Show KnIghts of the Silent Steed The bicycling season has now fairly opened and every owner of a wlftel is engaged in the work of hardening muscles preliminary to usual runs which will be more numerous this year than ever before The question a tQ the most suitable costume for the ladles who ride the silent steed is being be-ing discussed and the views of Merrie Wheeler in the Bicycling World rerre 1 be read with interest She quotes the following from the Irish cyclist Mrs H L Clark wears a beautifully fitted coat with a flaring Fkirt about to the knees Linen shirt OosDm collar and cuffs A fourinhand tie loirist hat in which is stuck a dainty wing quite full knickerbockeiv vhich COle 1 below the kiiei and tre met by leg gings The laly is neatly shod aul gloved She has his to say I I do not know what riding in Eng land or Irilaid may1 man AS to a question of cjnifort oa wavm das but this I do know JD iiiijia la woian would thliiK she oitild I be cumfcriable in such a suit an this dunn two thirds of our ring foi < nti Or if j she did think so she would Ion hind our her mistake Tncre is no 1nl thing as exchanging this coat fr the ever comfortable snahot lay shiu waist and I would lefv any one to ice in those closely sitting leggings and Knickerbockers ana no feel a greater sense of confincmtnt about UP legs from the knees down to say nothing of the heat producing luaKuos of the leggings A pair of India silc kriclei Inicu bockers met by elastic ribbed stockings which can fit tight without confine ment as no legging can over which a satin lined skirt can be worn not so long as to be dangerous or troublesome and such a skirt Is a possibility not possibity withstanding the howls for emancipa tion is far more emancpa sightly and does not rob a woman of her womanliness In discussing this question with a queston wih lady the other day she enquired I there was any necessity for such an I innovation and that isjust where the whole things hinges Is there any necessity for such a radical departure in dress in order to ride a wheel Because an improperly made skirt is worn and the rider comes to grief must we condemn all skirts I would be just as sensible to discard all hats hut because one happened to be big enough to fall down overones nose There are skirts and skirts Mind I am not arguing ar-guing this question on the score of modesty I should like i to be understood I under-stood toy my readers once for all that I do not belong to the ranks of either I the prudes or grannies Neither do Neitlel I I raise my voice against this discard ing of the skirt because Nature ha i been particularly unkind to me I should probably look as well as the average woman in rational dress By this I do not mean jacket pants and cap Venus herself couldnt stand that kind of treatment but I have not yet seen the necessity for knickerbockers and I have wheeled in season and out for many years I think even if I did see this necessity neces-sity I should agree with the Irish Cyclist which I quote again We do not recommend Irish ladies to adopt it the cpstume at once and such action would do irreparable harm to the cause A little Incident comes to my mind I I which I will relate for the benefit of my middle aged readers who are hesitating hesi-tating because they think they are too old to ride a wheel no matter how much they may wish to Last season I was riding with a little party through the main street of a suburban city As two gentlemen who were walking passed us one was heard to remark There goes the pretties woman I ever saw on a wheel The rider to whom he referred was a mid dle aged matron with a grown family and not at all dependent on youth for her attractiveness But her position was erect and her dress was that of a lady dark well fitting and neat in every ev-ery particular Her gait was not of the scorcher variety Her air was that of a lady in search of pleasure which she had found and her enjoyment was attested by a bright eye and rosy color There were silver threads in her hair but no straggling lock betrayed a careless care-less arrangement no fuss no feathers simply a lady on a wheel riding as she should and dressed suitably 1 wonder if the same remark would have been made had she been wearing bloomers and riding bent over her handle bar at I a fifteen miles an hour gait |