Weekly independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 1887-1914, 1900-06-01
STEALING BICYCLES,
Smooth Schemes by Which Dealers
Are Victimized.
stories of Thefts by ite-
spectacle Appearing
Women Are Engaged In
the ThieviuE.

Whether bicycling in the long run is
cheaper than riding III street cars IL Is
certain that some persons OF unScrupu-
luus tendencies mukc money by ;itcir
cycling adventures. They are those
who make u practice of si,alinS hic.-
rIcs ard selling them for what they can
get. Four M five years ago. when the
price Of The cheapest wheels aiinoHt
curalCG THAT Of tie best III the market
to-iar. i':C bushes - Of bicycle stealing
was t.. y ia its infancy. Men VINO hau
engage! ~ Various ines OF crookcdness
soon ,.I>Vu,rrud that the demand for
wheels At Il low price furnished cNcci-
tinnal Inducements for ti,m tn make
bicycle s..E.irg a regular occupation,
and the TASTES they employed in order
To get possession of machines were
numerous and often extremely clever.
During the last ,wo years wheel
stealing has been carried on tn n great
er or less extent, but until this sum
MGR comparatively few complaints have
been heard from dealers and iEGivid-
ual riders. since 1896. The thieves have
lately started out again in great earn
~esincss. and their modes of operation
differ iii many respects from those pur-
sued formerly. Dealers tell some curl
| GUS stories of the way they have been
robbed by honest-looking and appar-
entity respectable persons who have
come TO their shops ostcnsibly to buy or
to- rem wheels.
Last week." said n dealer on The
West side, ~ young man Camc into my
| store and asked to see a new mans hi
cycle, with u 2i-inch' franc. lie said
that his own wheel did not :.."sr -.
~ and that lie desired !. ,,' !:''
one. He inquired my cas- -i' "r"'
of the best machines H. b.. oil, .u'
then decided that lac wen .li-,,.
change his old wheel fer lir one ",
were examining. Where j. your
whecl?' | asked. OF course | must see
it before ! can tell how much | will lie
able TO allow You forit.'
"'It's five or six doors up from here,
in n repair shop said my visitor. The
rcpaircr had one of the wheels off about
five minutes ago and WAS strengthening
the front fork. which ! bent n little in
an accident. II you will just step in
there for "a moment you can see it,
THE mans apparent honesty and
uncommonly frank expression OF
countenancc made me less suspicious
that ] would be generally. but ! had al
ready had some experience with
smooth-talking individuals. and made
up my mind ] would not be taken in 10y
them again. ! was alone in the shop AT
the time, but resolved. nevertheless. to
see il there was anything in the mans
gaIne So agreed to step over tn the
other place with him and take n look
at his wheel. When We arrived there.
instead of walking to the back of the
shop, where the Tepnir department
was. ] stopped purposcly about six or
. eight feet from the front door 10 look
at Il machine which. ] remarked. had
a very odd appearance. \ few seconds
later | walked II OF the shop. and as
] did So say n man rush into 'ny store.
When I got there he was Just coming
out With a new SIS bicycle and seemed
embarrassed when D." met me face TO
face.
81 was just seeing he" rua;ly this
wheel runs he exclaimc,' .n | con-
fronted him. If | can & ..., # my
w bike, I'll come bacl; g.. = or so
and buy this one. IL is
"'Oh, yes said !, it's ..fful ma
chine, but II you had g0' 81. outside of
this door when ] saw yCr.. vau bet I
would have your picture IL the rogucs'
gallery Ills explanation were pro-
fuse, but they didn't con,iicr me of his
honest intention. The fact is that he
was watching for mt 10 go into the
other shop. and the Omcnt | did so
he improved his oprnrt witty"
ave 4" not fcnr the men thieves
nearly so much ms we do the women"
said another dealer. III. for example.
a man omc in here 10 rent a Iicvclc
and we have any doubt as To his homes
~. we Hatly refuse "a let him have il,
Ru with ONE IL Is different. A
woman may come In all rugged out for
n spin and with her face covered with
smiles. She has been told that our
wheels are better than those in other
places II la wishes To hire one for n
couple Of hours. When we inquire her
address she gives one that IL n mile or
SO away-toO far. OF course. for lis to
send around there TO see IL il il genuine
adds that she is 50 and so and cx-
presses great surprise that we should
for n moment doubt her sincerity. We
tell her that II is against our rules to
let n wheel TO anybody we don't know.
and that we can scarcely make an cx-
ccption in her cnsc. Then she losses
her head. snaps her eyes. and declares
that the whole thing is absurd and that
she Is TO bc deprived Of n whole after.
Moons pleasure on account OF our
nbominablc system OF red tape. Under
such circumstances IL Is mighty hard
to deny the request, but we have 10 do
80. " we didn't. Il would lie only n
short time before our shop would he
In the hands OF n rcceivcr."-N. Y. Sun.