Wheel Mad | AdventAI

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Jun 18, 1896

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 22, No. 24.

Wheel Mad.

It is estimated that the losses sustained in the various trades of horses and livery, pleasure vehicles, harness and saddles, pianos, tailoring, cigars, jewelry, confectionery, dress goods, millinery, watches, street railways, whisky and lager, railway excursions, and theaters, aggregate in the last year $112,500,000. On the other hand, $60,000,000 has been expended the last year in bicycles. Five years ago, not 60,000 were made or sold, and they were considered mere playthings. Last year 800,000 were manufactured. The hard times have not reduced the demand for bicycles. The grocer, the butcher, the baker, and many other creditors are left to collect their debts as best they can, but money is always forthcoming for the bicycle. The church attendance has been cut fifteen per cent. The $7,000,000 loss on cigars and the $2,500,000 loss on whisky is a good exchange; the wheel is to be preferred. But the way the craze has swept over the country indicates the tendency of humanity to follow a fad. That the wheel has been a benefit to many goes without saying, but to many it has proved a curse, health-wise, business-wise, and otherwise.