The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1896-10-31
BICYCLES FOR rs CENTS.
The Machine of French Constructor
Called the Celeret.


A business las just been started in
Paris which may affect the price OF bi.
cycles all over the world. 1t undoubt-
eddy will, if the claims made by the
champions of the new undertaking
prove true. Cheap bicycles, SO cheap
that the mention of the sum takes ones
breath away, are to be ihe product OF
this new business or factory.
Wooden bicycles were offered for sale
in Paris some time ago at the unheard'
of price of &c sous each. Henri de Par
Vile, scientific editor of the Journal DIES
Debats, was musing over this strange
fact, when one day he received letter
informing him that very useful bl
cycle could be made for two sous, which
nre equivalent to a couple of cents oil
American money. A bicycle for couple
of cents! just think of it! A few
days later Paul Clerc, the writer OF the
letter, showed NJ. de Parville his two
cent bicycle. 1t was simply composed
of couple of pieces of wood taken from
an old box and two cents worth of iron
1t was, in other words, rough speci'
men of the primitive velocipede, as in
vented by Baron de Drais in 1918. The
component parts of this machine were
a rough wooden framework and tive
wooden wheels of equal size.
NJ. Clerc's idea is to place on the mar
ket machines fashioned after this CID
model, but with all feasible and mex.
pensive improvements. The machines
will have neither pedals nor intricate
mechanism of any kind. They will be
composed simply of a wooden franc
work, two wooden wheels and saddle
They will be known, not as bicycles
but as celerets.
| 1t is not expected that the celerets
will supersede the regular bicycles, but
| it is considered certain that thousands
who cannot afford to buy bicycles will
buy celerets. A first-class bicycle costs
500 or more; a first-class celeret can be
bought for one dollar or two dollars
and one of an inferior grade can be pur
chased as low as 25 cents. Nay, there is
no reason why handy man or boy
should not make celeret for himself
! in which case the only outlay neccs'
sary would be couple of cents for iron
And in regard to the utility OF the
celeret Baron DE- Drais said many year..
ago: ION a good road my machine car
travel at the rate of two leagues, ans
even four leagues, an hour, and wher
going down hill its speed is greater thar
that of galloping horse" Perhaps
the baron Dragged. The celert may NO;
go quite as fast as he claims. Still, il
can be made to go fast, and with little
effort. The rider is really walking
while in q sitting posture, and is far less
likely to become fatigued than if hs
were running III the ordinary manner
Progress is made by touching thu
ground alternately with the right ant
left foot The machine, once set in IN
ton in this manner, goes along steadily
and the speed at times is so great tina
the rider has no need to propel himsel
with his feet.
PUT pneumatic tires and other mod
ern improvements on celeret," say
NJ. Clerc, "and there is no reason VIII,
it should not go almost as fast as b;
CYCLE
He also says confidently that mai
can travel long distance on a celere
and feel hardly the least fatigue at tn
end of his journey. He accounts fo
this fact on the ground that none of tn
energy spent on propellng the machin
is wasted, and that the amount of er
ergy required to travel long journe
is much less than might be expected.
M. Clerc sees clearly that it will be n
easy task to make the celerets popular
When their prototypes, the draisenne'
were invented, at the beginning of tn
century, the few persons who venture
to use them in France were unmercifu
. ly caricatured. In England the m;
. chimes became more popular, but Their
/ too, their riders were ridiculed. We a
| know how long it has taken the moder
, bicycle to win its present high position
, NJ. Clerc, however, is confident of SUI
{ cess.
? According to him." says the Journ
! DIES Debats, thousands can derive ben
! fit from machine like this, which cos
almost nothing, which travels as fast
a trotting horse, and which can be ri
den by anyone without the slighte
!. danger of falling off. How many your
= people would use it for amusement al
health, and also for the purpose of lear
. ing how to ride the regular bicycle
. Workingmen could ride to their bus
], ness on celerets, children could go
. school on them, peasants could ride
2 market on them, and even business mt
could use them to save time. So lig
could they be made that riders cou
easily carry them under their arms,
necessary"
t, Analysed thoroughly, then, NJ. Cler'
q idea is pbilanthropic. He wants to fl
d nish workingmcn and the poor gener'
ly, who cannot afford to buy bicycle