The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1869-02-27
The velOoipsde.

Advancing civilization strives to econo-I
Snize time by annihilating distance There
iore the telegraph, the railway, and the |
standing French prize for inyensors IN the I
science and art of flying - oh had -I-8ings
like dove" is prayer Aot limited to the /
spiritually weary. Railways do no always !
have stations where NE want 80 20, and !
US until our forearms are developed into
natural pInions. So we must adopt the
next very best device. Next faster than
slow pedestrianism is to make one self
burden for beasts. Therefore a camel aided
Mahomets Hegira,s Bueephalus carried All
cxander, the Centaurs were born on horse
back, Gen. Taylor rode s Whitley and
Henry Ward ReeeheE was content with
slow "Old Charlie 2--.lntil he saw and
bought YelOcipede, the Latin or French
swift foot" ,r,-,-'. ID disc st
THE velocipedeE1 Who, after all the
talk and all theinewspaper paragraphs, has
not heard of theffleW inanitnate horse: who
has not desired to know more, and yet how
few have seen a genuine specimenI The
steed has almost crazed France and now
the mania, after exciting our English cous-
ins, has fairly invaded Y enkeedom =.
One earnest of the ultimate success of
the invention is the persistency of those
who attempt to INTRODUCE it. An entirely
impracticable idea would never have been
revived after its first hint, early in this
century, by Mons. Drais of Z Mannheim,
France An outline of his machine is given
among the illustrations in the last edition of
Webster's Unabridged Dictionary 1t had
no cranks, but was propelled by sncces-
sion Of pushes on the ground by the feet of
it's rider That embryo velocipede soon
passed out of sight A caricature present
ing one struggling with locomotive, which,
by the way, was then ridicnled, is now seen
in Paris library.
In 1880 another .Frenchmans Mons
Dreuse Postmaster General z of IL France,
made improvements, constructed number
and mounted some of his country pestmen
who rode trIumphantly for a year two.
Early in 1868 several Paris and Mannheim
factories began to supply ,Yelocipedes which.
soon found their way allover France. That
country is entirely favorable to their use,
because of the asphalt roads which are
smooth as floor Nv e are not able to pre-
cisely illustrate the varieties of the French
velocipede or their American reproductions.
An American has however, produced a
machine which, while it has marked im7
provements preserves the general French
outline
There are two wheels, the front one
three feet, and the rear, two feet and one
half high. The front wheel is Immediately
forward Of the other The connecting
reach has extending upwards therefrom stiff
springs upon which is affixed saddle like
seat with bearings for the vertical arbor of
forked standard, the lower end of which
has bearings for the short axle of the for
ward wheel The person using the veloci,
pede seats himself astride of the seat with
his feet upon cranks provided on the extrem-
tiles of the forward axle, and grasps with
his hands a cross handle furnished at the
top Of the arbor above indicated Skillfufly
balancing the apparatus be turns the forward
wheel by the action of his feeton the cranks,
and at the same time guides it in the de-
sired direction by turning the harboR's
handles. The wheels may be of any size
Some front wheels are two. and -one-half
feet high, and others are four, or even five
feet The rear wheel is generally smaller
than the other. : il5 FL :a..sT
Two or three days practice will enable
one to ride with encouraging prospects,. The
familiar example of a spinning top, or a
rolling hoop, will suggest the principle of
equilibrium. Upsets at FIRST are frequent,
but the confidence of the skater soon re-
wards the perseverlng.
On perfectly smooth roads the Velocipede
is entirely practicable On such, ten miles
are less fatiguing than half the distance on
foot Frenchmen have travelled eighty.fve
miles In eight and one-half hours, and
many men in Paris, New York; Chicago
and other cities pass from home to business
or work, and return, mounted on the oatless
horse. The rate of speed understandable
circumstances is wonderful The writer
has friend who traYerseda one-tlird of a
mile IN sixty-two seconds, at the rate of
nineteen miles per hour. The epFeFaiing
article, with two wheels, is called the
" Bicycle" Another variety with two hind
wheels, made for ladies and children; is
named the Tricycle." ~ = frfey-. 's'''asf' g
For the first time the ,veloeipede has
fallen into ingenious Yankee hands. These
will make it a success in some form. New
York, Boston, Chicago, and Indiana. Wis
consin, and scores of towns have obtained,
or applied for, patents for Improvement
Many Of these ideas are good, and many
decidedly foolish. There is a widefeld fer
the inventive, and large hopes for the haste
of him who now has neither wings; loc6mo-
tive nor horse.
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