SAN JOSE'S PIONEERS OF THE BICYCLE - San Jose Mercury-news, Volume LXXIV, Number 74, 14 March 1908

From Wooljersey

SAN JOSE'S PIONEERS OF THE BICYCLE

Seventh in Series of Sketches, Accompanied by Photographs Found in Garrets and Homes of San Joseans Who Were Devoted Followers of Sport in Early Days of the Bicycle.

THIS IS PAUL STOCKTON BEFORE THE ERA OF BERCOVICH'S CIGAR STORE.


VII.

PAUL STOCKTON, capitalist, orchardist and well-known man about town, is a living advertisement of the healthfulness of farm life and cycling in the beautiful Santa Clara Valley, for he does not look a bit older today than he does in this photograph taken more than 20 years ago.

However, this may be due to his habits of life, which are characterized today, as they were when he first became a devotee to the silent steed, by a lack of extreme strenuousness; nevertheless he always got there.

Paul purchased a wheel in the stone age and learned to ride without even disarranging his tie or marring the classic shape of his nose, and became a member of the Garden City Wheelmen when that organization was perfected. Although he was an ardent follower of the sport, he did not participate in any speed contests.

His cycling attire was probably the most faultless of any of the hundreds of riders at that time. He was the exact antithesis of "Dusty" Lamkin, of whom something has already been said, in that he was able to return from a club run without a speck of dust on his well-fitting clothing or on his shining wheel. His club emblems and his natty little cycling cap were always greatly admired.

Today Mr. Stockton leads the simple life. He runs his prune orchards with great success, and when his duties on his ranch on the Almaden road do not keep him at home he may be seen at Bercovich's or some other well-known local cigarstore.