Daily Kennebec journal., 1897-09-08
DARING RIDE Rs.
Remarkable Acts Performed on Bicycles.

Of feats that have been performed on
the bicycle which may be considered as
extraordinary. All kinds of circus
acts" have been done, many of them Ill
mere bravado or in acceptance of some
wager or dare" Riding a grooved-
wheel bicycle on tight wire high over
the heads Of the spectators as the lady
does in almost every greatest show on
earth" Is quite trick, but it does not
compare with some of the others done
on ordinary bicycles by people who
have no connection with either circus
or side show. says writer IN the
Chicago Times Herald.
One of the greatest achievements in
the way of extraordinary cycling feats1
in America is that OF riding down the
capitol steps in Washington. AS yet
no one has attempted to ride down the
Washington monument, but moro rid
ers than one have made the trip down
the steps, though those who have been
down can be counted on the fingers of
one hand. In the first place, the police
are a great drawback to riding down
the capitol steps, They have been
taught to think that the steps were not
put there as a toboggan slide for
wheelmen, and they are particularly
active in keeping adventurous cyclists
away from the place. A few, very
few, though, have eluded the police and
made the attempt. Some of them have
come through all right and others have
landed at the bottom with broken
bones and wheels smashed to smith
Greens.
Anyone who has seen the capitol
steps knows what a ride it would he
to so down them, and probably is con-
WINGED that any rider who can make
the trip and get through it with Il
whole skin knows pretty well how to
keep his balance on bicycle. The
steps are at least so feet high and are
divided by four broad landings, that
make the descent more difficult than it
would be if there We're steps all the
way.
A novelist once wrote a story IN
which he made one of the characters
ride his bicycle on one rail of a railroad
track. 1t may have been done in that
novel, but it was never done in reality,
although a great many riders have
tried it. There are so-called railroad
bicycles" with three wheels which are
ridden on almost every line in the
country, but of course they do not
count in this consideration.
Easton G.. WILMER an American
rider, has been the most persistent in
his attempts to ride one rail of rail-
way track on his bicycle, but he was
forced to give up the effort finally and
to call to his aid second bicycle. Tha
second machine he trundled along at
his side while riding the other over Il
high trestle bridge behind a train. The
machine he rode was furnished with a
single handlebar.
Riding bicycle on one rail seems
easy, though, as compared with riding
one on the bottom of the sea. David
NJ. Nilloch, an oldtime diver now in
the employ of the United States gov
ernment, has accomplished that trick
and enjoyed the ride. The memory OF
an old-time song leads one to believe
that the bottom of the sea belongs 10
one McGinty, but Nilloch took his
wheel down there just the same and
established record for quarter of i
mile for that particular portion of the
earth.
1t was at New Rochelle on Long
Island Sound that Nilloch made his
ride In full diving outfit. of course.
he descended in 90 feet of water, and
then mounted his bicycle, which hal
previously been dropped overheard.
He found little difficulty in keeping his
balance the main trouble being to
keep his great diving shoes on the
pedals.
Riding a bicycle in a lions den does
not seem exactly pleasant diversion.
but it has been done. At Nice recently
fondness for boarding the lion in his
den, rode his wheel in the large cage con-
tanning two of the most ferocious ami
mails in Europe. He went in not only
once, but six seven times and came
away much to the wonderment of those
who saw him. without being torn into
shreds by the lions whose place he had
invaded. On one occasion. though Hart.
with all his nerve, had IL very narrow eS-
cape. The trainer of the lions had fixed
them in one corner of the cage by the
steady glance of his eye. He moved that
glance once for Il moment, though and
at the same time one pedal of the rider 5
machine happened to touch one of the
paws of the lion farthest out in the cage
The beast. angered by this. struck
vicious blow with the paw the cyclist $
pedal had touched and tore out half the
spokes in the rear wheel of the machine
The blow also tipped over the rider, OF
course but the trainer came to the res
cue at once and the wheelman was saved
from an attack that probably would have
resulted in his death.
A duel on wheels is perhaps not an Eek
traordnary feat" but certainly is 3
somewhat unusal happening. The only
one on record is that fought a short time
ago by two young French students il
Paris Quite IA large party had been ou
cycling all day and was returning home
in a hilarious mood. when two of the
number quarreled over a very delicate
subject. With their characteristic fire
eating propensties they decided that g
duel with swords should settle the differ
ence. and with their national love for the
sensational decided further that it shoult
be fought on bicycles
And fought the duel was. in the Boule
ward Ney Paris. The seconds placed The
cOmbatants fifty yards apart and ordered
them to charge. which they did in furiou!
fashion, with swords cleaning in tht
moonlight Passing each other. so swift
was the pace they wheeled about. an,
faced. and again made straight at eacl
other. They colided with terrific force
and both were thrown. while the seconds
who followed on bicycles swelled th'
mass of struggling humanity and steel
and We're more injured than the princi
pals, neither of whom had been touched
by the others sword although one o
them in falling had run his own swor'
into his leg. But blood had been spilled