Jasper County Democrat, Volume 5, Number 9, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 June 1902 — AFTER THE BICYCLE RIDERS. [ARTICLE]

AFTER THE BICYCLE RIDERS.

“The city officials have begun a determined crusade against the riding of bicycles on the sidewalk. All offenders, whether boy or girl, man or woman, will be prosecuted without reference to age or social standing. Unless you are willing to appear in the police court and pay a fine, keep off the sidewalks when riding a bicycle. The above, we are sorry to say, is not a local item, but is copied from the Monticello Journal. Perhaps, when some one in Rensselaer is maimed or killed, the universal practice of bicycle riders using the sidewalks—no matter how good the condition of the streets —some action will be taken to put a stop to this dangerous practice. Only last Friday a 16-year-old boy run into Thomas Crockett, who was walking along on the sidewalk in front of the court house, and threw him down with considerable force. Fortunatelj’ Mr. Crockett was not seriously injured, but his leg was quite lame where the wheel struck him. The boys are not so much to blame for indulging in this practice when they see so many of the older people of the city doing the same thing. To what a dangerous point the practice has reached is evidenced by the above injury to Mr. Crockett. That anyone would think of riding h wheel on the walks about the public square upon a day like last Friday, when so many people were in town and the sidewalks were filled with pedestrians, ought to show conclusively that it is high time to set dowh on the practice altogether.