The evening times., 1898-07-11
THE BICYCLE INDUSTRY
Enormous Output Of Wheels in
This Country.
VALUE or MACHINES IN USE
WashiagtOn Has . Larger Percent-
age Of Whcelmen Than Any Other
City In the United stntes-somel
Interesting Statistics in Relation
to Cycle Riding.

One would undoubtedly be surprised to
learn of the number of, wheels there are
! in use In this country. The exact number
| is hard to tell because there are no
means at hand for securing the figures.
| The output of the American manufactu-
| rers cannot be taken as an indica ion. be-
cause a large part of the wheels manu-
factured in this country do not find a
sale in the United States. On the con-
trary. many are shipped all over the
world, going Into the remote corners of
the earth. and the cycling craze. the end
of which has been predicted over and
over again by many of the anti-bicycle
people. seems to be affecting all parts of
the civilized world. The tendency of the
time is for a means of rapid transit, and
the bicycle fills the bill Its price is
within the reach of all, and until some
thing better is discovered 1t will probably
not only manage to hold its own, but
still keep on increasing.
The total number of bicyclists in this
country is placed by conservtiye esti-
mates at 3,000 GOO. These figures are COM
piled from all sources. and are about as
correct as can be obtained. The esti-
ma. es vary and there are some who place
the number Of bicycles owned by individ-
uals in this country at the big figure of
4.O01 coo. OF third again as large as
the first estimate. 1t is admitted by all
in authority that the total number of
wheels in use in this country is between
the Two estimates, though, If the lower
figure is taken. the results are away be-
yond comprehension. And this, too in
the face of the fact that 1t does not rep
resent the total output of the American
manufactures.
With each wheel valued at 500. the
lowest figure of the bicycle population
would represeIt@-a total valuation of
s3e1. .oaa oca-. White if the second estimate
is taken into etSideration the total Is
Sufficient TO SRelk the above by another
slc0. .0E, 900. 4 Il might be thought that 4
value~of Sfap on each wheel is entirely
too Large, Autsif the matter is examined
into it- wfM not seem SO. Very few Of
the wheels sold on the market TO the
consumer or fider Tor less than 500,
than that. In fact these figures hardly
represent-ihe total-outlay, as there are
many riders vino buy wheels twice or
more a year. and they are not even given
a place. Allowing each wheel valua-
ton OF $50 to the consumer IL Is seen
tina; tbe-t0tal outlay for-ihe entire coun-
try by the first estimate equals $2iG 000,-
COO while for the second estimate the
sum would amount 10 $500. 600, ,e00. Even
these are b.g figures. and If the same
sum were. paid in one, hump ii would ma
;eri2lly reduce the national deb; of the
country. ..frsr-'-fI.s
In Washington. the capital of the ma
ton I" city recognized as a wheelman's
paradise on account of its miles Of good
smooth streets. there are estimated 10 be
4G00d wheelmen out of a population of
80, 900. This represents an outlay of
SiG5c0 in this one city alone for bicy-
cles. This is perhaps the best showing
of any single city in the country, but
there are other cities which will come
close behind it. With lis present popu-
lation the ratio is now one wheelman to
every seven of the inhabitants, and this
is about true. Everybody appears 10
ride in the Capital City, the young as well
as the old the men as well as the wo-
msn. Judging BY the number of girls
and old ladies on the streets al all hours
during the day a visitor would think
that the bicycle population was made up
entirely Of females.
According TO the estimates first given
the ratio of the bicycle population to the
total population Of the country is less
than one TO twenty-four. a number that
Is not eaualed by any country on the
face of the earth. This only shows the
progressiveness of the American public
and their adaptability to circumstances
Less than six years ago the safety BIZ
cycle was an almost unknown thing TO n
majority of the residents but during that
brief time the people have become used
to the silent steed, recognized its useful
ness and Sst=She seal of APPROVAL on 1t.
From a luxury il has grown to a neces-
sity, and is now used in almost all
branches of trade. If the feeble, the
aged. the young children and many of the
female population of the country be ex-
Guided from the calculation the ration of
the bicycling population to the population
suitable for riding bicycles in this coun-
try would probably be one to ten or per-
haps less--.s-f- -..-- ~a
Continuing s;Ile calculations still farth-
er, If the tubing used in all of the bi-
cycles in use in this country were stretch
ed out SO as 10 make one continuous
piece it would encircle half way around
the earth, at the equator. or would reach
across the Atlantic Ocean. from Liver
pool to New York nearly four times. This
is on the basis of twenty feet of tubing to
each machine. If the wheels were placed
one in front of each other. the rims
touching there would be more than
enough to span this country from New
York to San Francisco. forming one con-
tinuous line. Allowing 200 wheels for
each car 1t would take 1.5Gt cars to hold
the lot, which. if coupled together. would
make the longest train ever known. If
the handlebars were taken of and plac-
ed side by side. giving an average width
of eighteen inches, the line would ex-
tend for nearly S62 miles. If one man had
the job of pumping up the tires and al
lowing him one minute for each tire 1t
would take nearly seventy years to per-
form the job working continuously, or
the lifetime of two men practically.
1t has only taken ten years to accom-
plish this result. In fact it has only taken