Omaha daily bee., 1897-02-14

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unabated interest in the wheel Gotham's
show opened on the 9th and closed last
night. The attendance during the first half
of the week was enormous, and deservedly
| so, for the exhibit of wheels and accessories
was surprising in number and variety.
To appreciate the enormty Of this indus
try and the amount of genius, enterprise
and capital enlisted in the bicycle manu-
featuring business and related Industries.
one must compare the present with the
status of the bicycle trade a score of years
age. In 1877 there was but one bicycle or
American make in this country and that
was manufactured for New England
dealer under the direction of an English
man. The machine was made by hand at
cost of 1913. Today there are 200 con-
Germs represented at the exposition. and 1t
is estimated that there are at least 100000
wheels in use In this country. One authority
puts the number of hands employed in the
manufacture of wheels at % 900 and the
capital invested at $2O,00O,OO0, not to men
tion the lines of effort that have been stim
ulated and developed by the growing popu
la.ity Of the wheel.
The improvement in the construction Of
the wheel has been equally marked. 1t
was an awkward and cumbersome affair at
first Weighing fifty sixty pounds. Today
1t Is an artistic creation-a thing of grace
and beauty-and it is made as light as
twenty pounds, without sacrificing strength
or durability.
Each succeeding year deepens the con,
viction that there is nothing ephemeral or
faddish about the use of the wheel. 1t is
already necessity and a fixture in our
civilization, and is destined to go rolling
on, and the best thing about it is that this
assured growth gives rise to feelings
of regret or alarm. 1t is Indispensable to
men and women in certain callings, a
blessing to indoor workers and an evangel
of health to all. There are no considera
tions. physical economic, socologic, or other |
wise, to cause its increasing popularity to
become source of concern or dismay.
A decision of exceptional interest to all
bicyclers has been rendered by a Pennsyl- |
vania Judge in suit for damages brought |
by woman whose husband was killed by |
a train while crossing a railroad The evil |
dence showed that the rider was obliged to |
wait on coming to the tracks for a freight |
train to pass but, instead of dismounting |
he made what is called a "bicycle STOP |
riding his wheel around in a circle. As soon |
as the freight was out of the way he started |
across the railroad, and was struck by
train on the other track The court held
that he was guilty Of contributory negligence
that the bicycle stop not a stop in
the legal sense, and that the rider had not
exercised due diligence
notable result of the bicycling craze is
that in England the demand for skilled me-
chanics has become so strong that young
men are turning away from business offices
and entering factories where they earn
two or three times the wages they would
receive as clerks. Already the merchants
of Birmingham are beginning to complain
of the difficulty of obtaining young clerks
Educators have for a long time been worriea
by the ugly fact that our public schools
turn boys out fit to earn their livngs for the
moment only by office work. They only
know how to read, write and cipher; any
further knowledge they must acquire by an
apprenticeship which requires more time
often than their parents can afford to sup
port them, while their school training tends
to develop a distaste for manual labor. 1t
many communities an attempt to remedy this
condition of things has been made by the
establishment Of schools for manual train
ing. Perhaps the trouble here described is to
be very largely remeded by the bicycle.
Frequently a wheelman finds the tire of
his bicycle debated, and immeda tely begins
to look for a puncture. hole in the tire
is not always the source of the trouble.
however, the leak may come from de-
foctive valve. An easy way to test this is
to fill wine glass or narrow tumbler with
water, then turning the wheel that the
valve is at the highest point, place the
rim of the glass against the wheel so that
the mouth of the valve stem is covered by
the water. leak, however slight, will
make lISei1 manifest Dy DuDDleS appearing |
on the top of the water. The cause of the
trouble may often be removed by working
the plunger inside the valve stem up and
down a few times with the point of the
cap or with a lead pencil. Initiating de-
fating tire several times will also fire.
quently cure a eaky valve If neither OF
these remedies has the desired effect the
case is one for the repair man to attend to-
puncture of the tire may often be de-
tected by letting the wheel revolve slowly ,
Ezr.l
as the point of puncture passes before the |
eyes. In of very small hole this
method is often unsuccessful, in which | +
case pass wet cloth over the tread Of the
tire. Close examination will then show lit |
tie bubbles forming and breaking on the
surface of the wet tire. Pin punctures /
may often be located in this way when a
total immersion of the wheel in a tub of
water will fail to reveal leak. Oil is y
very destructive to rubber, and care should t
be used to keep it from getting on the tires. l
Benzine however, will not injure them. as L
1t evaporates too quickly TO cause any i
damage. A rag saturated with this fluid Y
Is a good thing to clean tires with, and, If [
hey are not too badly worn, will make them I
almost like new '
The mystery of why a wheel pushes hard !
IS often too deep for the owner, who, under
such circumstances, naturally calls upon an y
expert to find and remedy the trouble. If
he Wheelman VII set ABOUT diagnosing tne n
,ase understandngly he will in mcst cases
De able to save the cost OF expert assistance
besides acquiring more mechanical knowl-
,dge than he previously possessed. Several -
hings may contribute to make wheel push n
lard the bearings of the wheels crank -
haft may be dirty and gummy; the sprock- -
It's may be out OF line, caused by the large a
me being bent in accident or by Il
visited frame; the chain may not be clean, n
n the adjusting cones of some bearing may n
lave worked tight. 4
The chain being in plain sight, 1t Is easy to T
etermine whether or not 1t Is responsible n
or the annoyance. 1t is also easy to find ont a
the front wheel balances as 1t should. II
is properly adjusted and the bearings are
n good shape when lifted from the ground
he weight of the valve stem should cause "
he wheel to oscillate several times before u
oming to a stop. The rear wheel is not II
early so sensitive the front one, on ac- II
cunt of the friction exerted by the chain 7,
nd crank shaft, and the best way to test for II
rouble there is to turn the wheel on its r
ack. Then start the wheel revolving In the h
ERECTION II runs when in use. ii
If the lower side of the chain says and the il
pper part Is taut 1t shows that the front n
procket and cranks are pulling the wheel Il
nd the latter therefore must run harder II
han the former; II the upper part sags and "
he lower remains taut the reverse Is the a,