The globe-independent. (Hagerstown, Md.) 1943-19??, 1947-05-01
Horse And Buggy Days
BY IDA 10 MARTIN

In this weeks column am print
ing another letter which / received
from my friend Born Before the
Civil War" The letter tells about
Storms velocipede. Not only did l
receive the letter, but also draw
ing illustrating the vehicle.
Editors Note: We hoped to run
a picture of the veIOcipede, but un-
fortunately the pencil sketch was
too light to reprOduce).
Mrs. Martin,
1 am mailing you under separate
cover, a crude sketch of Solomon
Storms velocipede, as that is what it
was called about the year 1870.
In your Horse and Buggy column
a few weeks ago, you called it a
bicycle. The words "bi' and 'cycle'
had not yet been put together back
in the early seventies.
l was very familiar with that We
locipede as 1 tried to ride it, but
my legs were too short to reach the
pedals when they were turned down.
This velocipede was made entirely
of wood except the aXles, pedals
and tires, which were made of iron.
The wheels were about "a or 26
inches in diameter and one could see
the machine was made by good
mechanic.
Sometime in the seventies chill
drens three wheel, all metal veloci-
pedes came on the market and they
were advertised and sold as veloci-
pedes
About the year 1880 the high front
wheel bicycle came out and few
years later the low wheeled bicy-
cles came out and were called safe
ties as the rider could not take
header on them as you could on
the high wheel.
Solomon Stern bought up cotton
rags and was often seen riding along
the streets of Hagerstown with
sack of rags tied on the handle bars
of his velocipede.
The sack of rags he had bought
from some thrifty housewife and
when he had a wagonload they were
taken to the Antietam paper mill at
Security, to be made into white
printing paper.
In the early seventies he was al
ways known as Solomon Stein. Then
he went to Baltimore and came back
with beautiful Jewess for a wife
and called himself Solomon Stern.
His father was always known as
Solomon Stein, which l think was
his right name, for back several CEN
turtles ago in Germany the Jews did
not have names and the Court or
dered the Jews would have to adopt
names for themselves and suggested
that they take two objects and name
them together as names. Such OBJ
jects as hammer and stein which
made the name of Hammerstein,
Goldstein, Einstein, Goldsmith and
so on. Solomon Stein, butcher by
trade, was known by everyone
around Hagerstown as Gunner Stein
and his place of business and resi-
dence was on East Washington St.,
opposite the Potomac Edison build
ing.
He handled small stock such as
sheep, goats, calves and geese, and
in driving through the country buy
ing stock, he was as adept in driving
a close bargain.
In one instance he drove out the
Cearfoss pike to the toll gate and
paid 3 cents toll and said he was
going up the mud road. To the left
on the other side of the mud road
was an open woods. When he got to
the end of the woods he turned
right through the woods and came
back on the pike. When he came
back in the evening the toll man
said, 81 thought you said you were
going up the mud road?" Stein an
swered and said ,"Can not a man
change his mind?" He saved a
nickle by changing his mind.
On one occasion his wife Rebecca
and Stein had bad spat and Re
becca put on bright green dress
and started up Washington st. to go
up town to have him arrested. Guv-