The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1895-08-14
he qia Badly gaye uudnsaaY gpornuo, sugns H. 1885

was considered rather as a gymnastc
exercise. TO be undertaken only by the
very skillful. Thus it appeared TO MT.
TYLER and he at once ordered a veloc-
;nede from the advertised manufact-
urer. namely Calvin Witty, OF NO. ooo
Broadway, New York, who had pur-
chased the patent from the Hanions.
Said Mr.. Tyler:
latter having waited about three
months. the velocipede came at last:
IT came c. o. D., with a bill for $50 ana
a letter from the manufacturers stat
ing that was the first one they nau
made; that had given them their nrst
order, and the cause Of the long delay,
was their not being ready to manufac-
ture From the illustration OF the ma,
chine. / thought il would cost only slo
or SIS, and / was not ready 10 pay Soo;
A friend. however, came TO my ala anu
paid the bill. telling me that L couia
give exhibitions on the machine anu
in that way soon be able TO pay MN
back, which / did-there being plenty
of people then in America wl!iihs 70
pay money for the privilege OF seeing
a man ride a velocipede. Ihat night
/ took the wheel out of the express
Office about 9 o'clock and proceeded,
without instructions, to learn now W
ride it and managed to ride II ABOUT
a. square / hired an inclosed arena
and the people paid TO come IN ana
see me ride, and that fall estapilSheo
. valocinede school in Wilkesbarre.
NV wheel attracted much interest. be-
came so popular. in fact, that arucles
in reference 10 it appeared IN great
many newspapers, and invitations
roured in upon me to come and give ex-
nibitions in several. places. which az
forwards did, proving that Wneei-rio
ing was a remarkable attraction ana
lfS-t7,v ANT
need pay nomore for the sight OF man
ridoing a bicycle.
Nv wheel was something entirely
new to the country. People couldn
understand il. I remember one day,
when l was wheeling between Wilkes
barre and Pittston, / struck a hlSh
hill and had to dismount and push my
wheel a young girl with some cut
Iery in her hand ran out of house
and hailed me, offering me job; she
took me to be a SciSSorS-grinder.
AT the country fair of 1869 l ran a
bicycle race with a man who had made
his own machine. 1t was an exciting
contest, in presence of an enthusiastic
multitude. It was a mile race over
gravel track. 1 won the race doing the
mile in thirteen minutes-yes, thirteen
minutes-amid great applause, with
my adversary close up.
In conjunction with Commodore
Beauseant, the first man that ran an
iron-cIad across the ocean, / invented
a wheel that was never put on the mar
ket. 1t consisted of two large wheels,
with a seat slung between them, the
motion of the machine being governed
by crank worked by the hand. After
the Hanlon patent there were many
other patents taken out on VeloclpedeS
for both land and water, but some
how the wheeling practice dropped off
until the invention of the Ordinary
wheel" or large-wheeled bicycle, about
1880, which was in turn succeeded by
the present style, with chain and
'sprocket; solid rubber tires gave place
to the cushion tires and the pneumatic;
Improvements of various kinds have
been effected, and very soon the mo-
tive power will not be regulated by
the feet, but by oil and electricity.
Having made up my mind to COM
plete my trade as jeweler, gave up
the velocipede business until 1892, when
I took to the bicycle again. have rid
den a good deal since, but I'll never
be paid for doing so any more.
WHERE HONOR is DUE.
The Hanlon brothers, to whom
America is practically indebted for the
introduction of the bicycle, are still
well known throughout the United
States as proprietorS and managers Of
spectacular plays.