The Waterbury Democrat., 1933-07-12
F IN III {:
 H NEW | . Il YORK
RY PAUL HARRIsoN


 New York - Little more than .
 month ago an entrepreneur named Bill Lewis was watching the gy- rations of Central Park roller skaters and remarking that fads certainly did run in cycles. First think you know, he said, people
 would be going back to bikes. Pondering the thought further. Mir Lewis recalled that Holly wood was already a'wheel Broadway show folk probably would take up the sport And here was Central Park, playground of hundreds of cyclists a couple of | generations ago.
 Convinced now that Opportunity was offering him 8 ride on the handIebars, Lewis dashed over to Columbus Circle, rented a store and ordered 50 assorted bicycles. He hung up e sign announcing that this was "The Bicycle Club" fitted out a dozen tastefully ap- | pointed dressing rooms, complete even to stores of liniment, adhe- sive tape and iodine, and hired three instructors. One of the lat ter is Frank Keene, a trainer of
 six-day bike races. Another is a. VetSrdu OL Lue Oiu mdhHdtSaA pr cycle Club, Bob Lawson, who re- members teaching Lillian Russell
 how to ride.
 A Cyclist at S2
 one of the first cusomers was a sprightly wheelman of S2, the famous c. V. Young, who once pedaled 26 hours in a race to Bos- ton against a relay of twelve horses. Socialites and Broadway people began coming to the place. and now the regulars include Helen Morgan, Ethel Norman, Lou Holtz. Ruth Fitting, Ted Lewis, Jock Ben- ny, Oracle Allen, Lita Gray Chap lin and Frances Williams. Jack Dempsey and Hannah Williams
 ride together, too.
 There are all kinds of bikes -
 low racers, a tandem, some Eng fish models, and couple of di- minutive ones used bly, a couple or 7-year- r-old twins from Park ave- nue. Nearly all of the women patrons change to shorts and dash away on mems wheels. Habitues of the gay-Way come early in the morning to work off hang-overs, and sometimes appear in the eve nings to settle speed wagers made ! in speakeasies. Lewis always tells them sternly that bars and handle bars are incompatible.
 Most proficient of his customers is Oracle Allen, who isn't a bit She's looking for @ bet that she l can't sit on the handlebars and ride clear around the park with
 out tumble. Lou Holtz is pretty good at tricks, too, but mostly Hikes to rent a racer and see how Hast he can go. Mrs Muriel Evans III and Mrs Bedell Harmed are the Social Registers best cyclists. iThey reserve the tandem for daily spins, and one evening started out bravely for New Haven, Conn.
 Three hours later, though, Lewis had a phone call from them.
 Seems they'd found rough going i'll the upper reaches of Harlem. had stopped off at the Cotton Club, and
 were sending the wheel back by a
 bewildered taxi driver.
 Casualties on Skates
 The skating fad rolls on ur,- labated, but not unabetted by lithe- limbed stage and society beauties.
 Irving Jaffe, the world champion lice skater who gets around now on
 ball bearings, estimates that at tleast 100000 New Workers are do-
 ing likewise.
 The busy Central Park police think that's a conservative esti-
 mate. Every day they assist
 about 1000 people to their feet,
 and send an average of ten to
 hospitals.