The Reign Of The Bicycle

What inay be Called not impropcrly the bieycle passion lias full pos.sossiou )t' several leadinsrcountriea of the world. Sngland and Franco, notnbly those jarts of them in and a bout London and Paris, havo been so giveu over to it tor soine time that a large proportiou of their population come and go on theit errands of business or ple.asurt? on a whoel. Americana who have recently travelod abroad have been astonished at the general use of the bicycle there uid have been still more astonished on returning to their own country during he past year to discover what headway he passion had made here. It is said , ;o be a conservative estímate by 1 tent authorities tliat during the year ïow cloping 250,00o bicycle.3 have been sold in this country, and that the i jer of riders approaches 1,000,000. fhero aro sjüd to be over 50, 000 in New York and its neighborhood and fully lalf that number in and a bout Boston. The latter city oaught the passion f rom Europo soma time before New York did and lias n larger proportion of lts popu'ation, malo and teníale, regnlarly devotcd to it. Observers of tho phenomenon are wondering whether it is merely a passing wiiim or whether it has come to etay, whether those who have taken it upwill continue it af ter the novelty has woru off or whether they will drop it For the next uow fad that hall como along There are many reasous for thinking that its stay will be permauent. Uüdonbtedly mauy of those who take it up beoausa of its vogue will tire of it after a white, bnt these will not constitute a large proportion of the whole nunibiT. The great body of riders find in the bicyelo a new pleasure in life, ;v means for seeing more of the world, a source of better health through open air exercise, a bond of comradeehip, a metliod of rapid locomotion either for business or pleasure and many other eujoyments and advantafies which they will not relinquish. The bicycle has, in fact, become a uecessary part of modern life and could not be ftbandoned without turning the social progress of tho world backward. Few who have used it tor a tour through the country would think for a moment of giving it up and returning to pedestrianism instead. Aside from the exhilarating joy of riding, which every bicyelo ilevotee will assure you is tho uearest approach to flying at present possible to man, there isthoopportunity of seeing a constantly changing landscape. Tho bicycle is indeed the great leveler. It puts the poor man on a lovel with the rich, enabling hini to "sing the song of tho opeu road" as freely as the millionaire and towidenhis knowledge by visitiug the regions near to er far from nis home, observing how other men liva He could not afford a railway jonrney and sojourn in these places, and he conld not walk through them without tiring sufliciently to destroy in a measure tho pleasure which he sought. But he can rido through 20, 30, 50, even 70 miles of country in a day without serious fatigue and with no expense save his board and lodging. . To thousands of men and women the longing of years to travel a little as soon as they could afford it is thus gratified, virtually without a limit, for a "little journey in the world" can be made on every