Evening star., 1897-03-20

be traced to the valve. In some tires a nut
Is screwed on the. outside to keep the tube
In its proper plaee.t This nut should be
screwed down as tfAhtly as possible. though
loose. This gives,Aapiay to the whole tire
when in use. and the air is forced out. II
the rut Is kept tightly in place this diff
cu'ty will not occur.
A census was recently taken unofficiaily
of the bicycle bueipess of Chicago. There
are twelve firms who do a general manu-
featuring businessqon large scale, turn
ing out from a few hundred to ten thou
sand or more machines annually. This in
cludes those in the city proper and Chicago
suburbs. One onf, fhe south side gives
employment to 40 men and boys two at
South Chicago employ 10 to $50 men each,
according to the season; three in the west
division find work for nearly a thousand
persons. while half a dozen situated on
the north side and in the northwestern
suburbs have need Of the services of 1900
persons. In all there are about $500 per-
sons engaged in the manufacture of bicy-
cies in Chicago. These employees receive
in wages nearly sia,0O0 weekly. or an ag-
2regate each year of S2.371 30. Besides
these there are 1877 stores at which BIZ
cycles and their appurtenances are the sole
articles on sale. while more than a tn ou-
sand establishments keep them as a side
Der of persons engaged solely or princi-
pally in the sale of wheels at 200, whose
salaries will foot up to $l.75O.OOO.
shortly open. the attention of all riders is
called once more to the necessity of look
ing over the bicycle before going out for
a spin of any distance. Fewer riders
would be forced to walk home or use a
tain. owing to the loss Of a nut or two.
If they made practice of trying each nut
before starting Out on the ride, To do
this requires only few minutes. and that
will be time well spent, frequently saving
as many hours of trouble and worry Then
again, 1t may be for the protection of the
rider himself loose nut at some i'm
portant part Of the machine may mean a
tumble. with more or less serious results,
while out on the road. According to the
old adage. IAN ounce of prevention is
worth a pound of cure" and this is one
instance of its exemplification.
The matter of enameling a wheel Is not
stch an easy job as 1t may look, and the
method used by the manufacturer Is much
different from that of the rider himself
In the factories there is large vat Of
snamehng huid all ready for work. and the
frame, plugged up with wooden shoppers
at al! openings. Is dipped in the LIQUID
then hung up and allowed to drip. Some
times three or four dips is necessary to get
tne enamel spread evenly all over the sur
face Of the wheel. After the coating has
nad chance to get naturally hard the
frame is removed to another room and
placed with number of others in a large
oven, where 1t Is submitted to the baking
process.
The amateur who desires to enamel hts
wheel has none of these facilities, vet he
can make satisfactory Job with a little
care care wheel looks horribly when enam-
eieo IN an improper manner. First scrape
all OF the old enamel from the frame
showing the steel tube clear and clean
Get can Of the color enamel desired. and
oe certain that 1t is fresh can. After
standing awhile or once opened the enam-
e.lng becomes hard and thick and is not
OF the proper consistency for use. Law
the liquid on the frame with an ordinary
paint brush. some have used a camers-
hair brush. but the results have not been
entirely satisfactory. Do not make anv
holidays as painter terms it, but ap-
ply evenly on all parts of the surface.
W hen through place the wheel in some
place where it will not catch the dust and
give plenty of time to harden, the longer
the better. The baking feature serves to
prevent the enamel from so easily show
ing scratches andaother marks Of wear.
out the amateur can dispense with this
part Of the work. '"i'