The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1899-1900, 1899-06-21
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THE nIoYcLERs DID IT.

"Why am l out of job?" repeated
the motorman with catch in his voice
and a nervous look around. "Well
that's dead easy of explanation. / got
the bounce from headquarters, and !
don't imagine 1 shall ever turn on the
current again. If l was offered my
place back tomorrow I'd hold it ove'
for awhile"
Have too many collisions?" was
askeu.
ut was the bicycle folks who brought
about my downfall" he sorrowfully re-
piled. "But for them I'd be on the
front platform right now and feeling as
clipper as you please. The climax had
been slowly coming for two years, and
I'm glad it's over. got along all right
with all the teams and all the pedes-
terians, but the bicyclers were my bane,
as they are the bane of every other
motorman. They kept at me till my
nerve petered out and | could no longer
make time on car. Lord! but how |
have suffered"
Being asked hoy many bicyclers he
had run down, he mopped his face with
his handkerchief and replied:
II have never touched one, and that's
the singular part of it. 1t was the
dozen close shayes day for every day
in the week, without about 90 on Sun
days. l believe have come within an
inch of running down about so riders,
and 500 times | have had my heart
jump into my throat and almost suffo-
cate me. You see, the average bicycler,
whether man, woman, boy or girl, don't
give flip for anything on wheels.
They'll take chances to freeze your
blood and depend upon luck to get
through. I've been humping my car
along at IL miles an hour, and had 90
riders come whirling out of side street
and cross in front of me. 1t was as if
the devil was after them, and rather
than put on the brake, they'd let me
come so nigh grinding 'em under the
wheels that my hair would curl for
hours. I've had 'em run slap into the
side of the car a hundred times over,
and always through their own care
lessness, but / never run one down."
"And all this has shattered your
nerves?"
Say, old man, watch that hand for
minute! It's all a-tremble, and I'm
feeling all the time as if somebody was
going to hit me. That's a case of
nerves. You see, the close shaves / bad
by day always made me dream at night.
Lands alive, but the number of BIZ
cyclers I've run down in my dreams
would count up a thousand! I've seen
corpses and blood-spots and broken
wheels until l awoke with yell and
wanted to run away. l don't believe
there has been a night in the last six
months that | haven't picked up rider
in my dreams and heard 'em yell out as
the wheels ground over 'em, and I've
had visions too horrible to tell of. All
last week | was behind time. Every
time l got up speed / grew afraid of
running somebody down. The conduc-
tor scolded, the passengers kicked and
the manager gave me "a hours to get
my nerve back. On my very first trip
yesterday morning licked the hind
wheel of a bike with my cow-catcher,
and after that went all to pieces.
Maybe a lay-off for a few weeks will
bring my nerve back, but if it don't I'll
go to driving an ice wagon. They are
the only things on wheels bicyclist
will turn out for, and if they happen to
run over anybody there's no great fuss
made about it,"