The San Angelo press. (San Angelo, Tex.) 1897-1907, 1905-08-17
When ClOverdale Groaned

III Single DleSSetlIlcSB 10 inc age OF
forty five and was fairly well Off and
had opinions of her own.
Six o'clock supper had been eaten in
! Cloverdale, and the hens were thinking
Of going to roost, and the village cows
were coming home to be MIXED, when
a SILVER suddenly ran through the burg
A tow headed boy Of ten years was re.
sponslbe for the shiver. Aunt Sarah,
as she was known to all, had been
away visiting her sister for fort.
! night. She had now returned. She
had not only returned, but she had
come across the country from Grcggs.
vile Oh bike, and at that very mo.
ment the said bike was leaning up
! against the front Of her house in way
to defy public opinion.
! For some minutes the town was 50
/ taken by surprise that no one knew
! Just what to do. 1t was Uncle Reuben
| Phelps who soonest recovered from
| the shock and called an Indignation
meeting OH the steps Of the postolicc.
| For some time he was in doubt as to
whether to ring n fire alarm on the
church bells or build bonfire to call
out the town, but finally compromised
/ by making speech In which he con
| WINGED every nearer that the bulwarks
| Of morality were in danger aud that
! every citizen with sentiment in his soul
must arise 10 do battle.
! a committee Of five had just been up.
! pointed to proceed to the house of Aunt
| Sarah aud investigate, taking the tow
headed boy along as hostage, when
the woman they were looking for ap.
pearcd. She was on her bike. She was
wearing bicycle outfit, and she
whizzed so close to Uncle Reuben that
the wind caught his coat tails and
made them stream out like flags.
| Gentlemen" he remarked as he tried
hard to crowd back his emotions, "the
crisis has arrived, and the crisis has
got to be met. Let us meet 1t ut any
cost of blood and treasure"
Thercupon the committee let go OF
the tow headed boys hair and returned
TO the postOllice. Aunt Sarah was
there before them and cavortlng UP
and down and around on her bike.
Fifty men and boys looked on, but she
was not abashed. The silence of the
crowd was Ominous of displeasure, but
she smiled and giggled az she rode. 1t
was Deacon Nottingham who reached
the limit first and stepped out into the
street and burst forth with:
Woman. never expected to see this
day If you have gone crazy pity
you, but If you are here in your sober
senses-if this shameless exhibition
But at that moment the front wheel
Of the bike struck his knees and Slowed
him into the ditch and caused him to
forget the remainder of his perOration.
Then Josiah Green, on whose land
the annual camp meetings had been
held for the last twenty-five years and
who had always held that woman
who climbed over a rail fence instead
of through 1t was menace to founda-
tion principles, called for the cyclist
to stop her gambols and uttered
groan and began:
"When my wife died two years ago
| thought | could never be recOnciled
to her loss, but when now behold one
Of her sex wobblln' around on u wob.
ble"-
II don't wobble," interrupted Aunt
Sarah as she headed for him and drove
him out of the street.
"When | see one OF her own sex
wobbln' around on wobble"- contin-
ued Josiah from the sidewalk. But he
had only got that far when Aunt Sar-
ali dismounted and faced the crowd
and said:
This Ia womans wheel. l have
learned to ride. shall ride every
day. shall ride up and down every
street, and such Of you rs don't like It
can lump it,"
Groans of anguish followed her as
she mounted and rode away. and then
Uncle Reuben was called upon for am
other speech. He made one. He pref
aced 1t by saying that he was fifty-siX
years old and had passed through sew
eral epochs, but never before had he
been called upon to face such an epoch
MS this. As he stood there he could
feel the bulwarks Of morality and re-
spectabllity tottering to their fall.
1t had been predicted that the time
would come when women would climb
trees and turn somersaults off the top
Of haystacks, but he had refused to be-
lieve It, Now, however, he must be-
lleve. He must believe that unless
something were done they would go
| further.
Uncle Reuben wanted to close his re.
marks with few words on Washing.
ton crossing the Delaware but the
crowd had decided to appeal to Aunt
Sarah's pastor to bring her to book and
began to move Off. A dozen Of them
were ready to make charges and de.
mand that she be tried by the church,
but the smiling pastor waved them
aside and quietly said:
"In the first place, brethr0n, 1t may
not be unknown to you, though tenn
porarlly forgotten, that Aunt Sarah
holds n mortgage on our church for
| $3.50 and can begin foreclosure any
day, and in the next place, as my wife
and her sister have just gone over to