The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1896-01-15
The Modern Bicycle.

has been noticed in these columns be.
fore. Originally the velocipede found
no application exceptas toy. In the
early days adults as well as children
took up the bicycle as recreation pure
and simple, it's propulsion over the or
dinary roads being SO laborious as to
make it available only under very
exceptional circumstances
In the old velocipede the inelasticity
of the frame made it hard to drive,
and it was only rendered endurable
from the point of comfort by having a
saddle mounted on springs. Slumber-
ing among the patent records mean
while was an invention which was
destined to transform the primitive
bone shaker into conveyance Of ease
and comfort and to minimize the in
cqualitics of this invention, now known
as the pneumatic tire, the adoption of
slight change in proportions, and the
use Of multiplying gearing for the in
crease Of speed, we're all that were
wanting to make the modern bicycle.
The development of the cycle, not
withstanding, was slow. First came
the old-fashionei high-wheel bicycle,
the possible diameter Of whose wheel
was fixed by the size Of the person
riding. By special leverage arrange
ment the size of the wheel was in
creased in some cases up to or 8 feet
in diameter. After various efforts at
front-driven low or safety wheels came
the modern safety, driven by the rear
wheel. Solid India rubber ties were
still in use, and various attempts were
made, and with more or less success,
to introduce springs into the frame,
so as to moderate the jar incident to
the inequalities of the road, until the
pneumatic tire was introduced. The
modern bicycle is the result.
Two exhibitions Of bicycles and
accessories are to follow each other in
rapid succession during the next two
weeks-one in Chicago and one in
New York. In February q third ex-
hibition is toIbe held in Denver. The
Scientific american, realizing that
comparatively little is known by the
general public of the methods Of man
ufacture adopted in the modern bicycle
factory, and that many points in mod
ern bicycle construction are but little
understood, has determined to present
it's readers with the methods of con-
struction and machinery used in the
production of frst-class wheel.
The exhibitions alluded to above
will show the present development of
the machine, which, in conjunction
with the electric railroad and the
autombile carriage, is doing its part to
make the horse drawn vehicle in great
part thing of the past. In them will
be represented the latest notifications
of this most interesting mechanical
achievement, which enables man to
increase his speed from four miles
an hour to twelve or 6fteen-a machine
in which the study of joints has re-
ceived great attention and where the
art of connecting steel members of a
frame has been brought to the highest
perfection-in which the subject Of
bearings has been worked up to con-
summate excellence so that ball
bearing wheel will travel thousands Of
miles without the balls or cones show
ing any appreciable wear.
Merely as an example OF the truss,
bicycle represents veritable
achievement, for it's frame may be
considered as truss spanning dis.
tance between the front and rear wheel
axlcs, and in the case Of quadruplet
and quintuplex wheels the truss may
have to carry nearly thousand pounds.
The most healthful sign of what
cycling really means is it's employment
by business men, by the farmer and
by government officials. The cycle is
being used by the police Of different
cities, by the postmen and by street
inspectors. 1t is being used with the
greatest success by the signal service
department of the army, and cycle
drills in the regular army will soon be
among the tactical evolutions in this
country, as they have long been
abroad.
AS an example Of the practical use
of the wheel in the regular army,
Lieut.. Hugh D. Wises ride from
Sackett's Harbor, N. Y, to Govern
or $ Island, in the harbor Of New York
City, may be cited Mounted on an
184 pound racing wheel, and loaded
with pack representing the heavy
marching order equipment OF the reg,
ular army, the distance Of about 400
miles was made in 81 hours. The heat
of the weather, the sandy roads, and
the mountains traversed made the ride
an unusually trying one, but 81 * hours
sleep being obtained during the entire
trip. Considering the extreme light
ness of the wheel, it stood the trying
ordeal of the trip extremely well, and
the light racing tires stood with but
a few punctures until one gave out
near the end of the trip. The riding
speed was 12} miles an hour. Lieut..
Wise is in the regiment of the Ninth
Infantry, U. S. A. Such service as
that represented by this ride might be
invaluable in time of war or riot. One
of the bushings split and six hours
we're lostby the rider in making a new
one at common blacksmith shop on
the road. The performance shows the
efficiency of the wheel for dispatch
purposes.
The great perfection of the bicycle
depends upon its ball bearings, which
eliminate so much of the friction OF
the machine proper, and to the pneu-
matte tire, which reduces so largely
the rolling friction between the wheels
and the road by it's principle of recu-
peration of energy. To some slight
extent these Improvements have been
introduced among horse-driven We
hicles, but curious moral is to be
drawn from the fact that it is only
| when man became his own vehicle
propeller that the utmost refinements
| in the abolishing of resistance were
introduced. 1t still seems as if the
lesson of the modern bicycle had not
| been fully appreciated by the carriage
| builder. Within little more than
three years the ordinary road wheeI
has been reduced in weight from forty
| mr. forty.fiye mounds to twenty pounds