BICYCLING. 



"DOCTOR CHARLEY." 



Fremont, O. 



The " Boys" call him " Doctor Charley" 

 and smile. 



Had any fractures recently, Charley? 

 More smiles. 



Charley seems to enjoy the joke, more 

 than his tormentors. 



The incident occurred one night in July. 

 Beautiful harvest moon; 2 boys enjoying 

 an invigorating spin on the avenues of a 

 famous Ohio town of 10,000 population. 

 Rivalry exists as to the coasting qualities 

 of their respective bicycles and an oppor- 

 tunity offers; a grade inviting the contest. 



A fair start and each, well forward in 

 his saddle, making every effort to assist his 

 favorite mount. The contest over, Charley 

 in the lead and about to resume his pedals. 

 His attention is attracted to a passing 

 wheelman, in cycle costume, riding with a 

 genuine case of " beginners' wobbles." 

 The wobbler turns to right at a nearby 

 cross walk; wobbles off from walk; falls 

 from his machine, sustaining an apparent 

 serious injury. Charley has been a close 

 observer; and his unceremonious laugh, at 

 the misfortune of the wobbler, was quickly 

 changed to serious comment, when rider 

 did not at once arise from recumbent posi- 

 tion. 



Charley offers his services to the boy 

 stranger in distress, by asking hurriedly, 



" Are you hurt? " and, acting on the im- 

 pulse, stoops down, feeling for fractures 

 and contusions, meanwhile plying more 

 questions. 



" Better get up." 



" Must have knocked the wind out of 

 you. Gee! but you came down hard." 



Stranger boy asserts, repeatedly, " I am 

 all right." Charley steps aside and allows 

 him to walk demurely away, remarking: 



" Thanks. I think I can manage all right 

 now." 



Charley wonders who he is. 



" Said his name was Jimmy Smith. I 

 don't know any Jimmy Smith about here." 



" Seemed to act kind of queer, didn't 

 he?" 



After finishing our spin, and after the 

 conversation had changed from Jimmy 

 Smith, to racing, coasting, etc., I asked 

 Charley if he really saw anything strange 

 about Jimmy? Might it not possibly have 

 been a person of the feminine gender? 

 " Don't know. Do you think so? " 



" Yes." I had detected very small hands; 

 peculiar ring on finger and other indica- 

 tions pointing to the fact that our friend 

 Jimmy Smith was a " Lady Faire." 



Of course Charles was dumfounded; es- 

 pecially on account of his earnestness in 



searching for injuries on the person of — 

 Miss Jimmy Smith, a handsome girl of 18 

 summers. J. M. Lesher. 



WHEELING IN JAMAICA. 



Arthur Munson, a veteran L. A. W. 

 member, and cycling tourist, is spending 

 the winter in Jamaica, West Indies — that 

 isle of sunshine, fruits, flowers, birds and 

 bees. He writes that he is charmed with 

 the climate, the scenery and the island's 

 productions. The roads, especially along 

 the coast, which he has wheeled over some 

 hundreds of miles, are generally of lime- 

 stone and are kept in good condition. 



The East and North shores have more 

 rain than the West and South, which are 

 considerably warmer, also. 



Mr. Munson adds that tropical fruits, in 

 great variety are to be had, and many of 

 them are a source of surprise and pleasure 

 to the Northern visitor. 



Although frost never forms on the island, 

 the nights are cool and delightful, for 

 sleeping, and the days seldom too warm 

 for riding. 



It is well known that the finest cocoa- 

 nuts, bananas, oranges, pineapples, coffee, 

 cocoa, and a long line of tropical fruits 

 come from this pretty island in the deep 

 blue Carribean sea; and while many 

 Northern people come here, the wonder is 

 that more do not. Here you escape the 

 cold and discomforts of our Northern cli- 

 mate, a»d dream away the days and nights 

 in ecstasy. 



While it is true that many of the natives 

 overcharge visitors, and make all they can 

 out of them, they are, as a whole, a polite 

 and pleasant people with whom to sojourn. 



The Jamaicans consist of Creoles, blacks 

 and coolies. The latter are practically 

 slaves; being natives of India who are 

 brought here by the British Government 

 and hired out to the planters, at so much 

 a year, per head. 



The architecture of Jamaica is peculiarly 

 Southern. It is quaint and picturesque. 

 Visitors are sketching it, all the way from 

 the Governor's mansion down to the bam- 

 boo hut, with its palm thatched roof, of the 

 bushmen, out in the country and on the 

 mountain sides. And there are mountains 

 here, one peak rising to a height of 7,300 

 feet above the sea. 



THE CHANGE OF TIME. 



In overhauling some old papers recently 

 City Clerk Stewart came across an old pe- 

 tition addressed to the council of Jackson- 

 ville, 111., and signed by many prominent 

 citizens. The paper is not dated, but is 



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