Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1897-07-16
washington Standard
A JOHN GILPIN RIDE.
AN ENGLISH INVENTOR RIDES A
RUNAWAY MOTORCYCLE.

Flashed over Two Hundred Miles
of indiana Roads ut Breakneck
speed nnd Aroused the Whole
ryside-ThriiIing Terminal.
ton OF the 7sad Ride.
John Glpin's fearful ride was never
in it with the narrowing adventure OF
an English speculator on an Ameri-
cans motocycle. 1t was worse than
that. Sheridan, Putnam and John
Gilpin rolled into one neither
made the time nor suffered the awful
effects of mind and body. In the
home of a prominent manufacturer in
Pittsburg the victim is lying. His
hair is white from the awful mental
strain, three of his ribs are fractured,
an ankle is sprained, and both his
arms are paralyzed to the elbow. For
hours and Is minutes he rode q
motorcycle, travelling at railroad speed,
sweeping over 200 miles of quiet Indi-
ana roads in that time and setting
the whole country into an uproar.
This modern Gilpin came here some
time ago with party of English man.
ufacturers, says the Pittsburg Post.
Their avowed purpose was to buy up
promising inventions from unsophisti-
Gated Yankees and make fortune
from them. Others had done it be-
fore, and several of the party had
turned pretty penny that way. The
one who bit off more than he could
chew is known in England as keen
business man and dead game sports
man. He owns a hereditary estate
and writes himself Baronet" with q
big b.
Shortly after landing the party went
up into the Mesaba ore ranges near
Lake Superior. While there they hap
pened to fall in with an agent of a
Pittsburg manufacturer on the lookout
for just such a party of spectators.
The agent knew they would be inter-
ested in bicycles with the latest fea-
lures and told them of the invention
of Byron Chaplin, young minister at
Laporte Junction, Ind, who dabbled
in mechanics. Chaplin, he said, had
several bicycles fitted up with remark
able motors. The result was that the
party ran down to Laporte with the
idea of buying the patents.
The clew developed better than they
expected. Chaplin turned out to be a
pleasant faced young fellow, and he
showed no hesitation in trotting out
his wheels. The wheels in appearance
were like ordinary bicycles. They
had 2S.inch wheels, with patent nom
puncturable tires, also of Chapin's in
vention. His motor was the most es-
sential part. The machine was fitted
with storage batteries Of a new princi-
pie and an exceedingly compact gen.
orator or dynamo. When run 800
feet, enough energy would be stored
by the momentum to keep the bicycle
moving on ordinarily level ground, at
the same time q remarkable amount
of electricity being stored up. To
avoid an excess a switch to ground
he current at will was arranged to let
off the surplus electricity. The whole
arrangement fitted in easily within
the diamond frame, being geared from
there to the hind axle.
The prospective purchaser saw a
good thing and sized up the minister
for easy game. 1t ended with the
party mounting bicycles for q test
about 5 o'clock P. NJ.
Through Marshall county, Ind, the
roads are cycler's paradise. The in
ventor and the party of Englishmen
took the one following the line of the
Michigan and Lake Erie railroad for
the trial. The Britishers were in &C.
stasies. A push of 300 feet and they
felt the power under them. With
feet on the footrests and pipes in their
mouths, the inevitable fieldglasses
thrown over their shoulders and a flask
of spring water on the other side, they
sailed along, kicking up the dust at a
a 15-mile gate, showing their rear
wheels to every cycler on the road.
Everything went swimmingly, and
they began to dicker. The switches
let off the surplus electricity nicely
and the invention was pronounced a
blooming" success. The baronet
especially was tickled to death. He
began to experiment on the capable
ties of the machine, drawing ahead
and then falling back, but suddenly
he seemed to take a notion to run
away from the party, and faint shout
came back to them and the sound of
q terrific hum.
All they could see of the baronet
was a cloud of dust, with halo OF
tobacco smoke over it. They got
scared and let out their wheels to a
dangerous speed, but couldn't get
near him, and he disappeared around
a bend. The inventor timidly sug-
gested that the switch may have got
out of order, and then they were
scared,