Chapter III: Part 3

Among the most popular velocipede schools in New York city, are those of the Pearsall Brothers, corner of Broadway and Twenty-second Street; Hanlon Brothers, corner of Broadway and Tenth Street; Calvin Witty, 638 Broadway; Mercer & Monod, No. 3 Williams Street; and Barber & Pendleton, corner of Broadway and Forty-seventh Street.

The Pearsall Brothers formerly occupied prominent and lucrative positions with Messrs. Gurney & Son, photographers. They foresaw the future popularity of the velocipede, and abandoned photography for velocipeding with immediate success. They opened the first school in New York, and have the names of some five hundred or more pupils on their lists. They have a velocipede ware-room under their hall.

The Hanlon Brothers, well-known as gymnasts, have the reputation of being the best riders in the country. Their hall is the largest in New York, and is furnished with twenty-five first-class machines. They lately gave a “Velocipede Reception and Hop;” and exhibited many graceful and daring feats upon the bicycle; afterwards other gentlemen also gave proof of their skill, among them, Charles A. Dana, Editor of the “New York Sun,” who is an expert rider.

The largest and most popular school in Brooklyn is under the direction of Mr. A. C. Burnham. At all these schools, velocipede receptions and exhibitions are of almost nightly occurrence, and create much interest.

Messrs. Crawford & Co., of Philadelphia, have a large school, corner of Eighth and Callowhill Streets, where they use a velocipede of their own construction, in which the rear wheel is used as the guiding wheel.

Messrs. Mercer & Monod, of New York, have a flourishing branch school in Philadelphia.

The Pearsall Brothers have one in Detroit, Mich., and another in Chicago, Ill. The large Zouave Hall in Chicago, under the direction of Geo. D. Miles, has become a noted velocipede academy. The Nicholson pavement, much used in Chicago, is admirably adapted to this kind of propulsion, and the riders soon leave the rinks for the streets. Chicago hails any invention of a fast nature, and the velocipede has already become a practical institution there.

There is no place where the velocipede _furore_ has developed more rapidly or to a greater extent than in Boston. There are over twenty schools and rinks in the city; and no less than eleven on Washington Street, between the Old South Church and Chester Square. The first school in Boston was opened by S. T. Derry of the firm of Wm. H. Sargent & Co., at 155 Tremont Street. At this school the course of instruction is thorough and complete, and all pupils graduate experts. Six different sizes of French pattern velocipedes are used, and the scholar is advanced from one to the other, according to progress. Though this is a private school, there are the names of hundreds of graduates upon its lists. Mr. Derry is an accomplished teacher. He has several other schools under his charge, and has made arrangements to lease the Skating Rink for the same purpose.

The first public rink opened in Boston, was near Bowdoin Square (No. 7 Greene Street), and has been deservedly popular. The proprietors have had branch rinks in Cambridgeport, Brighton, and other neighboring towns.

The fashionable Horticultural Hall was transformed into a first-class velocipede academy for a limited time. This academy was provided with coat rooms, dressing rooms, and other conveniences; and with seats and accommodations for ladies. Tournaments and races here followed each other in rapid succession.

Among the other popular rinks in Boston, are those of Kimball Brothers, 113 Court Street; Walter Brown, 179 Court Street; Horace M. Sargent, Boylston Hall; Macy & Butler, 90 and 92 Tremont Street; at 334 Washington Street; at Arlington Hall; and at Riddle’s Carriage Repository, Haymarket Square.

The two best and largest rinks in the United States are to be found at Harvard Square, Cambridge. One of them has twelve thousand square feet of floor, and twenty-five good machines. The other, built by Mr. John C. Stiles, is in the form of an amphitheatre, and has a circular course of a little less than an eighth of a mile in length. Only part of the track is under cover. At night, this rink is brilliantly lighted, and the scene is at once novel and inspiring. Scores of riders rush madly after each other at break-neck speed, round and round the arena. We have seen an expert whirl over the course in seventeen seconds, which is nearly as good time as any recorded abroad, and better than any heretofore made in this country. The students of “Old Harvard” crowd these rinks; the billiard halls and other places of resort are deserted, and all are eager votaries of the fascinating art.

“WHERE SHALL WE RIDE?”

But one thing is likely to interfere with the bicycle campaign in our large cities and towns; and that is the difficulty of finding suitable places to ride in. Our latest hobby is already ridden with remarkable fury in the streets, and will continue to be so, by those who make the machine a means of utility. Foot passengers, however, claim the sidewalks as their exclusive rights; and will hardly be pleased to feel in perpetual terror of--

Bicycles right of them,
Bicycles left of them,
Bicycles front of them,
Rolling and tumbling;

and those who ride for amusement, are anxiously looking for suitable places, where they can do so without annoyance to passers, or being interfered with by them; where they can see and be seen; and where their skill can be admired.

But velocipede tracks are now in preparation. Race-courses will be free to the bicycle, velocipede stables will open in their vicinity, and the proprietors will rapidly line their pockets. All the skating ponds will be metamorphosed into velocipedariums and velocipede rinks. These will make capital exercise grounds, where numberless riders can make their graceful curves to the music of a good band; and where, in hot summer weather, they can be protected from the sun by awnings. The large parks will be open to velocipedestrians.

It has been currently reported that the Commissioners of Central Park, New York, have prohibited the driving of the bicycle there; but the rumor is without foundation. No such interdict will be issued, unless the blooded horses object to the novel machine, by running away. Well-bred horses, whether thorough-bred or not, already manifest no emotion at the sight of the vehicle. Without doubt, the Commissioners will yield gracefully to the public demand.

In New York, a project has been advocated of building an elevated railway, from Harlem to the Battery, to be used only by velocipede riders. On such a railway, thirty feet wide, and with a flooring of hard pine, it would be possible to go from one end of Manhattan Island to the other in about an hour, making allowance for delays, from stoppages and accidents. A good rider, with a clear track, could easily accomplish the distance in half an hour; but, with a well-filled road, progress would necessarily be slower. In Prospect and Washington Parks, Brooklyn, the bicycle votaries are allowed the same privileges as equestrians. Many of the level streets of that city, with the Nicholson and concrete pavements, furnish a capital surface for the velocipedestrians, and are great resorts. It is even said, that the benign City Fathers propose to bridge the gutters for their accommodation.

The residents of Boston will find good riding grounds, easy of access to the city, on many of the smooth roads of its beautiful suburbs.

Philadelphians can ride the velocipede on their straight, level streets. We know of no place so admirably adapted to the bicycle, as Broad Street, Philadelphia, with its miles of Nicholson pavement.

VELOCIPEDE RACING.

Another feature of the velocipede campaign, will be races against time, and contests of rival riders. Fast and slow races for money, silver cups, and other prizes, follow each other night after night in most of our rinks. All the race-courses will be used for this purpose. A provision for this sort of sport is in progress, at the Capitoline Ball-ground, Brooklyn, where in May a half-mile track of smooth hard road-way will be ready. The managers of the Prospect Park Association, of the same place, have made arrangements to signalize their first spring meeting for 1869, with a grand velocipede tournament; at which prizes amounting to $1,500 will be given for the best time, to the winners of a series of races. These races will be governed by a special code of rules, which will include handicapping for weight of machines and riders, diameter of driving wheel, and extent of treadles. There will be first, second, and third prizes for the greatest speed; prizes for the best time made; and prizes for slow riding. This tournament will afford, not only an excellent opportunity for the display of skill in American velocipede riding, but also a fair chance to show off the merits of the different styles of machines. It will create an excitement, and it is anticipated that many thousand people will be present.

The proprietors of Riverside Park, near Boston, also intend to inaugurate a series of bicycle contests on their course during the ensuing summer.

At the last annual meeting of the Housatonic Agricultural Society of Berkshire County, Mass., a vote was passed, offering premiums for bicycle races, at the next exhibition and fair.

Velocipede races are now a feature of the French turf meetings. These are less cruel, and more attractive and exciting, than running horses under whip and spur. In the suburbs of Paris, a race of this kind is especially interesting. The village in which it takes place is in holiday guise; banners flaunt gaily, and eagles, wreaths, and flowers are to be seen in every direction. The mayor is usually present, with a red, white, and blue scarf, his badge of office. The riders wear jockey caps and silk jackets, and at the moment of starting are drawn up abreast. The fair sex mount their chairs, wave their hands, flourish their handkerchiefs, laugh, and scream with delight as their favorites start at the signal. In spite of the exertions of the _gendarmes_, the crowd closes in behind the contestants, who are soon lost to sight. In a few moments, however, distant shouts and cheers announce the return; and the crowd opens, to allow the passage of the victor, who passes the winning-post amidst great applause.

The fastest time which has thus far been made in France, was one mile in two minutes and fourteen seconds. There is a record also, of two miles having been made in four minutes and fifty-six seconds. This extraordinary speed was attained on a perfect track, with large-wheeled machines.

Among the velocipede wagers which have had place in our newspapers, we mention one or two of the more remarkable. It is said that a Providence pedestrian and rope-walker is to commence, on the first day of June next, the unparalleled feat of propelling a velocipede of his own manufacture, a distance of three thousand miles in thirty days, averaging one hundred miles per day, for a wager of $5,000. During the trip, he is to ride the velocipede one hundred and fifty miles in twenty-four hours, and one trial only will be allowed.

Two New York gentlemen have wagered $1,500 a side to ride from New York to Chicago. Articles of agreement have been drawn up and signed with a forfeit of $250 each.

VELOCIPEDE LITERATURE.

Until very recently, velocipede literature has been confined to some few magazine articles, editorials in scientific, illustrated, and other newspapers, and various and constant newspaper squibs.

Now, however, the velocipedestrians have a novelty in a paper of their own, which has made its appearance in New York. It is to be published monthly by Messrs. Pickering & Davis. It is a quarto of eight pages, and is entitled “The Velocipedist.” “The object this paper has in view, is to record everything of interest in the velocipede world.” It is edited by W. Chester King, late of Athens, Greece, whom Horace Greeley, in the “Tribune” of February 1st, 1869, justly styles a “brilliant and accomplished young litterateur.” This young gentleman has distinguished himself, in a marked manner, in various branches of journalism; and “in velocipede literature he is as far ahead of his contemporaries as, in Virgil, Tityrus tells us, Rome was in advance of other cities.

‘Verum hæc centum alias inter caput extulit urbes
Quantum lenta solent inter viburna cupressi.’”

VELOCIPATHY.

THE VELOCIPEDE FROM A MEDICAL STAND-POINT.

The vast majority of people are almost wholly responsible for their physical condition. Bodily strength and sound health, like mental accomplishments, are the results of cultivation; and the greater part of mankind can as easily obtain them, as they can acquire a knowledge of Mathematics in school or college.

Let any one place, side by side, the closely confined student or clerk, and the man who has paid special attention to his physical culture. Compare the pale or sallow face, the flat chest, the narrow, stooping shoulders of the former, with the development of the latter, whose vigorous frame defies disease, whose strength gives a consciousness of power that makes him fearless of danger, and who can exult in that greatest earthly possession, exuberant health. These two classes of men will be the fathers of the next generation. The great disparity between them can be obviated by physical training on the part of the former. If not, then, merely as a means of happiness to ourselves, is it not a duty we owe to succeeding generations, that we cultivate these means of raising man to the summit of his nature, physically as well as mentally?

The condition of civilization (if one avoids its vices), does not weaken bodily vigor, provided the locomotive system is kept in thorough activity. The masses should not only have the necessary amount of exercise in the open air, but a perfect exercise of every muscle in the body.

A neglect of the powers with which our Creator has endowed us, is punished by their withdrawal. Allow the intellect to remain idle and it will become sluggish. All parts of the human organism not sufficiently worked, are liable to degenerate; the nerve force which should guide and govern is allowed to sleep; the muscles become inelastic fibre of but little vitality. Tie up an arm for months and it withers away. Let the muscles of our young men and delicate young ladies remain idle; they degenerate and atrophy.

“Everything that prolongs human life, ameliorates human suffering, elevates and develops the human frame, is an element of progress; an element that all true men admire and cherish.”

The velocipede is one of the finest inventions of the nineteenth century. It is a physiologically constructed machine; is an invaluable means of promoting health, and bids fair to emancipate our youth from the common muscular lethargy and debility.

Velocipeding is superior to skating, horseback riding, base-ball, and rowing. While skating is good for the legs, horseback riding for the chest, base-ball and rowing for the legs and arms, the benefit derived from exercise on the velocipede is not local. _It gives a natural exercise and general development to every muscle of the body._ The arms are the first to feel the effect of the exercise, for the pressure of the feet upon the stirrups must be met by a corresponding pressure of the hands on the tiller, necessary to prevent the front wheel from turning. This pressure of the tiller against the hands puts the rider in an upright position, with elbows well back and hands well extended, straightens the stooping shoulders, facilitates respiration, expands the lungs, and develops the chest. No position can be maintained upon the velocipede, inconsistent with ease and elegance of motion, or incompatible with the laws of health.

Some physicians of prominence have pronounced against the velocipede, and one has issued a pronunciamento advising young men to shun it, but the majority of the profession give it their hearty and cordial support. Medical men are among its most eager votaries. One of the best physicians in our country, who makes diseases of the lungs a specialty, rides the bicycle two hours a day, and prescribes it for his patients. He considers it a great preventive of that scourge of our climate, consumption; and a grand aid to the development and improvement of the human body. Many busy men of the profession in New York, Boston, and other large cities, either have their own machines, or ride daily in the schools and rinks. They regard this preparation of Iron (the velocipede), as better than any in their Materia Medica.

Transcriber's Notes

A number of typographical errors were corrected silently.

Cover image was created from elements of the book and is donated to the public domain.