The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1893-04-13
QUEER BIKES OF sYooNE DAYS


Some Extraordinary Methods Have Beer
Used In Making Wheels Go Round.
The bicycle passed through many
curious stages before it reached its
present stage of perfection. The ma
chine is one that peculiarly sxcites the
inventive genius of man, and the de-
signs that have been made in years
past, with the view of getting the
greatest amount of speed with the
least expenditure of energy are won
derful to behold. One of the earliest
forms of velocipede was that invented
IN the eighteenth century by one John
Viewers, master of boarding school at
Reigate, Surrey. England. Mr.. Viewers
had large number of wealthy young
men in his school, and he conceived
the bright notion of providing for them
travelling chaise without horses. The
rider was to be seated in the carriage,
where he could manage the steering
apparatus, while a servant, hanging on
by step behind, propelled the ma
chine. This bicycle" did not meet
with much favor, the chief objection
being that it did not run fast enough.
To such objections Mr.. Viewers replied
that the fault was not with his ma
chine, but with the propelling power
of the servant If, he argued, the serv-
ant were as strong as two ordinary
men, the machine could be made to go
twice as fast, which shows that Mr.
Viewers was as clever at repartee as at
mechanical invention.
l, L. knI
by a Frenchman about 1880. He went
to great deal of expense to have the
bicycle constructed, but after it was
finished found that he could not ride it.
The reason is plain. The machine was
driven by pressing the feet upon pro-
jections on the rim of the forward
wheel There was no steering gear or
brake. 1t would require modern ex-
pert to ride such machine. Some years
before this a Scotchman had devised
| what he dubbed self-moving car
riage. The adjective is misleading, for
the carriage was designed to be moved
by man sitting behind. The machine
never got any further than paper and
it is doubtful whether it would have
moved at all had it been built 1t was
calculated to carry seven persons and
was to be propelled by means of
| treadles
1t remained for an American to de-
wise the most remarkable cycle on re-
| cord The name and address of the in
ventor have been lost, but there is little
doubt that he was a Yankee. The con-
trivance consisted of sort of miniature
| dog cart, on which was a box seat.
This was connected by means of a pole
with large wheel in front, so arranged
that it could contain two dogs The
machine was guided by means of a
steering rod, with handle conven-
iently near the rider. The inventor
reckoned that the dogs, in their natural
desire to escape, would run forward,
thus revolving the wheel, somewhat
after the manner of prisoner on a
treadmill. Even supposing that dogs
could be procured which would perform
this service, there remained the ques-
ton of weight, which was the straw
that broke the inventors back, He
found that, with the clumsy materials
then in use, the carriage complete
would weigh about 200 paunds. To this
was to be added the weight of 49,
pound lady, for the machine was de-
signed especially for woman's use. Con-
siderable discussion arose as to how
heavy the dogs would have to be in or
der to drive this weight, and a book
written on the subject said that two
40-pound dogs would not suffice. The
inventor, therefore, deciding that ami
mails of greater weight could not be &C
commodated, abandoned the task The
first rear-driving safety was built by a
! Scotch blacksmith of the name of Gavin
Dalzel in 1876 The footpower was ap-
piled to levers attached to cranks on the
rear wheel.-N. Y. World.