Monarch Cycle Mfg. Co.

Lake, Halsted and Fulton Sts., CHICAGO.

83 Reade Street, NEW YORK.

This Department is conducted in the interest of Bicyclers, and the Editor will be pleased to answer any question on the subject. Our maps and tours contain much valuable data kindly supplied from the official maps and road-books of the League of American Wheelmen. Recognizing the value of the work being done by the L. A. W., the Editor will be pleased to furnish subscribers with membership blanks and information so far as possible.

Resuming our route to Buffalo, leave Richmond Hotel at Batavia, run a little south of west across the river, and keep to the right for a few rods, taking the middle fork a short distance out where three roads converge. Follow this turnpike, which is called the Buffalo road, direct to Corfu, eleven miles from Batavia; thence, following the same straight road, proceed five miles further on to Crittenden, and thence three and one-half miles further on to Peters Corners. This Buffalo road runs a little south of west almost in a straight line from Batavia to Buffalo, and it is possible to keep to it all the way into the city; but from Peters Corners on it is not in nearly as good condition as the road which is marked as the best route. Up to Peters Corners it is hard clay, level, and in dry weather makes excellent bicycle-riding. It is not so good in rain, however. The rider is advised to take the right fork at Peters Corners, and run out through Mill Grove to Bowmansville, which is seven miles from Peters Corners. From Bowmansville keep slightly to the right, and afterwards to the left over a bridge, and cross the railroad; continue on through Shultz Corners and Pine Hill to the city line, where asphalt pavement begins; thence proceed down Genesee Street to the corner of Main Street, where the rider may put up either at the Genesee or Iroquois Hotel. The distance from Batavia to Buffalo is thirty-seven miles, and if you have reached Buffalo you have done at least 461 miles since leaving New York.

For any bicyclist, whether he lives in New York, Albany, Utica, Syracuse, or Rochester, or anywhere along the route given in the last few weeks, this tour, either towards Buffalo or towards New York, is one of the best that can possibly be taken in this part of the United States. It is the long route which is most patronized by wheelmen. Consequently people are more likely to receive and more glad to see bicyclists; the hotels are more accustomed to them, and the facilities are greater than along any other route in the United States of similar length. And these stages, as given in this Department, will be well worth the study of any wheelman who has had some little experience in short runs, and who wants to spend his vacation during the coming summer by taking a somewhat more extended trip. If he runs out through Albany and over the route as explained to Buffalo, and wishes to return to New York, it will be well for him to take the route through New Jersey and Pennsylvania, which, perhaps, may be given some time in the future in the Bicycling Department. No one nowadays can find a better way to put in a two weeks' vacation than by doing some such nine-hundred-mile run as this. He need not ride every day. He may take it easily, running ninety or one hundred miles in a day, if he feels in condition for such riding, or he may stick to the thirty-mile distance marked on these charts.

Note.—Map of New York city asphalted streets in No. 809. Map of route from New York to Tarrytown in No. 810. New York to Stamford, Connecticut in No. 811. New York to Staten Island in No. 812. New Jersey from Hoboken to Pine Brook in No. 813. Brooklyn in No. 814. Brooklyn to Babylon in No. 815. Brooklyn to Northport in No. 816. Tarrytown to Poughkeepsie in No. 817. Poughkeepsie to Hudson in No. 818. Hudson to Albany in No. 819. Tottenville to Trenton in No. 820. Trenton to Philadelphia in No. 821. Philadelphia in No. 822. Philadelphia-Wissahickon Route in No. 823. Philadelphia to West Chester in No. 824. Philadelphia to Atlantic City—First Stage in No. 825; Second Stage in No. 826. Philadelphia to Vineland—First Stage in No. 827; Second Stage in No. 828. New York to Boston—Second Stage in No. 829; Third Stage in No. 830; Fourth Stage in No. 831; Fifth Stage in No. 832; Sixth Stage in No. 833. Boston to Concord in No. 834. Boston in No. 835. Boston to Gloucester in No. 836. Boston to Newburyport in No. 837. Boston to New Bedford in No. 838. Boston to South Framingham in No. 839. Boston to Nahant in No. 840. Boston to Lowell in No. 841. Boston to Nantasket Beach in No. 842. Boston Circuit Ride in No. 843. Philadelphia to Washington—First Stage in No. 844; Second Stage in No. 845; Third Stage in No. 846; Fourth Stage in No. 847; Fifth Stage in No. 848. City of Washington in No. 849. City of Albany in No. 854; Albany to Fonda in No. 855; Fonda to Utica in No. 856; Utica to Lyons in No. 857; Lyons to Batavia in No. 858.

This Department is conducted in the interest of Girls and Young Women, and the Editor will be pleased to answer any question on the subject so far as possible. Correspondents should address Editor.

Can I tell you how to go about learning to write a story? Well, my dear Lucie, I would do so if I could, but unless the story comes to you of its own accord, I fear there is no chance of your ever being able to write it. You may acquire the art of writing essays and poetry and letters; but stories are like visits from the fairies or the angels, and they must come floating in at your open windows and doors, like flower-seeds carried by the wind. The story-writer is born, not made.

In a general way, however, there is this to be said: Let a story tell itself naturally, and do not waste your time on an introduction. Begin at the beginning, and stop when you get through. I have said before, and I here repeat the advice, to read good books. Every girl who has an ambition to write should form her style by reading the best books and thinking them over. A very good plan is to make an abstract of every book you read, and to copy parts you like into a common place-book of your own.

Now for something quite different.

I am asked by a girl friend to give my opinion about a pretty foot. Is it a short or a long foot, a broad or a narrow one, and do I recommend a particular shoe. How is one to avoid ingrowing nails, corns, and bunions?

My dear child, these painful deformities are caused, as a rule, by ill-fitting shoes. A shoe too short for the foot or a very high heel will cause an ingrowing toe-nail, a source of endless trouble and suffering. Wear low heels, and have your shoes a little longer than your feet, and you will not be troubled by bunions, which are swellings of the joints. Change your stockings very often, and bathe the feet twice a day to prevent corns. A pretty foot is a foot in the right proportion to the rest of the figure. It is not always a small foot. Indeed, a tall, large girl should not care for a foot fit only for a wee midget who needs a tiny boot and an elfin slipper. Never be ashamed of the size of your foot, but keep your shoes and boots in the nicest possible order.

Be very careful about buttons. A shoe with one or two yawning spaces where all should be neatness and trimness gives a disagreeable impression of its wearer. Whenever you can manage it, have several pairs of shoes at a time. They last much longer if relieved by one another; and when not in use keep your shoes in a box or bag away from dust, and with tissue-paper stuffed inside their toes to preserve their shape. Wear the nicest stockings you can procure. It is true economy to purchase the best foot-gear one can afford.

Margaret R. B.—I prize your beautiful little letter, and am very glad that you like Eugene Field's verses. Do you like Stevenson's Child Garden of Verse? I hope so.