Conclusion 311 



few persons cared to tussle with that clumsy machine. 

 This was followed by the high " ordinary," and a con- 

 siderable impulse was given to the new movement when it 

 was found possible to make a long journey with its 

 assistance, without undue fatigue. It was, however, an 

 impracticable mount for ladies, and was only suitable for 

 young, athletic persons, who did not regard a fall from it 

 as necessarily a serious accident. In its present form the 

 " ubiquitous bike " has become the common hack of every- 

 one from the highest to the lowest, and has supplied a long- 

 felt want in the happiest manner. Apart from the 

 pleasure of rapid travelling, it has placed a cheap mode of 

 locomotion within the reach of those whose limited means 

 preclude the expenditure involved in keeping even the 

 humblest pony and vehicle ; and it has come as a boon and 

 a blessing to hundreds of girls who formerly were con- 

 demned to pass their youth in the narrow sphere that was 

 limited to the extent of their own powers of pedestrianism. 

 A great change has taken place in coursing, and 

 although Altcar still keeps up its renown and high 

 character, in other localities recourse has been obliged to 

 be had to enclosed places, owing mainly to the scarcity of 

 hares, through the ill-advised " Hares and Babbits Bill," 

 fathered by Sir William Harcourt. The character of the 

 sport is necessarily altered, and there is little left of the 

 old charm that surrounded it formerly. When hares were 

 plentiful, many a large farmer kept his brace or two of 

 greyhounds, and was in frequent enjoyment of a merry 

 gallop after them, in company with a friend or two when 

 riding round his farm, and this naturally led to a local 

 coursing club, and the meeting of a few neighbours to run 

 their dogs against each other in friendly rivalry. The Bill 



