Little Falls weekly transcript. (Little Falls, Morrison Co., Minn.) 1894-19??, 1899-12-12
HE BUILT A WHEEL.
ERASMUS COVERED HIMSELF WITH
* GREASE. CRIME AND GLORY.

4 ERASMUS COVERED HIMSELF WITH
\ GREASE. CRIME AND GLORY. 7
Only to Find Ont In the End That It
Was Better to Leave bicycle Max,
ing to Those Who Were Profess
sionals In the Business. :F"
~ Erasmus q. Greene was q bicycle ia
matte. He could identify any one Of T3S
makes of wheel ut a glance and knew
just why the fScruggs wheel had 80
Epokes to the front wheel while the High.
aier possessed but IS. 2 49, .S.%3
He gave impromptu and unsolicited
lectures upon high gears, flush Joints and
crank hangers until his acquainsanccs
Weakened on him and greatly desired to
slay him. Ill ~f.. :
Also he was painfully fluent upon the
subject of professional and amateur rec
ords and the we'll known bicycle problem
-28 divided by teeth rear times ~
front equals So gear. 49, e...,a..y
Erasmus had it So badly that the doc
tors gave him up. -, ~,
In, one Of the "a basement storcrooms
appertaining' to the building wherein
Erasmus had his abode he had fitted up,
u ISpdlE sup anu cFCI duy VI ~ "Oulu
change the gear and color of his wheel,
bend his handle bars into, weird and I'M
canny shapes, change tires and add
inches to- his seat post until he became a
sort Of Ishmaelite among whcelmen and
was blackballed ut the cycling clubs. !:
But the possession Of the repair shop.
was boon to Erasmus. B.
It seemed to him that every time he'd
start of on a trip with his old "shack"
the said shack would loom up with a.
punctured tire, stiff neck, a twisted
spoke or some other Of the myriad ills to
which bicycle is heir. - 49,: I
Then Erasmus would humber down TO-
his repair shop, tinker awhile and come
forth redolent OF gasoline and covered
with glory and graphite.
Eventually. however, the frequency Of
this proceeding began to make Erasmus
tired. s.,.
He begin to- realize dimly that much
valuable time was being spent in, the
shop-time which might be better utilized
h admiring nature and pink shirt waists
h the parks -
So Erasmus concluded to build himself
4 wheel. He would do it all himself, and
no igpoble mechanic should have a finger
in it. d.,
EEdSNuuS u1SCOteIeU LudC IuC Q04ulSN0
parts Of a $50 wheel would cost $41. TO,
tires extra. 't
But Erasmus was enthusiastic over Ais
idea; also confident Of his ability. He
sailed in.
In about two weeks Erasmus, battered,
haggard and untidy, held in his hand a
new frame of late model, each separate
joint Of which was ornamented with a
lump Of spelter the size Of q cantaloupe.
Erasmus filed the spelter until he was
weary. then got out his old shack to glory
in the difference which would soon be his.
Every day thereafter Erasmus would
squat in his basement and file infnitesi-
NAL atoms of spelter off the frame with
q rasp.
An through the cool autumn evenings,
while others were wasting time in the
parks and on the lake front, Erasmus
could be heard seraping away in his
basement.
He paid no heed to time. He rarely ap-
peared at meals. During business hours
he would imagine that he was filing spell
ter, and his writing began to resemble
Irish thistles on a centerpiece.
During the cold winter evenings Eras-
mus, in chinchilla overcoat, would squat
in his repair shop, plugging away at the
spelter, with chattering> teeth and chap
ped hands.
At last it was over. The frame was a
dream of beauty. 1t had been sand pa
pered and polished until it shone.
The bluebirds were singing in the parks
and the park laborers were raking the
leaves to beat the band. The earth was
green and brown in spots. ,
Erasmus proudly shouldered his frame
and took it to the enameler to have it
painted sky blue, with yellow polka dots.
"What do you think Of - he inquired
of the enameler.
The enameler looked it over and squint'
ed down the tubes.
Its pretty near straight" he said,
"but believe if I We're you I'd have it
/ cut down."
"Cut down. exclaimed Erasmus an
grily. "What or, you blooming idiot!'
ITO make it up to date" answered the
blooming idiot. This here's last years
model"
Erasmus sat suddenly upon freshly
enameled bicycle and began to apply his
stagnant memory to dates.
Then he arose, shouldered his frame
and wendell his way toward his base
ment. :.
The tenants complained of the noise
next morning, and the old iron man paid
Erasmus little brother 20 cents for the
wreck. - :;
Now, when the subject of bicycles Is
mentioned in the presence Of Erasmus,
the cold, steely glitter-the glitter Of
hopeless insanity-in his eyes causes one
to drop the subject and begin to talk Of
golf or obiles.-Chicago Record.
Valuable Ground Won by a Ruse.
The convent of San Francisco de AS
siz, Lima, was founded on the same day
as the capital of Peru, in 1886. The
church was built in the year 1868. This
church has 26 affairs. and is the most
magnificent in Lima, both, internally and
externally. The affairs are extremely
rch and Of modern construction. :.
Connected with this church there is a
very curious historical episode. The first
site assigned to the father of the order.
Fernando de la Cruz, for. the Franciscan
convent, was outside the city and very
small. The friars applied to the viceroy,
the Marquis de Canete, for more suit
oblo ,Jooo op6 ho OCfarod to o;yo fhou,