The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-08-16

could give, it made four miles an hour.
This latest invention has done" fifteen
miles an hour, and there Is no indi-
cation whatever that the limit has
been reached. In fact those who have
become expert in its use say that be-
yond question there are possibilities in
the sextuplet bicycle shell which will
in time be a source Of amazement.
i Some Of the young ladies who have
tried to learn the art Of mastering this
peculiar sort of cycling have had some
very undignified falls, for the bicycle
Shell, like all marine contrivances, is
very apt to tip over If sufficient i'm
retus from one side or the other is
given This was illustrated not. many
days ago, when a party of six demo1-
selles, the daughters of we'll to do cit
teens. started out on the Seine for a
trial trip. These particular six young
women had never ridden together be-
fore, even on land, and so they were
rot familiar with the wheeling ideas
of one another. Now everybody who
has ever ridden a wheel knows that no
two riders ride alike. If they had wit
messed the consequence Of ignorance
in this particular case, they would be
more convinced than ever.
The shell steers by the action Of all
six of the riders and not through
mechanism controlled from the stern.
1T is, therefore, absolutely necessary
that the riders work in unison, and the
captain Of the ride tells the other
riders what to do just as the coxswaIn
N 10 g no Crix- r.
the stroke oar. She gave the direc-
tiOns this time properly enough, but
one independent young woman pre-
ferred her own way. The result was
that in less time than it takes to write
this, the whole six were spilled into
the Seine, and though all were fished
out in safety, there were several mar
row escapes.
. The boat is very buoyant, and not
at all cranky. The idea in construct
ing it was to make it as safe and sim
pie as possible. If the riders care To
train as people always train who row
in a boat together-not for proficiency
so much as unanimity-there would be
no danger whatever The pedalline
motion by the young women acts as
the power to move a steel propeller
shaft which starts at the stern of the
bow. There is no danger whatever OF
its becoming twisted or out of order
for the main object of the inventor
has been to preserve it from all twist
ing sidewise motion which might easily
bring about disaster. Every expert
1nent that could be thought of has
been tried to make it absolutely safg
and sure and the motion OF the boat
Indicates that these efforts have met
with perfect success.
The balance wheel Of the mechanical
part of the shell is located in the cen
ter, and carries the propeller over the
necessary point without any difficulty
Every time the pedals Of the bicycle
gearing make one revolution, the pro-
peller at the stern makes five. To I'M
derstand exactly what this means and
gain correct idea Of the speed of the
shell, just watch how many times a
minute the pedals revolVe when a
rider is moving at an ordinary rate OF
speed. Then multiply this by five and
you Wll nave the exact number of the
revolutions Of the propeller per minute
1t is well known fact that so MANY
revolutions per minute Of a propelIer
O. a certain size means a given degree
I of speed, and in that way, the exact
+ time which the shell can make can be
3 calculated.
b. This is the basis upon which the
| calculation is made which furnished
ground for the statement regarding
Speed possibilities previously made. Nc
one has yet scorched on the bicvcle
Shell, and yet there is no reason why
they should not 1t is also possible
that IL men were to ride the machine
lrather than women, their greater mus.
ocular power would furnish an irresisti.
lble impetus. 1t is estimated, that. al
Things being equal, q man can if he
Idesires ride third faster than
sNFoman. This being the case, if the
ishell will permit Of the increase, there
lsSeems to be no reason why the speed
lpif the shell should not become a third
lstreater than it is possible for the sum.
DHller girl to make.
An odd fact in connection with tht
z,kew invention is that it seems to be
Encouraging the new woman idea Or.
= iinarily the summer girl looks on moth
ing with more horror than the pros
pect Of being away from the summer
young man. but the popularity of the
pew machine and the fact that 1t i: