New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1886-05-09
WHEELING AND UHEELNEN.
GROWTH OF THE SPORT HERE AND ABROAD.

SAFETY MACHINES THAT MAKE TIE wHEELMAN's
OLD ACE HAPPY ONE.
If any one wishes solid piece of fact with
which to back up rash assertion Calico tnat the
world does move" lie need further than to the
nearest bicycle club. T4cre lot him assemble 'era
old timers In the billiard reading and
by judicous circulation OF the which cheers and
coos but not ne6ates. unlock from their memories the
secrets OF the wheelmans past They will tell him that
many years the solitary wheelmah had harder
to hoe than Or. Mary Walker herself; they will tell
him how when they first forth in the brevity OF
their knckerbockers and the beauty OF their shining
wheels they saluted with Jeers and scurrilous
marks, stray tomato ana occasionally brckbats
from the mOuths and hands OF that lower order of crea
ton known to the Wheeling fraternity as It's" The
younger generation Know nothing of this Whether they
ride III the Park take hyngtrp through shantytown
they receive little notice that due to partic
ularly caudy uniform or style OF wheel.
Things have not reached here the same matter Of
stage that they have arrived at in England where
hundreds OF thousands of wheelmen riding the
chimes Of a hundred different makers. and national or
ganizaton collects thousands OF dollars every in
dues expended the dissemnat1 OF iniOr nation
and The protection OF wneclmcn their legal rights.
Sti things have been accomplished in few years
in this country. People have to realize that the
wheel vehicle am plaything that II has all the
rights Of tho road an1 may be ridden ny else
than Child escaped lunatic The fact is beginning
dawn them that it is permissible as source OF
health and pleasure and that where tho roads evidence
sufficient advance from barbarsm ii be used Tor
business PURPOSES Although bicycle Is tho best thns
IN tho world give boy need not throw il away
becoming " age he does MS top and his football The
Citizens Club, of NewYork, with its large and rapidly
growing membership admits none under twenty one
years Of age. Among its most active members
lawyers doctors, merchants OF position, Professional
men of all kinds and OF no profession other
that o. making the most of the good things which the
gods have given them. or course when man has
reached n when his bones become brittle
his stomach OhruSiye and his nerves tribe shay, lie
may not like TO risk peamDulatl0n on top OF 06-nc
wheel with its remote OF ugly fall; but the tri
cycle anu the dwarf or safety machine are waiting TO
rundle MN down through ais declining years III health
The latter class of machines is one in which grace
speed and pleasure to "a certain extent sacrificed for
safety The first type OF this machine that came INTO
as grassboI per-" In this the forks, frame that
down either side OF the biz whsel, had tre
mendous backward rake like the masts OF a pirate
schooner TINS brought The rider back between tie
wheels instead OF beng right the larger one, in
the ordinary machine. In order to bring the pedals
under the rider hi ched a bar that moved
mp and down beside the FORKS like the parallel bars on
with great catter and motion like that OF tue
grasshoppers locomotive APPARATUS, Hence the pet
still of dwarf machine. The front wheel
only forty inches in diameter and the rear wheel was
an ,ut two thirds as large. 1t was driven by little
connecting rods the latter being connected
that extended back under the feet OF the rider
The whole arrangement was much Ike the treade APP
paratus by which the village blacksmith runs his big
grndstOne. The neyt Candidate OI the rat mans FAVOR
the Kangaroo" This han tho purs crank notion
but the axis OF the cranks placed below aud back OF
that OF the wheel the connection being mace by chain
gearing An advantage OF this style that it could DC
geared IN" so that he wheel would make several
revolutions to of the cranks Thus good deal Of
could lie out OF the thing and Kangaroo
were quite the thing foe while.
The latest aspirant for the safety riders patronage
is the Columbia safety" This has the good point OF
the pure crank motion and The chain gearingand also
has adustaby to legs OF varying length. All " these
open to the objection that they do not steer
easily aud naturally clumsy. rney really BIZ
cycles and step backward toward the Old bone
shakers velOcil edes while the ordinary type OF ma
chine IS properly uncyclc-a wheel tine little wheel
is merely safety aPpendage. hearing 10 weight and
merely serving keep the rider from tipping back
ward forward He ides the wheel, which turns and
spins hongh IL part OF himself and II Is this
that makes bicycle all that it Is. The advantage of
the safety machine Is that the rider cannot well take
header" He may ride pellInel over the toughest
road. down hill and In the dark without fear If he
strikes rat hole that upsets his eqnllil rum.
falls over sideways putting out bis feet like long
Legged man riding a small donkey and lands right side
up with "a ttie The tricycle. ana the safety
chine make 1t possible for wheelnsn TO ride long
he walk and IN st completely dispose OF the play
hing