CTCLING FOR LADIES. A RETROSPECT.

Otago Witness, Issue 2308, 26 May 1898, Page 37

CTCLING FOR LADIES. A RETROSPECT.

By Miss S. Ev*i».ett-Gbeen.

If anyone is so bold as to say that five years »go ladies hardly cycled at all, the will be met by indignant protests from a large number of ladies who have tricycled or bicycled for the last 10 or 20 years. Nevertheless, the statement is not very wide of the truth so far as the generality of ladies is con- , earned. We did not begin to cycle to n»y great extent till early 'iv the 'nineties, and it was not till the spring of 1895 that fashion" began to smile upon the lady cyclist, and caused' her and her male companions to be seen about the streets and parks with any frequency.

" LOOK AT THEM 'USSIES."

I consider that 1894 was tbe year in wh'ch "a lady might begin io cycle without, doing too great violence to the feelings of her friehds, or calling forth tu.) much public comment on the iroad. I well remember when taking my first night ride in the city in 1884, how one hansom cabman called out to his companion, " I sye, look at them 'useies ! " and how a slatternly woman, down at heel, hatless and cellarless, in a side street, pointed us out to a friend with the remark, " Disgustin' I call it. ! " whilst "Daisy, Daisy," and the inevitable "toot-toot" were flaag At us d&ily. The inconsequence of popular comment may be shown by ,the fact that " bicycle made for two," and "mind yer . bloomers " were constantly hurled at skirted ladies riding alone. -And I .wish it could be explained to tbe street a^als how hopelessly cut of data they are in still imitating the sound of ths bicycle born, which was discarded tome eight ysacs ago, and now, if it means anything, announces the approaoh not of a bicycle, but of a motor. Public comment has, however, decreased wonderfully during the last three or four years, till it has now ■become a quantite neglijeaVe, even by the sensitive and aoiittry lady rider.

"NOT QUITE NICK."

E.vrly in the nineties, however, it was not public comment alone that we had to fear when we took up cycling. We were confronted by severe displeasure and earnest efforts at dissuasion in many quarters where we were very sorry to give pain or to rai?e" unfavourable comnaeri. Perhaps our home relations, and certain»y a eon&idera.ble proportion of our friends an-1 acquaintances, objected ho onr riding at first, i rid by miny it was looked upon ss being "not- quite nice," as so many elderly ladies would put ifr^ In those days we never thought of bringing our cycles inside the houses of acquaintances we visited. We*, should have considered it a liberty, and ft Ifc cure our hostess would have thought so, too. We used io leave them in neighbouring shops for a small see, or chain them to tb,-* gardfer, railings and wonder all the time if 'hey would be stolen. Aud if we divulged that we had ridden, we hhould bs gazed at as an eccentric phenomenon, whilst some one might kindly remark : •• Well, really, I did not know ! After all, your clothes are not anything extraordinary."

AMUSING OHANGES

In 1895, however, tnauy amusing changes of front took place amongst our friends and acquaintances. One month daughters would complain that their father would not let them cycle, beg as thty might, and that he considered it a most unladylike proceeding, i*nd had been almost rude to certain of their girl fr'.etids Tvho were ardent pursuer* of the new crazj. The vpxb moath this father might be seeu any fine morning escorting his family of daughters, all en new bicycles (the paternal gift), to Battereea Park, where -he would ride with them gallantly by the hour together. Then there w,eie the fashionable young ladiep, who dubbed cjcliog as "quite too dreadful, and so common, you know," who, a few weeks later, ccu'.d talk of nothing else, and hardly knew how to pass the time between on« lerson and the Dexfe.

THE CONVERSION OF THE SPINSTEH.

But perhaps the mc6b amusing convert was the rather prim and proper spinster well on in the forties, who at first treated the devotees oi the new fashion with a fine scorn, but hoped 'she had more eelf-respect than to show her anklos and tumble about ia public, and who, ijevertbeles», eventually retired into secret places to receive instruction herself, and had been riding sonae time before the downfall of hfer t&eWtei beefftme known to her friends. In

this instance fashion has wrought an entire change in public opinion very quickly, and * chaDge, too, which coald not easily have been accomplished in any other way.

A FIBMXY ESTABLISHED OPINIONS

It seems now, in the spring of 1898, that the absolute fashion for cycling is on the wane, bnfc that is not a matter of any importance to ssrious cyclists. The country at large acknowledges cycling as a usual and suitable exercise for ladies, and this opinion is bo firmly established that it will remain unaffected by the gradual dropping from the ranks of ridera of the more fashionable and aristocratic of our Bister?. I believe it is to this last class that we owe the wonderfully swift leap into the forefront of fashion which cycling me.de in the spring of 1895 ; bub whether Princess Maud of Wales did or did not load a party of trieuds through B&ttersea Park on the bicycle, whether the Duchess of Fi r e was or rra» not nearly run down by a 'bus in the Brompton road, is of no importance. ' Royalty and rank smiled upon cycling, thus doing us a great service, for which we shall always be grateful ; and if they cease to ride with us in the parks and other fashionable resorts we shall still remember thab it was chiefly by their help we overcame the natural prejudioe of a large number of our guardians, friends, and Boeicty at large against the adoption of cycliDg as a suitable pursuit for ladies.

" WE SHALL KE3IAIN."

I cat just l-emember when it was considered odd for a lady to ride in a k?.nsom cab. 1 -' I remember well how shocked tny friends were wben .first I began to ride on. the tops of omnibuses, and theee prejudices took rnat.y years of liviDg .down. But cycling for ladies eeemed to me — a. naturally much inOerested observer who cycled before ib was the fashion — to sy-cing to the' front in the early nirnttia o£ 1895. It would be hardly too much to soy that in April oV 1895 one eras considered eccentric for riding a bicycle, whilst by the end of June eccentricity rested with those- who did not ride. The fashion continued to progresa by leaps and bounds through the autumn of thab J'ear, and wps still in good Hood when the riding season of 1896 came in. Clubs " were slatted, and became the fiequented resort of fashionable cyclists. Night runs through the deserted " city " — an unknown region to many' ladies — concluding vrith a sapper party at a restaurant, b came theerzz«. Then cjcling " gymkhanas" began to be heard of, and a large number of gnod ridera devoted their cj cling leisure to what may be called " trick or "circus" riding. Then cycling games cause io, and ib was found that such sports as polo and the paper chase might be pursued, with limitations, on the bicycle. Perhaps all these games appeal more to the fashionable or somewhat; dilettante claia of rider, and perhaps the pursuit of them may now be slightly on the wane. But it may safely be said that serious cycling for ladies now rests on so seenre a foundation that no ebb and flow of fashion can touch ifc. Fashion has carried us in on a full tide, <*nd we shall certainly remain.