The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 30, 1887. CYCLING.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1728, 30 December 1887, Page 2

The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 30, 1887. CYCLING.

Among the many inventions of modern times, not the least wonderful is that of the bicycle. If our fore fathers had been told, a hundred years ago, that it was within the range of possibility that a man perched on a wheel some four feet m diameter, and with a tire of about an inch, could, by his own muscular aclion, travel about from place to place, they would have have given a grim smile of incredulity. Buj 'he then apparently impossible has now been converted into a certainty, and the popularity of this method of locomotion is increasing every day. AU sorts and conditions of men use it, from lhe parson and the doctor to the rent collector and the bailiff. It is used not only for business purposes, but also for pleasure, and we frequently see notices of journeys extending over thousands of miles, having been performed on the wheel. Improvements haye of lale been made m its construction, by means of which the rider is enabled to travel on the water as well as on the land. Great as have been tbe improvements m tbe construction of the machine itself, the skill of lhe cyclists themselves has not failed to keep pace with them, and we frequency reas of marvellous and daring feats being performed by some of the " upper ten " of these gentlemen. Tbe speed attained is something that was never drsamfof m the early days of the art and matches between horses and cycles are now of eo)flji}Qn pccutrence. One of the chief recommendation^ of this means of locomotion i•, that beyond the first cost of the machines, it involves no further expenditure for feed,slabling,orgrooming. Thi§, we fancy, is one of, if not the chief ireason, of it's popularity. So rapidly is this increasing that the chief firm of manufacturers m the Old World have been compelled to convert their business into a joint stock company. During the last three months of i88<? the firm had to refure orders for 2000 machines. No industry thai we are aware of bas made such gigantic strides, during tfje last lew years, as tjhat of the Cycling factory,