Abbeville press. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1860-1869, 1869-03-12
BY W: a. LEE AND HUGH WILSON :.

heVed that it would be as safe an,
eheap; and that the resistance arisin,
from friction would be still furtbc
diminished, At thispoint, for the frs
time, by a natural transition, h,
: grasped the magnificent conception o
, the Aerial Velocipede, of which h,
: claims to be the inventor and which
with tho blessing of God, he fondl,
believes is destined to lead to the mos
astonishing and unprecedented results
apq to inaqgurate q new era in socia
and commercial intercourse,
The first plan which suggested itscl
to his mind was Gas already intimated'
the employment of throo wires O
large one about tho thickness of the
Atlantic cable), and two smaller onct
(somewhat larger than tho ordinary
telegraphic wireo, for the purpose al
ready specified. To support these he
conceived the idea of an iron frame,
consisting of three pieces, all spring.
ing out of the same shaft, one in the
middle for the cable or large wire, and
one on either side at convenient dis
tance over the smaller wires, the
whole bearing some resemblance to
the branches of chandelier. The
supporting shaft was to be of any de-
slrable hcight-fve, ten, fifteen or even
twenty feot-as it was supposca that
this kind Of transportation could bo
rendered perfectly safe. The largo
wheel was to be furnished with a
deep groove, say six inches, so as to
prevent oil ordinary possibility of cas-
ualtics.
Another advance, as tho writer sup
posed, on the original French and i'm
proved American model, was to work
the cranks with pistons instead of the
feet, somewhat after the manner of a
steam engine thus rendering it en-
1'tlrely practicable to increase the
diameter of the wheel to any extent
desired. This seemed considerable
point gained, since the greater the cir
cumterenee, the greater tho distance
accomplished by single revolution of
the wheel. 1t has been suggested to
tho writer by an ingenious friend to
whom nc communicated his plans, and
to whom he is indebted for many other
valuable hints, in the progress of his
experiments, that the machine. might
be worked like a clock, or even ty an
electric battery, after acquiring suffi-
eient momentum to move almost sa.a
sponte. However this may be, it is
absolutely certain that it can be worked
Vory satisfactorily by hand and piston,
thus becoming safe, comfortable, and
decent conveyance for Fiderg Of either
sex.
With regard to tho safety Of these
aerlal fonveyances, which is certainly
most Important consideration, the
writer is persuaded that ths risk to
life 9r or limb lin waald! nGt be greater than
oy {he ordinary rail, if, indeed, so
great. The cable may be made of any
desirable thickness and straRgth, as
well as perfectly infexiblo. The con-
struction is quite simple and may be
easily understood even without the
assistance Of a model. Of course it
is notexpected that heavy freight will
pass oyer these wires, the Aerial We
locipede being designed principally for
passengers and mails,
The velocity may be Increased to
almost any extent. If there we're a.
continuous track track tEfqQsmg EFqQsmg9 New York to
aan FSancisco, the writer sees no
reason why the continent might not
be crossed in forty-eight hours.
But the future must develope.. It ia
for others to judge Of the value Of this
invention; The writen Is sanaaine van Of o.,
success, The only satisfactory test,
however, is the espsimsntuns erueis,
Which he hopes TO- apply very soon.
.. a CITIZEN OF ABBEVILLR |
March 9Th, 1869:
- -" --u =. ..... s.s