The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1899-08-19

have ever been made with regard to tins
lives of wheeimen. l venture the
assertion, however, that If such records
should ever be taken, other things being
equal the wheeman would be found tc
live longer and happier and better than
the man who does not use the Wheel
Much has been written and published
pro and con about the effect OF the Dl-
cycle on health, both in England and in
other languages, but those VINO obJec'
to its use, as it seems to the writer
argue either from want of experience OF
from exceptional cases.
If, for example, the records of any
/ large accident insurance company are
examined at the present day certain
percentage Of accidents is found to be
charged to the bicycle. But this ratio
should be considered in connection with
the number of persons who ride and the
number of miles ridden. If, then, we
consider the millions and millions OF
miles which are ridden daily and the
billion or more yearly, the accident ratio
falls to an almost infinitesimal traction.
For every person who has incurred a
serious bicycle accident there are I'M
doubtedly hundreds who have never
had an accident of more than trivial
Importance.
The general effect, then, has been
beneficial We use the term public
health in a general sense. So far as
the bicycle is concerned the public
health means the aggregate of lndivid-
ual health, What then, are the causes
of the good effect of the wheel on the
health Of the rider?
| l. The indueement which is offered
to spend an hour or more every day in
| open air in good weather Outdoor
air, when compared with indoor air, is
more conducive to health, and the man
whose occupation or recreation leads
him to spend a part of his time in the
open air Is in general better fitted to re-
sist the inroads Of disease than one who
leads an indoor, sedentary life.
2. 1t furnishes an excellent form of
llealthful, muscular exercise. This ex-
ercise is mainly of the lower limbs and
the lower part of the trunk. If uni
form exercise is desired for all muscles
of the body the use of the wheel may
be supplemented by the addition of
dumbbells, Indian clubs and some of
the simple forms of apparatus now
much muse in the shape of elastic cords
3. 1t has been specially useful to
women in leading them to open-air
exercise and the abandonment of the
worst foe of the female sex-the corset
There are certain contra indications
to the use of the wheel which should
be noted Persons who suffer from
serious organic heart disease ought not
to ride except upon level ground and
for short distances. The exertion of
riding upon level ground is much less
than that of walking. But that of
hill climbing is greater than that of
walking uphill, the difference depending
upon the steepness Of the hill.
There are, however, / am confident,
some forms of heart disease which are
benefited by the careful and regular
use of the wheel 1t is advisable for
any who has any form Of disease Of the
heart to consutta trustworthy physic-
ian with reference to the propriety Of
learning to ride.
Persons with advanced consumption
of the lungs ought not to ride, but in
cipient consumptives or those who sut-
fer from chronic bronchitis will un-
doubtedly be benefited by the use of the
wheel, since it furnishes to them a mode
of treatment which is specially useful,
viz: open-air exercise; matter of
equal Importance with good food and
nursing. am confident that the BIZ
cycle has proved to be one of the means
by which the steady reduction in this
disease in recent years has been pro-
NOTED.
Jt,,,- p oinI tfl ;.
the use of the wheel by children
Parents should exercise careful super 1
vision of their children in this matter
in order that the young and rapidly
growing child, the bony structure of
whose limbs is not fully developed
may not use the wheel to excess
Again, it very often happens that a
child is allowed to ride a wheel which
is not adapted to his size, and is either
too large or too small. Every day
we see boys riding wheels which be-
long to older brothers or sisters, and
not upon the saddle but astrIde
the bar in front of the saddle, the toes |
even then only touching the pedals at |
intervals, and the body swaying this |
way and that in most awkward man
ner. Such practice is liable to do !
serious harm to the rider, since the BIZ
cycle should be fitted to the rider as
much as a shoe or suit Of clothes.
The harm that accrues from bicycling !
is as in all other forms of exercise, |
that which is due either to careless or
excessive use of the wheel There can |
be no reasonable objection to racing |
under proper conditions but words cam
not too strongly condemn six-day races, |
and it is fortunate that some states
have enacted laws which prohibit them.
Notwithstanding these objections,
| have no hesitation, therefore, in saying
that the wheel has proved and will con-
tinue to prove a blessing to the human
race To the merchant, to professional
men, clerks who sit all day at their
desks, tired saleswomen, artisans, me-
ohanics, laborers who desire to reach
their morning work more promptly, and
to return home in season at night the
wheel is an incalcuable source not
only of pleasure, but also of utility.
DIR S w A bbOtt in Boston Globe,