Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1893-06-08
THE BICYCLE IN 1893.
How the Wheel Nay Look One Hundred
Years From Now.

How the Wheel Nay Look One Hundred
Years From Now.
The bicycle of 1903 will be built on very
much the same lines as the safety of 1893
l. e., with two small wheels very nearly of a
size. This was the plan of the first machine
built in 1917, and now after a lapse of 76
years we have come back to the original
design. A machine on this plan can be
built stronger and lighter than on any other
model. With the weight between two
wheels there is less vibration than when it
IS over either one of them, as in passing
over an obstruction the weight is lifted only
half the distance in the former case that it
is in the latter.
Then by the use of some alloy of greater
tensile strength, weight for weight, than
steel, and by filing the tires and the tubes
in the framing with hydrogen instead Of
air, the weight of road machine will be
reduced to 10 pounds or less, while racing
machines will not weigh half that much
The machine will also be made SO that 1t
can be folded up and carried about or slowed
away in some corner. BY improvements In
the construction of the bearings of moving
parts friction will be almost wholly elimi-
mated, and the method of applying power
will be SO perfected that there will be alb
solutely no such thing as lost power.
The roads will be prepared especially for
bicycles, the grades being very slight and
in fact only sufficient to provide proper
drainage. The surface will be hard and
smooth, the outer edge Of all curves being
raised as on a race track. The roads will
be kept clean, as by that time the horse
will be found only in geological gardens
The improvement in the rider will be equal
ly marked. From the continued and In
creasing use of the wheel race Of people
will be evolved that will take to cycling as
readily as foreign immigrant does to poll
tics. Taking all these things into cons1d-
Grafton, we may expect an average speed OF
30 miles an hour on the road and 60 miles
an hour on the track. The use OF the ma
chine will be universal. Children will be
taught to ride as they are now taught to
walk. The suburbs of our great cities Will
extend from go to 100 miles in every direc-
ton. All patents will have expired and such
large quantities of bicycles will be manu-
featured that the cost will be nominal and
within the reach of all. There will be no
more crowded tenement houses The arti-
san, who will work only four hours day,
will live with his family in a coy little
home in the suburbs where he can see the
sun shine and breathe the fresh air. The
use Of the wheel will have so improved the
stamina and physique Of the race that the
only causes of death will be old age and
accidents.
Railroads will be used for the transporta-
ton of freight only. Every individual will
own bicycle Those intended for long dis
tance travel will be run by small but pow
erful storage batteries, which may be
charped et automatic electric stations by
connecting the battery to a dynamo and
dropping coin of small value in slot.
With machines of this character it will be
possible to attain speed of $50 miles an
hour, and to overcome the wind pressure
they will be fitted with wedge shaped wind
shields made of some tough yet transparent
substance The bicycle will not be used in
war for the simple reason that as dyspep-
sia will be unknown everybody will feel SO
well and be so good humored and disin-
clined to quarrel that there will be no one
to 20 to war. WILLIAM d. KEMPToN.
Childhood In City and Country.