BICYCLING. 



AN INTERVIEW WITH WHIT- 

 MAN'S SPIRIT. 



Spiritualism may be and probably is one 

 of the biggest frauds of the day; but it has 

 some good men among its followers, and 

 once in a while it produces a good thing. 

 The following pretended revelation, from 

 the spirit of Walt Whitman might easily 

 have come from the pen of the late poet: 

 Ernest Seton Thompson. 



"Oh, flying wheel! Oh, bicycle! skim- 

 ming lightly past the lumbering horses on 

 the crowded thoroughfare like a sucker 

 among the ice chunks in the creek, when 

 the spring floods are making it almighty 

 cold and rough! 



" Oh, little lacework of steel, rimmed 

 around with rubber! I've made up my 

 mind about you and I'm starting m to sing 

 your praise in one of my chants. 



" Not that I ever was on a wheel, or that 

 I care about that style of exercise; 



" Not because you have disproved a lot 

 of rot that the scientists talked, about ve- 

 locities, energies and ratios; 



" Not because you are taking away lots 

 of trade from the big hotel monopolies and 

 scattering it more evenly over the country 

 among the little wayside inns, as it should 

 be; 



" Not entirely because you are giving the 

 poor clerks and counterjumpers a chance 

 to see God's earth once in a while, as well 

 as those who care nothing about it; 



" But this is why • I am singing your 

 praise: Because what many great and good 

 men and women vainly gave their lives to 

 do, for the race, you have done in less than 

 10 short years. 



" You have given to women the right to 

 have legs, just as men have them; and you 

 are building up big strong loins and thighs 

 on those who will, in the next generation, 

 be the mothers of the nations." 



ON THE BOULEVARD. 



A sparkling April morning, 



A cycling maiden gay, 

 A happy speckled doggie 



That wouldn't get out of the way. 

 A girlish scream of terror, 



A wickedly wobbling wheel, 

 And then — the distant echoes 



Of a vanishing canine squeal. 

 Alas for the speckled doggie! 



None could his pace retard. 

 Alas for the cycling maiden! 



Asphalt is very hard. 



— Exchange. 



AS TO WHEELS, TIRES, ETC. 



Syracuse, N. Y. 



Editor Recreation: There are many 

 good wheels on the market, and many 

 poor ones that are supposed to be good; 

 so it is well for a man, in purchasing, to use 

 judgment, and not to depend on what the 

 salesman says. You will find riders who 

 ride a certain wheel because of its lines, the 

 color of its enamel, or because a certain 

 friend sells it, or some other cause that 

 counts for nothing. There are few riders 

 who select their machines solely for their 

 superior points in mechanical construction 

 yet these are what make a perfect riding 

 and easy running wheel. 



I have ridden ever since I was 8 years 

 old, and am now past 30. Being a me- 

 chanical engineer, and having designed 

 for several of the leading manufacturers, I 

 know a well made wheel when I see it. 



I favor no wheel on advertising grounds 

 but consider all of them solely on their 

 merits. During the past year I rode one 

 wheel 13,226 miles and had absolutely no 

 trouble with it. I used in all this time one 

 pair of Vim tires and had but 3 punctures 

 in these. 



I cannot speak too highly of the Vim 

 tires, and I sound their praises wherever I 

 go. They have served me well, on all sorts 

 of roads and in all sorts of weather. It is 

 true that toward the end of the season I 

 was forced to change my rear tire to my 

 front wheel, on account of wear; but some 

 friends who rode with me last season, and 

 who were several thousand miles behind 

 me, used 2 or 3 pairs of tires to my one. 



Tires are not always to blame when they 

 give out. Many riders are careless. They 

 use no judgment in keeping their tires 

 properly inflated or properly fastened to 

 the rims. There is also the scheming re- 

 pairer who does poor work and spoils tires 

 simply to get more work, and possibly sell 

 a new tire. If a puncture is such fcjiat you 

 cannot fix it yourself, send it to the manu- 

 facturers, and they will work to their own 

 credit. 



My choice of a saddle is the Brooks, 

 but a saddle is something each rider must 

 try. A saddle that fits one person may not 

 fit another. 



In all the years I have ridden, I have 

 never used a lamp, so cannot advise, but 

 the Bridgeport is a fine one, and has done 

 good service for many of my friends. 



E. W. G., Syracuse, N. Y. 



"Honesty is the best policy," — especially 

 for a man who wants to do business 2 

 years in the same place. 



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