Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1880-03-04
The PracticabiIy Of the New Aid to lO-
eomotion-what has been and What
Can be Done with it-By all
Means Let US Have
A BICYCLE SCHOOL IN WHEELING.

Zealand, lndia, Mexico, SOuth America,
and the West Indies are already report
ell as having clubs, or the nucleus Of
them. and, in every instance vet, the
machine, once introduced, has gone
rolling into confirmed and widening ia
VOT.
Those who are peculiarly interested in
speed may like to know that the fastest
bicycle rate ever recorded was in BOs-
ton. in May last, aquarter mile in 49,
seconds, or at the rate OF 23l miles an
hour. the best mile has been made in 2
minutes and % seconds, which Is at the
rate Of one mile an hour less than this.
Three miles have been done IN . min.
utes and 4 seconds; five miles in 10
minutes and l3 % seconds; 10, in %
minutes % seconds; twenty, one hour
q minutes 4 seconds. The bicycle has
run 20 miles against two trOtters, re-
licying each other, and has won; the
short distance English champion, but a
lev months ago, published IN Boston \
challenge (unacceptcd) To run 20 miles
against any horse, or a single mile, pro-
viird that he should select the course in
the latter tase, and should have odds in
his favor, which might he set against the
difference recorded in favor Oi the best
m,lc trOt So much Tor speed; but it is
not To be assumed that the bicycle has
done its best, or that 1t may not yet beat
the champion horse on a single mile,
on his own track.
As To distances accomplished, the FOL
lowing are instances out Oi many: l0O
miles in "a hours; loo miles in 81 hours,
without "A stop; 2OO miles in IL hours 40
seconds; ,l7O miles in six days. These
are performances in halls. On roads are
the following: ~ miles ia l04 hours; 100
miles in Z hours, running time d hours
- minutes;l PIP miles in - hours; 10
miles ia hours 81 minutes, without a
stop, ~ miles in one hour 50 minutes,
lIO miles in IL 81 hours, OF which stop
pages took hours; 800 miles in three
days; no, ia, and l05 miles IN three
consecutive days; 100 miles IN OhOurs;
an average OF 20 miles every evening Tor
a month; 600 miles in Tour months;
,, 10 miles IN Is months; 6,36o miles ia
a year VIGOROUSLY, no horse could aC-
COmplish any one Of these ieatS; in Tact
no horse can keep up with the bicyle on
any course exceeding five miles at most,
and no user Of horses who understands
aud values that animal would think Of
putting one in harness the day after
driving him 80 miles.
A machine which can accomplish such
results and can so maTyelOusly augment
the effectiveness Oi the human body IN
lucumOtiOn Is certainly entitled tO most
respectful consideration; nor can any
body, out OF sheer increduilty, pooh
pooh its record as false and itself as a
"tOy' ui no practical value, without he
INK guilty Oi the most glarlng crcduiity,
tO-wit, that OF believing that 10 years
increasing use of the machine has not
revealed the truth about it, and that
Uf men, from bOyhoud 10
adult age and in every walk Of life, have
although without organiGa-
ton, 10 he deceived and then 10 extend
deception further Either the bicycle
IS all that It's users claim fOr 1t, or else
d ia the subject oi the most marvellous
hoax ever known.
odd incidents and new uses are ire
Iueutly reported Il has been discov-
cred that the bicycle runs Charmlngly
ln ice. Last New Years several chill
lrrn were delighted bya sled ride, their
horse being the bicycle \ resident ut
salem, Mass, reports that IN II months
past lac was riding the machine constant
Ia between house and place Oi business,
2OO times, at saving at $50 hours IN
lime. and a reduction at shoe
bills from SIS - 80. Packages are ha-
Jitually carried. Onc rider took Il piece
ii timber I 10y > inches and IL feet long
half a mile, this was done lot convcu-
cncc, not Tor sport, and the same per
,on regularly carries packages OF hard
ware weighing IL pounds or more. In
five months trip OI an agent Tor "a tlrm
lraling in manufacturers supplies
through parts oi Two ut the New Eng
and States, lac has travelled on hiS bicy-
.le. carving his bundle ct samples, over
!. OOO miles, averaging 80 miles a dav,
rrqurntly going 10 miles without dis
and visiting all mills aud man
concerns on the route. tie
laims that he accomplished thus dts
ancc in less than he would have done
,y'rail Observation-Disclosures which
~ otherwise could not have reached.
The construction ui the machine and
Is mlkrnCSS 90 the unsuccessful We
ocipc,ie have already been explained IN
hrSc columns, and "a little examination
nto the reasons why these results are
,nssibIe IL now appropriate. The speed
attained is susceptible Oi easy demon
tratinn. The wheels ridden by adults
AIRY from Is To 80 inches diameter, %
,cing probably the medium, AMI 81 the
lryrSt that can be used To- advantage.
sSuming - inches 10 he lair stride,
mi that a walker takes l2O a minute, he
,ill move 80 feet a minute or about
d miles per hour, which Isa brisk rate;
instead oi moving each loot y inches IN
ne arr ui a circle. let 1t be moved about
he same i'm the Oi a circle
described by the revolution Of the crank
4 a lO-inch wheel, aud instead oi adj
.anCing about } Is iect, the rider moves
3 ~ i,vt. ur. at 10 revolutions per min
ne ) ~ miles per hour. At 30 revolu-
ions per minute, the dlSisnce travelled
,ill be lOIl miles. at ~. ll.S9 miles; at
N. Is b miles. at lOO, AZ miles. All
bsss rates are attainable on the road,
n racing. 10 to $50 revolutions per
minute are reached Tor the short distan-
es.w hich gives speed at the rate OF lisa
D - 81 miles per hour. The bicyie
imply converts a step into rotary mo
ion. and more rapid movement OF the
eet is practicable in the latter, So that
rom ; 10 II miles an hour are feasible
N the road, although ; 10 10 miles will
,rlinarily BE- found most satisfactory.
This explains clearly how the oriin-
IN action OF The body IN walking is con
.erted into a greatly-ineneased speed, but
lot how il is that. time for time, propell-
ng the wheel 10 less laborious than walk
M. Whence comes this great increase
1 results in speed at much diminished,
instead of increased, expenditure OF
,ower? To many, this TACT, apparently
n defiance OF well-known Law Of me
hanics, is the great puzzle. But care
al study OF the two methods OF propul-
ION will explain it. Walking, at
hough an admirable mechanical per
,rmance, is a very imperfect one in re-
pcct to economy Of means. IL Is irreS-
liar and broken; every movement OF