19th century bicycling — Temperance and cycling

“The bicycle might be mentioned as a promoter of temperance,” The Morning Star of Glens Falls reported on July 12, 1895. “Formerly young men who would not go to church and had nothing particular to occupy their time were apt to get together in drinking saloons and playing cards. Now it is so much more fun to take a spin in the open air that nearly all of them prefer to spend their Sundays riding the bicycle.”

In other 19th century bicycling news collected from historic newspapers of the region:

• Another local bicycle racer picked up a corporate sponsorship.

“A. J. Latham of Lake George will represent the Stearns Bicycle Company on the tracks in this vicinity during the summer,” The Morning Star of Glens Falls reported on June 29, 1895. “He left yesterday for Syracuse, where he will race on Fourth of July.”

• “George S. Eddy of this place won the mile open race at the bicycle meet held at Fair Haven, Vt. on Wednesday. Time, 2:45 ¼,” The Morning Star reported on June 29, 1895. “The prize brought home by Mr. Eddy was a handsome silver pitcher valued at twenty-five dollars (the equivalent of $935 in 2024 dollars).”
• “In the bicycle races at Burlington yesterday, Burt Gurney of this village won first place in the two-mile and third in the half-mile race,” The Morning Star reported on July 3, 1895.
• “Many amusing stories are told about novices in bicycle riding. The latest is about a gentleman who was practicing in his yard and had an encounter with a large vase,” The Morning Star reported on July 4, 1895. “The plants were destroyed, and the wheelman would appreciate a gift of a pair of crutches.”
• “Walter Kenyon of Granville rode his wheel to Glens Falls yesterday to attend the Fourth of July celebration. He made the distance in about two hours and a quarter,” The Morning Star reported on July 4, 1895.
• “Our teacher, Miss Dora Graham, has a new bicycle,” the Queensbury correspondent reported in The Morning Star on July 6, 1895.
• “Will Evans went to Salem a week ago Saturday and returned with a new bicycle,” the Evansville correspondent reported in The Granville Sentinel on July 5, 1895. “The wheel ran alright until Friday night. Will took a header. He says that it was that box of cabbage plants that did it.”
• “W. D. Temple has presented his wife with a Columbia bicycle,” The Granville Sentinel reported on July 5, 1895.
• “The village trustees at Saratoga have issued orders requiring wheelmen to carry bells and lanterns after dark,” The Morning Star reported on July 9, 1895.
• “Local wheelmen will enjoy a ride to Lake George next Monday morning, leaving the Rockwell House at five o’clock. On arriving at Lake George, they make a trip up Prospect Mountain over the new cable road,” The Morning Star reported on July 12, 1895.
• “Miss Lena Heath has a new wheel,” the West Granville correspondent reported in The Granville Sentinel on July 12, 1895.

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