The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, July 17, 1898, Page 22

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, JULY 17, 1898 21 Valuable Rules for Professionals and Amateurs in Search of Records or Health. \ BY CHAMPION “JIMMY" MICHAEL, the Welsh Wonder. N regard to training, the first thing a man needs is a thorough, search- ing examination by a competent, practical, up-to-date doctor. If he s you're all right, then go ahead. If you're under weight you must build up, and the doctor will tell you how to do it. If you're an average man you'll be carrying a little too much fat, your muscles will be une developed, lungs won't ‘e nearly the ca- pacity that they should have, and your nerves will be unsteady as a result of some 'sort of improp lgence or The thing to do is to get on a et; cut off the sweets; cut down the fruit and vegetables—I don’t use them at all, but it may not be well for you to change you t too suddenly. Then } coffe i tobacco, and liquor, of course. A little good beer or ale may not hurt you if you've been ac- customed to it and if you use it with your meals. For exerc the bicy ise don’t confine yourself to but take a variety—run- ordinary ning, ¥c pping and the lieht work for chest developme While you're getting rself into shape do the ur wheel. It er. In the first matter, little mc t riders tion to one. It at all. A loubtedly copyi physical are totally by whose at it is nd swiftly, trying to There is another point. A good many bars made for supposedly fast road rid- ers are too narrow. Pulling up on them brings the shoulders together and contracts the chest. It interferes with breathing. If some of the scorchers who break the law on the boulevard on their way out of town or back again should see me come along on my wheel adjusted exactly as it is when I race, they would say that I was “not so warm.” I don’t ar any skin off my nose by getting it mixed up with the tire of my forward wheel. I sit fairly erect, though not rigid, my body inclined forward and my back slightly bent but not humped. The position, as T have said, would not look “racy” to one of those fellows who wants to burn dust with the casual wayfarer on a public street when eight miles an hour is the limit of the law, and who "thinks that that is racing. Yet I am sure that 1 get every pound out of myself that is in me. Many a man who never does breathe | properly could do so if he only would. It is not necessary to open your mouth every time you feel like doing it—either for breath or conversation. Perhaps the reader might find some help or com- which I | fort in the toothpick habit, | have acquired. To return to the subject, if you can’t get air enough without opening your mouth there may be something the matter with your air passages. One of the great benefits of the bicycle is that it calls attention to such matters, and leads to their remedy by proper medical | attention. This at least is certain. No | person can ride well who breathes un- evenly, gaspingly, or in any other way than naturally, regularly and with the full depth of the lungs. By this I do not mean that one should strain to fill the lungs. I have known injury to re- sult from that kind of breathing. | Another thing that must be regular and steady is the rider's nerve. Of course, on the racing track every one would admit the importance of steady BIGGEST BICYCLE IN THE WORLD. biggest bicy ort Park F: Jatho of Hanover. Karl are on his ce, however. of the la g steadily. g0 the first t reques 1 the ¢ mounted vel wheel a few ther le ever built was first exhibited to the public denau, The rear wheel stands over nine feet high at each side of the sycle pattern and by comparison the immense nes evident. Iman and is probably the best amateur fancy rider rge wheel is not as difficult as it might ap- The center of gravity is placed some- ge wheel and therefore it is an easy matter The wheel was brought into public view 1 a rather Interesting manner. near Berlin, Germany, by the in- ge wheel. The front The inventor, Jatho, has quite The inventor had been >le corso arranged for a special occasion and prom- a startling feature. there was a general ) idea of the existence of the new conveyance. which a shed at the rear of his dwelling. Tke wheel has times at cycle festivals. le to approach too near each other, for the big >n them, and it is certainly more reliable than any keeping the proper distance while riding. When he did come with his sister curprise; even his most It is not possible for kick th or to wear holes your shoes. In ther unce of power that against the pedal s motion. In get- your pedals there —your weight and ou are putting your weight on als in the right way you are proper position to exert The true and correct n of bicycle riding Is perfectly stural. If you feel as if you were de- el w kind of motion it means not a good rider. In ill-informed writers and some care- have d, the develop a new being. Watch a really nd see how natural his There is nothing cramp- ned about it. When his up there is no awkward- and when the leg is are what subject physicians will not exp leg action i ed or st knees come ness or jerking, straight it does not seem to be strain- after the pedal. 3 1 that the action of riding unnatural. That is T n of different muscular xer- ns Below the waist a bicycle rider running and climbing; that is, his lifferent from running on a ith the muscles of the groin d abdomen he is dancing. With the back and arms he is lifting. When I | say dancing, course I refer to the on of balancing. But this does not < some people very foolishl id, that a rider has to over. The laws of natpre attend to that. A man on a moving bicycle will no more fall over than a hoop will if Fou roll it across the room. The bal- ancing which he does is the balancing f force and the maintenance of equi- 1 between the upper part of his nd the legs that are active on a support. The work for the I have indicated is that of ntaining a proper pose. It should be done with small expenditure of force, but well and carefully done. As to the lifting, it is a hard matter to speak of without an individual ex- e. A man must make the best of his physique. But some points are obvious. A rider can’t get any more power out of his grip on the bar if it is to far out in front of him. You can experiment in that matter by put- ting a chair on the floor in front of you and lifting it at various distances. If the distance is great it is a back-break- ing exercise. 1 see a good many riders who are trying to break their backs by reaching out too far. The distance from the saddle to the grips is too great for the rider's size. . first is important, principally be- elty is in the com- | exert | any force to keep himself from falling | | rerves. They are no less important to | the rider who isn’t on the track. In | every long run where a greater or less | percentage of the wheelmen drop out, it is perfectly safe to say that half of them could have gone through all right | if they hadn’t got nervous. Perhaps a man is afraid of the pace- maker, or he is dreading a certain long up-hill stretch of rcad; or he's afraid that his wheel is not going to run just right, or that there'll be a strong head wind. Now, persistently fearing any one of those things is probably wor: than the thing itself. Don’t worry; it doesn’t do any good, and it does a lot of harm. In the beginning I spoke of overexer- tion and tried to show that it is not what a person dces, but what he is, that counts. It is hardly necessary to advise against overexerticn. Every- body knows that it is bad. Some peo- ple, however, don’t know when they are erting themselves. They are afraid of what is unimportant, and not |afraid of serfous symptoms. There are |a few general rules. When ycur heart seems to be knock- ing against your ribs, stop. When there is a faintness and a crampy pain in the lower part of your body. rest. When there is a pain on each side of thevsmall of your back, see the doctor. When there are pains in your arms and legs every time you move them, and you're as stiff as a frozen ccrpse, take a good rub-down, a long night’s rest and a nice ride on your bicycle the next day. In the matter of rubbing down, bi- cycle riders are more than careles: | That very agreeable and necessary treatment should not be enjoyed only by professicnal riders; it is good for everybody. Don't do the rubbing yourself if you can get anybody else. Don’t have a companion of your late | exertions rub you down in exchange | for a similar service by you. You're | both Jtired, and a tired person Is “no | 800d"” in that capacity. There is a mag- | netism in it that needs a fresh, vigor- ous person for its proper development. Always be rubbed down before your | skin gets dry and your muscles begin | to_stiffen. Never expose your flesh naked to the air after exercise and be- fore a good hard rub. It's a sure way to get stiff, and though the stiffness may seem to pass off once, twice, a hundred times, perhaps, it will finally result in a condition that can’t be got rid of so easily. There are two important matters in riding that I have been asked to con- sider—hill climbing and riding against the wind. I don’t pretend to be an ex- pert on either subject, but a few things that I know about them may be worth telling. 8 You cannot adjust a bicycle so that it 1s just'right for riding on a level road and for climbing a steep hill. If the hill s mederate, get a little more over your work, give yourself a little more air, be extra steady and cool, avoid spurts or any sort of hurried and vio- lent action, and so pedal away to the top. On very steep hills your bar will seem too high, you won’t sit well cn your saddle, your arms will bend too much and you'll get a strained feeling in the small of your back and across your breastbone. Get right off and walk, or, if you must ride, adjust your machine for it. Hard hill climbing is bad business. I don’t beliéve in it. It is when a rider Is facing the wind that he needs to be careful of his bellows. Nothing is easier than to strain and in- jure the lungs in bucking a high wind. As socn as the rider finds that he can’t keep his mouth shut, that he is gasping and has a convulsive and painful feel- ing in the region of the solar plexus, he ought to stop, or at least cut down the pace. Of ccurse, it is easier to bore through a high wind with the top of your head than to push your face through it, but 1 have see® many a rider lose more than he gained by hanging his head. Such a posture obstructs the throat and brings a strain on the back of the neck that is injurious. In conclusion, I want to urge every rider to aequire *‘fcrm” on the wheel. Don’t be satisfied simply because you can_ keep yvour seat most of the time and look well enough to escape being openly guyed. Compare your riding with that of others; imitate the gcod points, but don’t copy the faults of an expert sim- ply because he has merit. Above all, get into condition; I don’t mean hard training, but sound health. It always pay: S MICHAEL. INGERSOLL'S WIT SAVED HIM Ingersoll, the imperturbable Bob, was invited to attend a banquet at the ir- resistible Clover Club, says the New York Press. “Jt is impossible to ac- cept,” he said. “I know your custom too weil. I will be called upon for a gpeech and wiil be unmercifully guyed. I never could stand it. I refuse to put myself in such a position.” The club decided to walve its constitutional pre- rogative in his case, and he was in- formed of the fact. *Then I gladly accept the invitation,” he said, “and will surely be on hand.” He was. No sponer had the gallant iconoclast reached his feet than a chap down at the end of the room began to interrupt. He was the only one in the club to say a word, but he was very annoying, and Bob remarked: “I came here as a guest with the understanding that I was not to be Interrupted. There was an agree- ment to that effect.” The man retorted: “I never heard of any such agreement.” The breaker of jmages said: “My friend, you remind me of a story. There was a day set apart by the beasts of the fleld, the reptiles and the birds of S NN NN SO BN \‘\§\ D X b 0 !1 !x i [ CHAMPION “JIMMY' MICHAEL. Michael {s one of the greatest bicycle riders that ever lived. He is hardly more than a lad, yet for short distance riding he has ped- aled away from the fastest riders BLASTED AN INNOCENT MANS LIFE Strafigé Story of Love, Jealousy, F'orgééy and Suicide Surround- Ing the Life of a Sausalito Hermit. the air for a general peace. Animals in the habit of preying on each other agreed to meet together in one grand accord. A fox passing a chicken roost on the way to the meeting invited a hen to accompany him, and when she politely declined informed her of the peace agreement. ‘Well, Mr. Fox, I will go under those conditions,’” she said, and they trotted along, side by side, through the field. “Presently the bay of a pack of hounds was heard, and Mr. Fox started to run. ‘Why do _you run, Mr. Fox? sald Mrs. Hen. ‘Rerhember the peace agreement.” Restraining himself, Mr. Fox trotted on, but the pack drew nearer and nearer, until he could stand it no longer. ‘Mr. Fox,’ urged Mrs. Hen, ‘don’t be afraid. Remember what you told me about the peace agreement. No hound would hurt you to-day. Trot along with me and don’t be in the least alarmed.” He could almost feel the breath of the hounds. ‘Mrs. Hen whispered, prepared to spring away, do well remember the peace agreement, but there may be some fool hound in that pack that hasn't heard of it. Good-by." " ; ‘When the colonel had finished this story there was dead silence, and he concluded his speech without further interruption. The “fool hound” who sat at the further end of the room didn’t say another word. A MAN OF HIGH DEGREE. The hero of Manlila's A man of high degree; As_a sinker of flotlllas He is surely up in G. Others may have wider knowledge In some special fields than he, But they recognize in college _That he's “doctor” on the sea. 8o, from Bangor to *‘St. Looey,” From Milwaukee to the sea, Ever!\: slc)hool, is making Dewey A L =Cleveland Leader. —_—— Alice Rix has gone to Honolulu for the Sunday Call. She will send back letters describing the ceremo- nies that make Hawaii part of the United States, and other notable features of interest. BY DAN O'CONNELL. BOUT two miles from Sausalito there runs north and south to the sea a well-wooded and pic- turesque little canyon, which is known as Tennessee Valley. Tt is so called because over thirty vears ago the big ship Tennessee went ashore | In the breakers at the foot of the val- | ley. Some fragments of the wreck may still be seen imbedded In the sands. The valley is distinguished for the rich clusters of buckeye trees which extend | along the banks of a little stream much favored by picnic parties in summer and mushroom hunters after the first winter rains. Until a few weeks ago there stood on the western side of the canyon, close to the beach, a little cabin; its last tim- bers were blown down in the gale less than a fortnight ago. The man who built the cabin and lived in it for nearly twenty years was an eccentric character, a hermit. No one saw him go and no one knew when he deserted the cabin or whether he was alive or dead. Un- like most solitaries, this mysterious in- dividual did not let his hair and beard | grow to unusual length. On the con- trary, whenever he was seen by his neighbors he always appeared cleanly and well groomed. Nor was his manner gruff and forbidding, but he was al- ways polite and had the air of a person of breeding and refilnement. How he lived was a mystery, for he had no occupation, and with the ex- ception of monthly visits to Sausalito to purchase provisions he was never seen more than a few hundred yards from his cabin. Strangers who in- quired about the tides, the tralls or the b fishing he always answered civilly. | of the country. The adjutant of the regiment was a Welshman and possi- bly the most unpopular man in the service. He had a pretty wife of whom he was insanely jealous. She was glddy, fond of admiration and liked to have all the young swells of the regi- ment at her feet. My brother among the rest used to pay her some innocent attentions, not any more than others, but for some reason the adjutant con- sidered that he was the special favorite and consequently took an intense dis- like to him. - “Hinton, the chum of my brother, and also one of the lady’s list, was the richest young man in the regiment. He was an open-hmanded fellow whose purse was at the disposal of all his friends. “‘One evening just after mess Hinton sald to my brother. ‘Sam, I cannot give you that check to-morrow because I've been utterly drained out.” ‘“ ‘Oh, it doesn’t matter,” was the re- ply ‘don’t bother yourself about it, I can easily get the money elsewhere. I'm going up to London to-morrow to attend to some business, anyhow.’ ““Why, you lucky rascal, Mrs. Ad- jutant will be on the same train. I heard her say so last evening.’ “My brother laughed. ‘Then the Beauty must do without Beast for a ‘time.” “It happened that the adjutant over- heard all this conversation, as he was | standing behind the portiere. “My brother did not see Hinton again that night, but when he went to his quarters he found a check with Hin- ton's signature for £250 lying on the table. He thought this rather odd, as he had only asked Hinton for half that amount. He put the check in his pocket and thought no more about the matter. He took the morning train for London, but the adjutant’s wife was not on board. ‘“After parade that day the adjutant auntered up to Hinton and said: ‘ ‘Hinton, could you let me have £100 But any attempt to inquire into his pri- | for a month? vate affalrs, or any display of vulgar | “‘I'm sorry I can’t, replied Hinton, PICTURE OF YE MOST ANCIENT CHURCH WINDOW CONTAINING IN AN UPPER PANEL A BICYCLE BICYCLE. 3 WAS MADE 120 YEARS BEFORE THE FIRST BICYCLE KNOWN TO HISTORY. ROM the anclent chancel of a country church near London there has just come evidence that up- sets the idea of the bicycle being a modern idea. In the village of Stoke Poges, there stands one of those {vy-covered places of worship that, viewed from the outside, carries one back centuries, and viewed from the interior, while the rector is droning out the service, seems to be the acme of religious solemnity. This is hardly the kind of place to look for evidence concerning the origin of that modern article of speedy frivol- ity, the bicycle. And yet it has just been discovered that here, in a stained- glass window in the ancient church of Stoke Poges, made famous as the place where the poet, Grey, obtained the lo- cal coloring for his Elegy, is a repre- sentation of the original of all the great family of wheelmen and wheel- IT IS A GREAT MYSTERY. From a Photograph. :‘\‘omen who possess our highways to- ay. It is truly startling this sudden dis- covery of the original wheelman, for since the bicycle became popular many so-called authentic stories have been written, giving the exact date when the progenitor of the modern safety came into existence, but none of the authors of these contributions to wheeling lit- erature mention the bicycle window in the church of Stoke Poges. Here, then, is the first information the wheel- ing world will have of the existence of this remarkable window, a picture of which is shown in the accompanying photograph. What artist made the window that shows the figure of a primitive man astride a wheel of curi- ous construction is not known. The only thing actually certain about the record of the windgaw is that the panel bears the date of 1642, which ante- dates the time when the first bicycle was supposed to have come into exist- by 120 years. curiosity, was promptly checked with firmness. Less than a month ago his nearest neighbors were surprised to discover that the cabin of the recluse had been abandoned and abandoned so suddenly that most of the personal effects of the hermit were still in the cabin. It looked as if he had simply gathered up a few articles and had walked out the door. Inquiry was at once set on foot to dis- cover the whereabouts of the hermit. It was cut short by the arrival of a gentleman from England who cleared up the whole mystery. The visitor took a team and asked to be driven to Tennessee Valley. On the road he told the driver that he was in- terested in the man who once lived on the beach. The driver replied that he had often seen and spoken to the her- mit. The stranger visited the ruins of the cabin and when he returned took a room in the Maison de Mergue. There he made still further inquiries and frankly said that the hermit was his brother and that his mission to the Pacific Coast was to find out what had become of certain valuable papers which in the hurry of departure his brother had left behind with his books and other property. No one could tell him who had suc- ceeded to the hermit’s possessions, but it was bareiy possible that some of the Portuguese dairymen in the neighbor- hood might enlighten him. Bit by bit the.following story was gleaned from the visitor: “My broth- er,” he said, “was self-exiled from Eng- land. Through no fault of his own he became involved in an affalr of so dis- graceful a nature and the circum- stantial evidence was so strong against him that had he remained he would have undoubtedly been punished for a crime of which he was innocent. “My brother was a lieutenant in a cavalry regiment stationed at Alder- shot when this affair occurred. His regiment was the Tenth Hussars, Prince Albert's Own, which was then, and is now, one of the crack regiments ‘I had to refuse a chum of mine last evening. I haven't been in condition to sign a check for a week. “‘Indeed,” said the adjutant, ‘Sorry for you,” and walked away. 4 brother presented Hinton’s at the bank, put the cash in his pocket and was leaving the place when he was arrested by a man. “‘I am a detective officer and I re- quest, sir, that you will accompany me le to the private of- “Much surp and puzzled my brother did so. The check was pro- duced, carefully examined and the sig- nature pronounced a forgery. To make the evidence complete a telegram was sent to Hinton at Aldershot: Did you sign a check upon us y8ster- day? BANK. The reply came: No. Have not drawn upon you for a week. HINTON. “‘Under the circumstances,” said the detective to my brother, ‘it is my pain- ful duty to arrest you for forgery.’ “Now, while both Hinton and my brother firmly believed that this dia- bolical scheme was the work of their villainous comrade, the adjutant, who was notoriously skilled with the pen, they realized that the evidence was so overwhelming that a trial meant con- on. ‘Through the efforts of a few devoted friends my brother made his escape. The general impression left in the regi- ment was that he had committed sui- cide. He drif'-d out to this coast, a ruined and heart-broken man. He spent the best years of his life on that shore yonder. 1 alone knew he was alive for I lkept up a constant com- munication with him. “The adjutant’s wife ran away with a young subsaltern. . “Within_the year the adjutant shot himself. But before his suicilde he wrote a document confessing he was the forger and that he took that meth- od to ruin my brother because he be- ‘ne\'efi he had betrayed his wife,”