CHURCH INVITES BICYCLISTS.

New York, 1895

May Go in Their Riding Togs, and Their Wheels Will Be Cared For.

Sunday bicyclists will be welcomed in the Church of the Redeemer in Astoria, of which the Rev. Dr. Edmund D. Cooper is rector. It is the leading Episcopal church in Long Island City. The church was well filled Sunday morning when Dr. Cooper began his address on the subject of inducing young men to attend church.

"Young men," he said, "if you must ride bicycles on Sundays, come to church, no matter if you are attired in riding costume. We will make you welcome, and I will make arrangements to have your wheels taken care of during services. Two sons of a communicant of this church went bicycling last Sunday. Before leaving, their mother told them not to return until they had been to church. They arrived at the church door here dressed in bicycle costume shortly after services began. Their wheels were taken care of, and they were escorted to the rector's pew, and it pleased me to see them there. Do not stay away from church Sundays because you ride a bicycle. Bring the wheel to church with you."

—The Long Island Farmer, Jamaica, NY, May 31, 1895, p. 1.