The record-union., 1897-08-13
ON BICYCLE BOATS.
HOW GIRLS SPIN ALONG THE
WATERS OF THE SEINE.
A Wonderful Sextup1et That Is
the Greatest Fad in Paris
for Years.

We have new fad and it belongs
to the summer girl 1t is a strange Gre
alton and partly amphibious The name
given is the bicycle shell. for while it
is impelled after the fashion of a pi
cycle, that part of it which comes in
contact with the water is constructed
after the lines of a racing shell
A sextuplet affair, the six girls who
ride it have the jolliest of times. 1t is
a genuine Adamless Eden, for there is
no record as yet of any man having
been permitted to enjoy the delights of
this method of cycling. The ordinary
bicycle boat has done very well, when
with all the impetus the riders could
give, it made four miles an hour. This
latest invention has done fifteen miles
an hour, and there is no indication
whatever that the limit has been reach
ed. In fact, those who have become
expert in its use say that beyond ques-
tion there are possibilities in the sex
tuplet bicycle shell which will in time
be a source of amaZement.
Some of the young ladies who have
tried 20 learn the art of mastering this
very undignified falls, for the bicycle
SHE'LL like all marine contrivances. is
very apt to tip over if sufficient inn
petus from one side or the other is
given. This was illustrated no many
days ago, when a party of six demoi-
selles, the daughters of well-to-do citi-
zens, 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
not 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 witnessed
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 me
chanism controlled from the stern. 1T
is, therefore, absolutely necessary that
the riders work in unison, and the cap
tain of the ride tells the other riders
what to do just as the cOxsWain in
regulation shell gives directions to the
stroke oar She gave the directions
this time properly enough, but one in
dependent young woman preferred her
own way The result was that in less
time than it takes to write this the
whole six We're spilled itno the Seine,
and though all We're fished out in SAT
ETY., there were several narrow escapes.
The boat is very buoyant, and not at
all cranky The idea in constructing it
was to make it as safe and simple as
possible If the riders care to train
| +1roi ROY in a
boat together-not for proficiency 50
much as unanimity-there would be no
danger whatever. The pedaling motion
by the young women acts as the
power to move a steel propeller shaft,
which starts at the stern of the sheH
and stops a little short of the bow.
! There is no danger whatever of its be
coming twisted or out of order, for the
main object of the inventor has been
to preserve it from all twisting SIDE
wise motion which might easily bring
about disaster. Every experiment that
could be thought of has been tried to
make it absolutely safe and sure ana
the motion of the boat indicates that
these efforts have met with perfect sue
cess.
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 difficulty. EV
cry time the pedals of the bicycle gear
ing make one revolution the propeller
at the stern makes FIVE To understand
exactly what this means and gain a
correct idea of the speed of the she'll
just watch how many times a minute
! the pedals revolve when a rider is NOV
ing at an ordinary rate of speed Then
multiply this by five and you will have
the exact number of tn revolutions
! of the propeller per minute. 1t is
we'll known fact that so many revolu-
! tions per minute of a propeller of
certain size means a given degree of
speed, and in that way, the exact time
which the shell can make can be cal
culated.
| This is the basis upon which the cal
culation is made which furnished
ground for the statement regarding
speed possibilities previously made. No
one has yet scorched on the bicycle
shell, and yet there is no reason why
! they should not. 1t is also possible
that if men were to ride the machine
rather than women, their greater mus
cular power would furnish an irresist-
| ibel impetus. 1t is estimated that, all
| things being equal, a man can, if he
| desires, ride a third faster than
woman. This being the case, if the
shell will permit of the increase, there
seems to be no reason why the speed
of the shell should not become a third
greater than it is possible for the sum-
mer girl to make.
| An odd fact in connection with the
new invention is that it seems to be en-
couraging the new woman idea. Or
dinarily the summer girl looks on moth
ing with more horror than the prospect
/ of being away from the summer young
man, but the popularity of the new ma
| chine and the fact that it is the custom
1 to form the crew only of young women,
has really reconciled her in part to the
/ absence of the adorer. This may seem
an extravagant statement, but the fact
that it is true is what makes it odd. 1t
lis at present the custom to make about
a twenty miles run on bicycle shell.
The ordinary motion of the shell, at the
rate of speed generally used, is just suf
ficient not to tire the riders in the least
and yet, if the weather happens to be
warm, sufficiently rapid to create
breeze that cools and invigorates. In
stead of afternoon teas and luncheons,
the summer girls are now organizing
bicycle shell parties. While the manu-
facturers of the new invention are doing
the best they can to fill the orders that
have come to them, they find ii inpossi-
BILE to fulfill the demand. Therefore the
rowboat and the steam launch are still
somewhat popular. The fashionable
method is to combine the two. The