Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1869-09-10
The "lclOcipede'' Ride Across Nj
agarA.


The Buffalo Express gives the following
account of Professor, jenkins ride over
Niagara on q bicycle. ~ ~ Nh W 3.
The machine used by Professor jenkins
is not in any sense a velocipedc ltis,
however bicycle, and turned upside
down would resemble in some degree u
modern velocipede. The wheels, three
inches wide, are made heavy and of wood
without tires, but in their places are
grooves one and three. quarter inches deep
The front wheel is three feet two inches in
diameter. The connecting rods arc iron,
as also the halance-polc, which is eight
feet long and tipped with ten-pomid balls,
and weighs twenty eight pounds. The
whole thing with the man thrown in,
weighs 29Spounds. The propelling power
is pinion cog-wheel made of brass, about
nine inches in diameter, which is made to
gear to cogs which surround the front
wheel at the bottom of the groove.
The 1000 feet of good two.inch hemp
rope stretched across the chasm, 200 feet
above the boiling flood, was the first, OBJ
ject to be gazcd upon by the crowd, but
you could not reach it without paying %
cents, which great many did, and were
rewarded by a close inspection, The cable
was fastened securely and immovably ON
shore coiled around windlass to facilitate
the tightening, and then twisted and tied
around aioouple of cedar stumps. The dc,
Election of the rope was about thirty feet
AT 2;39 O'clock the Professor made his
appearance at the small house on the
Canada side with the pieces ofhis machine
and ut once proceeded to put them to-
gether, a task of no small labor. With the
| aid of his men he first placed the fore
wheel on the rope just ut the edge of the
precipice, and while one man balanced il,
another placed on the standard from the
under side, thus bringing two strong bars
of iron on either side Of the rope. Al the
| joints were securely fastened with bolts
The braces or connecting rods extending
from the standard to the rear shaft in thC
form of the letter o made the connection
complete and very strong The Professor
then got outside of the rope, arranged tho
pinion wheel and fastened the balance
pole across the o part the braces Thi>
done, the seat, strip of leather was Sc
cured to the rear axle by means of straps
This arrangement, which it was seen at
once would throw the, entire weight ofthc
machine and the rider under the rope,
was source of disappointment, if not OF
relief, to many of the spectators, who, not
consulting the inventive genius of the
Canadian Blondin, rather expected to, see
him mounted on-a Greenwood velocipede
which, OF course, wouldgivea good chance
for ground and lofty tumbling:----
All being in readiness, the bicycle was
fastened by a rope to the bank, and Jen-
kins, who had superintendcd all the opera.
TONS started for his hotel to'robe Dur
ing his absence the crowd viewed the ma
chine critically, and inurmdrs Of "'hhm-
heard, but as general thing, the crowd
were pleased with the ingenious method
in which the great danger supposed to be
involved in the undertaking had been
avoided. ts ''sH ~ - a
The lion made his second appearance at
800 O'clock, dressed for the performance.
The machine moved slowly forward, the
rope swaying gently fromsidc TO side until
he had passed out about fifty feet, after
which he crawled along at a snars pace
to the middle of the abyss, where he raised
and waived his, hat, and received faint
cheer in response. From the center to the
American shore il was evidently hard
work to propel the bicycle, but at last the
edge of the cliff was reached, and then
therwelkin did ring with the applause OF
the people. The time occupied IN passing
over the rope was just eleven minutes.