Show PilE CAUSE OF HARD TIMES Aimong the other evils which are charged up to the bicycle is that it is responsible for the hard times now upon us The current Dramatic News has some interesting matter on this subject It seems a New York paper published interviews with leading managers man-agers on the subject of what was the cause in the falling off of theatrical business A surprisingly large number of them attributed a great measure of it to the swift silent < steel steed The editor ofthe Dramatic News Leander Richardson comments on the subject as folitJws i The bicycle Business is in my opinion opin-ion the chief cause of the poor spring and autumn receipts not alone In the theatres but In pretty nearly all other branches of business So that the wheel in addition to keeping the money of its devotees out of the theatres is in a measure responsible ron the hard times of which everybody complains Furthermore he gives figures taken from the books of a well known gents furnisher whose Saturday trade has fallen from 1800 to 500 The dealer explained that before the bicycle mania ma-nia came up a customer to be in style bought extensive fancy summer wardrobes ward-robes but that now the same customer I cus-tomer nowadays would purchase some golf stockings and sweaters which would last a whole season and greatly reduce the wear and tear of his fine underwear shirts scarfs and so forth The editor also points out how large must be the sum of money withdrawn from the dry goods trade as well as the amusement and other trades to be turned to the purchase of bicycles on the installment or other plan All in all he makes out a strong case against the bicycle as a cause of hard times but doubtless the dealers in wheels and the appurtenances thereof there-of could show him some figures for the other side of the case |