St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-11-22

wheelWomen, for there are numerous
representatives of the gentler sex who are
just as enthusiastic and ardent devotees OF
the wheel as the most earnest blcycler on
record. Tricycling in fact has become even
more popular than bicycling. and the curl
GUS vehicles which are making their ap-
pearance on the streets of Washington,
carrying sometimes the entire family, add
a novel and interesting feature to the al
ready varied line of pedo-motors in Wash
ington. In fact it is the appearance OF
some of these curiously arranged machines
that has suggested this article.
1t is little over half dozen years since
the first bicycles made their appearance in
Washington. Now there are hundreds and
hundreds of them. According to the best
estimate your correspondent can obtain the
number of bicycles and tricycles Of all sorts
probably runs up to about fifteen hundred.
The great variety of these vehicles is some
thing astonishing to the average observer.
Among the bicyclers there are evidences OF
great effort to construct safety" machines.
With the ordinary bicycle the rider sits
nearly over the center of his large wheel,
so that # in riding the wheel strikes any OBJ
struction or drops into a depression the
momentum and weight of his body carry
him on forward and he takes what is tech
nically known as header" coming down
over the front wheel and striking perhaps
on his hands, perhaps on his head. 1t is to
prevent this difficulty that such variety OF
machines has been invented. Probably the
largest number of these
SAFETY MACHINES
now used in Washington are of the pattern
shown in the accompanying cut, with the
small wheel in front. With this machine.
the rider sits. it will be seen, pretty nearly
over the center of his large wheel, but hav-
ing the small wheel in front, the chances of
taking headers are very much lessened.
Sometimes even with this machine how
ever, there are falls, and very serious ones.
Another class Of machines have levers so
arranged that the rider sits much farther
back than the center of his large wheel and
by the use of double levers gets the same
motion that is had in the ordinary machine.
Another class of bicycles used very much
here are those with extremely small wheels,
so small that the rider may almost touch
the ground with his feet. Some of these
are geared so that each motion of the foot
prOpels one wheel full rev.
olutien instead of half revolution,
as In the ordinary case. 1t would be safe
to assert that there are among the thousand
or twelve hundred bicycles in use in Wash
ington probably twenty, perhaps thirty,
different kinds of machines, the large ma
jority of the new inventions having been
made with the sole idea OF adding to the
safety of the rider.
Within the past year tricycles have gained
greatly in popularity. Two years ago you
seldom saw one. A year ago they began
to come into more general use, and now
you see great numbers of them. Not only
are they ridden for pleasure and exercise,
but by business men for business purposes.
and by ladies for exercise and recreation.
They are even used, too, by children, and
it is not an uncommon thing to see misses
of 10 or 70 and masters of similar age riding
to and from school upon tricycles or BIZ
cycles. Young ladies and gentlemen glld-
ing over the streets of the city or along the
well-kept roads of the district. business men
hurrying up and down the avenue on two
or three wheels, and physicians attending
to their professional calls by the aid OF
these vehicles. The most interesting fea-
ture of the late appearances in the tricy-
cling world is the result of efforts to make
A FAMILY" MACHINE.
There are great numbers of these, and the
variety is nearly as great as the number
Everywhere you 60 you see them. Some
times the ladies alone are riding upon them,
sometimes they are accompanied by gentle
men. sometimes there are two seats side by
side between the wheels, which are con-
nected with long axle, sometimes the seats
are arrayed tandem fashion. in which
case the lady usually occupies the front
seat and the gentleman the rear, each doing
his or her share of the work of propelling.
So common have these machines now be-
come that their appearance excites no re-
mark. You may see them on the avenue
or hurrying about the streets almost any
day and at almost any hour OF
the day. Ladies who use them
are enthusiastic in their behalf.