The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1896-07-02
TRACKED.

Rogers fell a victim to his enthusiasm
4or the new wheel. Added to the &C.
stasy of the devoted cyclist was also
the passion Of the inventor. Rogers
had plenty of money, and so could in
dulge his fads. He had an ingenious
brain, and consequently when his craze
was photography he invented several
perfectly unworkable cameras; and
now that he had taken to cycling with
all the fervor of youth, he had natural
ly concocted many Improvements, So
called, upon the machine.
The wheel upon which he was now
mounted was practically his own inven-
ton. 1t was exceedingly light and
strong, the framework being made OF
aluminium, and its pneumatic tire had
a covering which he was positive would
make it absolutely non-slipping. The
ordinary geometrical raised work on
the average non-slipping tire, he held,
was inartistic, and so he drew a design
for non-slipping tire which would
leave his own autograph, as it We're.
along the roads, and which would pre-
vent the wheel from going sideways
on turning a muddy corner. A cele-
brated rubber manufacturing company
had constructed tire, faithfully fol-
lowing Rogers designs, at tremendous
cost, and now the young man was for
the first time mounted on his new ma
chine, finding, to his delight, that it
worked beautifully.
In his eagerness to test the machine
fully he went further afield than he
had intended and was somewhat tired
when he came to the forking OF the
road, where it branched off in three d.
rections with never finger post to
guide the bewildered traveller.
Night was coming on rapidly and
earlier than the season called for, be-
cause the clouds hung low in the sky,
and the weather seemed threatening.
Rogers had come too far to return home
that night. He knew in a vague and
general way that Saddlesbury was
ahead of him, and he thought he must
be within ten miles of the place, but
which of the three roads led to it was
a question he could not answer, and
there was no one abroad that lowering
evening from whom he could make in
quiries. After a moments hesitation
he again mounted his wheel and took
the road which appeared to be the most
travelled, but after following it a mile
in increasing darkness this road again
branched and neither of the new ways
seemed particularly inviting.
1t was now so dark that he resolved TO
light his lamp, and then discovered that
il his intense absorption regarding the
improved qualities of his new wheel he
had neglected minor details; he had no
oil with him, and his lamp, new one,
was entirely empty. He concluded to
risk arrest by the local authorities, so
he once more mounted his wheel and
drove ahead. The rain now began to
come down steadily, and the moon,
which he knew had risen, was entirely
obscured by the clouds. The roads be-
came wet and slippery, and he found
that his new invention was still capable
Of improvement, for on turning an un
expected corner somewhat be- suddenly.
the wheels slipped from under him and
be sprawled on his hands and knees in
the mud. Nothing that human ingenui-
ty has yet concocted is so treacherous
as the absolutely non-slipping tire on
slushy corner. Rogers picked him
self up and struck the mud from his
clothing as wen as he could, CROPPED
about in the rain and darkness for his
machine, put it on its wheels once more
and trundled it along, trudging by its
side. He longed for a habitation of any
sort, but the road seemed absolutely de-
rted.
Tramping gloomily in the downpour
he cursed his inventive faculties that
had led him astray. and the bad weather
which made his journey a misery.
Once Or twice he mounted the machine
and tried to make quicker progress,
but the darkness was SO intense and the
roads so bad that he finally abandoned
all thought of wheeling. At last he
came to an avenue of trees whose thick
overhanging branches formed kind
of shelter from the storm. He stood
his machine up against one of the tree
trunks, filled his pipe, ard, after many
futile attempts, succeeded in getting
a matchito burn long enough to light
the tobacco gs ->Ng" r5r7pf.h
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