New-York tribune., 1900-08-26
BICYCLE AND HIGHWAY.
A GOOD ROADS EXPERT TAKES EX-
CEPTION TO JUDGE LATHROP'S DE
CISION-THE BICYCLES PLACE.

CISION-THE BICYCLES PLACE.
The Massachusetts, Supreme Court has reversed
a Judgment against the town of Danvers, obtained
by bicycle rider, woman, who injured in
consequence of alleged faulty condition of the
highway The town is gratifed by saving $3.50. and
all other towns incidentally pleased. Alexander
Schwalbach, of Brooklyn, prominent in the affairs
of the League of American Wheemen and the
Good Roads Association, takes exception to the
above in the following language:
1t has not been shown beyond dispute that the
town was in this really at fault, yet the de-
old story of the ne&pedency of attempting to give
reasons for judicial decisions. The law which de-
Massachusetts is venerable 1t requires cities and
that the same may be safe and con-
Venient for travellers, with their horses teams
when judge Lathrop declares the bicycle not car.
doaS ot ronan % 81 e. ~ - rtot s1Hc,. 49,
Of the law to those devices which were known to
example, having been one of the acts interfered
proUe the that h Gt to keep and
bear arms shall not be abridged, but 1t would be
of that time Is protected the largest meaning must
S S sS as o M rHF Whn the cas
mentioned. So If the carriage" of a century ago
shay none the less the term Cover new
sgGtons for carving PURPOSES te over yer common common
contrived driven
re, argue that bicycle is, at law, carriage
ago as 1877. when the Boston Custom House sought
TO collect the higher duty on II as "a machine,
it was decided at Washington to be a carriage
two the line Of judicial Interpretations have so
held it since As for quoting Murray, why not
mon sense definition of carriage that which
@ r V oyr tar sSd Sang or 4 II specag on
happy in his finding the bicycle more properly
was made twenty years ago by those who sought
in BroOayn to pag exclude ell & the new thing from the
nuisance Il is no carriage or vehicle at ALL
caI it a machine. They did so. but they, used that
rGr M q6o a0t for u while mar
nions nor handy, jnst as 'wheer means Sometimes
the whole structure and something's part Of it.
qulaI use OF an inaccurate one. under compulson.
In his statement Of the limitations of the bicycle.
which are claimed TO make 1t not a carriage be-
tons, Judge Lathrop seems to Indulge in special
@ f show IN order to the of D. S or
1ee6 m bicycle G & he says Is Of little use in vet
shman habituaily disregards rain and mud and
not. not all Americans are butterfly riders" The
pavement but II Il is legal carriage on the best
as 1t and O for any pnbe s
Largely at Present-but not wholly so, as legal
Time | % r5 i11 LafhFGp Laf 15p
a6 to cause ur2 m o he e 5ee' AND %ben b
| further argues by clear implication that to make
@ 6f the hrdp q SySs
pgb cd%d mo- more ndeake 70 that a Of h
piece of glass shall not lie in the highway long
stand shoulder to shoulder along the streets, for
s ease ala no eE hs 6op ao nG in
body dare ridicule by claiming that town should
& no carriage n law because i at present IS made
| Of the light pleasure wagon which has the same
Sy the framers q the statSe Se
are not suitable for Bcyces tha
and antan paths T dyey H ay GF Th
statute has provided for sidepath construction in
cost because better surfaces than the highways
separate Class Of Whees om oefe f9
is IN some ways benefit TO users Of each. But TO
right on the common highway which it tempora-
rily abandons when It can do better is plain
seQuitur. Because the boulevard drive to Coney
Island once used by the bicycle. is not well suited
upon either; If the argument of Judge LathTop
Harlem Speedway would be evidence that the light
L no legal eaage and nd hat the hire IRE
way need not be good enough to furnish it safe
Nor is the reference to the bicycle on the side
by courtesy ana a. no bV gpo opg to
IN BROOKLYN at least a baby carriage is Cor was)
being wheeled vehicles but NOBODY cares to "9{n en
force the ordinance there and the practice Of
The truth is that this Danvers case. like all
ticuar circumstances; that is. upon the nature ex-
tent and continuance OF the defect and also on the
not impose on either party the proper duty Of the
to be reasonably competent and to use reasonable
care and Judgment, with due knowledge and consid-
our city asphalt Is habitually marred with holes
worn here and there, and is cut up. frequently from
curb to curb. by guIlies caused by digging; these
are rarely. II ever. provided with warning lights
called dangerous # the front Wheel of bcxeIs
strikes one at too high speed It may be broken
or the rider may be thrown; In such case an action
jured person must first have used reasonsbie e dI
gence IN trying TO pass the obstruction, Whether
thus traversed with reasonable care was the ra-
incidentally be noted that hole which horse
and also that one which the latter might pass Is
capable of breaking horses leg.
Supreme Court appears to debar the Bicycle TideT
to % bad %hehep II al viii Tesf be b5 for
na5 nn III II ,oFi oFdge breaks under him he cannot main
his peril cannot say: yet that could hardiy he
more unreasonable than the relic OF SabbatarIan-
ism under which. unless it has been repealed
within few years. ugly mikman can in
Ma,ssachusetts smash up bicycle on Sunday il he
the day Of the week and bcyee Sn fe has r0aa nona on
9ne ellec OF tne decision may be to stimulate the
perhaps wiser may be to produce n demand for
bicycle AND With I'd the to tsss sSsa turs Of the
point cut asa as further defect in Judge Lathrop's
il we allow that the permanent type in oSnstrnc nor
tio2 has been reached and that the air tire viii
continue tnls is what nobody can say with GER
tainty; The bicycle Is essentially two wheeled but
hesd not be tandem It may become
and sfdena een to the rider
ties and changes which cannot now be foresae
All we we can an feel sure m q is that has come 10 stay
ths t desna nrs more 0F be satisfied with less than
vehicles in common and growing use - @"