut down entirely or
else to wind up their business.-Wolf
Won Schierbrand, in Chicago Record.