Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-02-27
AhDRIDERS.

OF the bicycle. Ine popularity OF the cy-
Gle has not only caused CONSERVATION
among the different lines of business, fore
ing physicians to close their offices, book
sellers to close their shops. jewelers. to COM
plain of hard times, confection stores to
wall of slow trade, livery stable keepers to
gnash their teeth, theaters to complain of
the lack of patronage, river resorts to make
the same cry, and goodness knows how
many other business branches to add their
tale of wee to the same general cry.
The latest cry. however. comes from the
owners of horses. The bicycle has had the
effect. so they claim, of reducing the value
of animals from 80 to 80 per cent. and even
more. This is too bad. In other words. a
horse that was formerly worth 800 is now
worth no more than $50. while some wrecks
that could be bought at the bone yard for
market value. which ranges between s. and
$40. This is not all. Horsefiesh has not
only decreased in value, but in buggies and
carriages of all sorts the same reduction
has been caused. and, SO it is claimed. en-
tirely through the general use of the wheel.
A buggy tt at at one time was worth $3.50
can be bought now for less than SO. and
the same with the other carriages. 1t must
be some sort of consolation to the livery
stable owners to know that after death.
unless the style changes and bicycles are in
augurated. it will be necessary to use car
riages, for which he will not neglect to
charge. 1t appears to be only question of
time when livery stable keepers will be
classed with the doctor and the undertaken.
A self-inflating tire has been invented, so
it is claimed. by an Englishman. 1t is self
initiating. inaSmuch as the air comes In au-
tomatically, and also self-deflating. because
the air escapes almost on the same plan in
which 1t comes in. Strictly speaking, the
invention is an alternating initiating and de-
fating tire, working automatically. In
stead of the usual endless tube which is
piece of tubing of about half the diameter
and twice the length is employed. This
tube is coiled twice around the wheel in a
direction opposite to that of its rotation.
and each of the two ends tapers to a point
where it is sealed.
These ends overlap one another to the ex-
tent of the tapering, and fill up the
space. A valve of the ordinary kind is fit
ted near one end of the inner tube and the
first coil occupies a position in the hollow
OF the rim. This part of the tube is thin
ner and of smaller diameter than the other
half, which is coiled outside of 1t and is sit
uated Immediately beneath the tread of the
tire. An outer cover of ordinary character
and attachment is used.
The automatic initiating is performed as
follows: II the tire is empty or has little
air IN 1t, the weight of the rider and the
machine congresses the tube. more espe-
cially the bore of the thinner part living in
the rim. to the end of which the valve is
attached This part is flattened under the
pressure. and as the wheel goes around the
pressure travels along it, leaving behind a
vacuum into which the air flows through
the valve. This operation goes on until the
IRE Is tuiiy inflated. being renewed at every
revolution of the wheel. The ingress of air
follows the f1attening of the tire making
the imitation of the tire an automatic pro-
cess. The tire works whether there is a
puncture or not, and the claim can also he
made that 1t Is non-puncturable.
The purchaser of a new wheel this year,
in addition to having the option of selecting
the style of saddle and number of Other
a HOY
of selecting the style of handle bar wheth
er wooden or steel, and the curves of the
same There has been a good deal said of
the relative merits of the two STYLES of
handle bars and in this column something
has been published. The use of the handle
bars may be a good deal like the use of
tires: One year the single tube will be
all the rage, and the next year the double
tube Will be popular, and vice versa. There
Is no gauging the public sentiment and
the side that makes the best showing and
gets the most advertising seems to be the
side that will succeed. Wooden handle bars
are comparatively new though MANY of
the wheels of this year use them. For the
wooden bar it is claimed that the vibration
or the wheel Is less felt. owing to the yield
Ing qualities of the wood. than with the
steel bar, and furthermore while the
strength of the two is about equal, the
wood needs no continual polishing and will
not rust This Is the claim for the wooden
bars. Every one who rides a wheel knows
the advantages of the steel bar One is a
certainty: the other is not The rider
Should choose for himself.
The switching from base ball to cvc,,ng
IS constantly occurring. and the devotees
OF the wheel are constantly increasing
Ihey bring with them. however, sugees-
tons. some good and some bad A certain
class of sport Is run this way: why not air"
is the gist OF their arguments. They seem
10 forget that what may be food for some
may be poison for others. A ST. Louis
man who has changed from base ball to
bicycling makes one or two good sugges-
ions. To begin with, he thinks the racing
rules need revision; so do a good manv
others: This particular individual states
vised, and SO should those which govern
cycling. The idea is to give the public as
much satisfaction as possible" says the ST
LOUIS man. relieve the competition of OBJ
1ectlonable elements which creep in and
compel riders to conform to certain restric
tons that will lessen the danger of the
competition. 1t does not seem fair to nut
pacemakers into a race. Riders. one and
ALL are not treated alike, and unless some
means are devised whereby every comneti
tor has the same privileges the sport GAN
rot be Glenn and healthy. Although but
one fatal accident is recorded as the result
OF cycLng racing, many Of the fast riders
of today have scars running the length of
tEeir bodies. A spill on a gravel track NAV
mean the loss of several inches of skin and
flesh. This has nothing to do with the
pacemaker and cannot be entirely removed
unless the most stringent methods are used
In puniShlng rider whenever he Is in
strumental in causing accident A
scheme was proposed some months ago
which necessitated every man in the race
setting his share of the pace. This scheme.
II adopted. would effect many beneficial
changes. For instance, race is on. Every
rider must conform to the rule which
states explicitly that during some part of
that race he must set his share of the
pace There would be no pacemaker.
Every man would fear disqualification un-
less he was seen at the head of the bunch
during some period of the event. The re-
suit would be the fastest. most fiercely con-
tested races ever witnessed. To see the
men skurrying to the front would lend an
element that is painfully lacking at pres
ent."
The Thanks Were Premature.
From the San Francisco Argolaut.