The record-union., 1896-08-23
FOR THE SCORCHER.

Ny
FOR THE SCORCHER.
oh. youth, who, bending forward, rides
apace,
With melancholy stamped upon your face,
Pursuing pleasure with frenzied eye,
Yet Knocked by her, however fast you ny,
Are you aware how horrible you look?
No guy invented for picture-book
Was ever more painful sight than thou,
Lord of the bent back and the anxious
brow.
Be less intent to pile up mile on mile
Enjoy the prospect as you glide along,
The trees, the sunshine, and the robins
song.
To us who view you scorching day by day,
Bent on your bar in such an awkward way,
You are the homeliest thing on earth, my
Oh, sit up straight, and make the land
scape gladi
Robert Grant, in Harper's Weekly.
The subject of punctured tires is al
ways interesting to wheelmen. To the
veteran not much can be told as to the
better way of mending tire. There are
one hundred and one ways of doing it,
but it seems that we are on the eve of
revolution in that respect, as is indi-
Gated by my Southern friend.
The veriest novice can repair q simple
puncture with the outfit supplied by the
manufacturers of tires. He will not
have to do even that any longer, be-
cause there are on the market now
number of liquid cements, if they may
be termed such, which mend the pune
ture without any inconvenience to the
rider, and nine times out of ten without
his knowledge.
These liquids come in small cans,
which contain enough for both tires.
The liquid is divided and half a can of
ii is pumped into each tire through the
air valve. The tire is first Debated and
when the liquid has been pumped in the
tire is again inflated.
number of experiments have been
conducted in the offices of the Sunday
World by the inventors of the liquids
to demonstrate their practical value.
Holes have been jabbed into tires with
tacks and nails and knife blades, and
IN each Instance the ifqufd closed the
r.uncture almost instantly. The ex-
periments were made with a detached
tire, and so far as they went were
highly successful.
The liquid, when the wheel is in mo-
tion, coats the inner surface of the tire,
and when the puncture is made the
air forces it into the opening and the
liquid sets Immediately. According
to these promoters the liquid can be
carried in the tire for an indefinite
time. It is liable to thicken after while,
but little alcohol added to it will thin
it down to its original consistency.
bicycling cannot be immoral, be-
cause it is healthy. Whatever i'm
proves the health improves the morals
says Henry Smith
Bicycling is moral, because it takes
people out into the pure air of the
country, amid scenes of nature and
away from cities, which are centers of
immortality. immortality fiourishes in
the Tenderloin, and not in the farm
yard.
1T is cities that pollute human ma
ture, not the country. Bicycling up
lifts and strengthens those who are
good, and it tends to improve and re-
form those who are bad by bringing
them close to nature and amid scenes
of natural beauty and splendor and
away from the tawdry embellishments
of vice and luxury.
immortality flourishes upon disease,
which it creates in mind and bordy
Bicycling is death to all diseases Of
the body. 1t clarifies the mind, purifies
the lungs, invigorates the blood and
stimulates healthy emotions.
The church has welcomed the blcy-
Gle. The saloon regards it as an en-
emy.
bicycling has already hurt the rum
traffic, the theater and the concert hall
1t viii hurt them still more Soft
erinks' have had a boom from biey-
cling, while cigars and rum have de-
clined in consumption. This ought to
show in which direction the bicycle
tends If it were immoral, the saloon
would not fight the bicycle as it is do
ing"
OF all the recent inventions pertain
ing to bicycles, there is one that is sim
ply charming. 1t is an arrangement
whereby the same power which drives
the bicycle also sets in motion a music
box which is attached to the machine.
The music-box is attached to the front
forks and the operation is carried on by
means Of a cord passing over a small
pulley in the box and around one of
larger size fastened to the spokes. 1t
is said that the wheel is in great demand
for serenading and running about town
on pleasant evenings. Since the in
vcntor has inserted the Daisy Belf'
cylinder, he says he has had an in
creased demand for tandems.
The inventor says that his idea is
the greatest of the century, because 1t
widens the field of bicycling to a degree
that is almost alarming. He points
out that with the music-box arrange
ment the racing man win be able to
make greater speed because the music
will enthuse him.
For the road rider there could be moth
ing better If the spirits or the muscles
of the scorcher should flag when on the
honeward journey, all he would have to
do would be to hook up the arrange
ment and have music that would be
inspiring and make him feel like a new
man. The musical bicycle could GER
tainly be employed to enhance the
sweetness of loves young dream. In
these days of double bicycles, and with
the warm nights and the full moon,
the attachment of a music-box to a BIZ
cycle is quite sufficient to make an or
binary sentimental young man daft.