The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-11-26
THE WHEEL
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According to a report from New fork
the Rubber Goods Manufacturing com
pany has secured control OF the leeains
bicycle tire manufactures OF the ceun-
try. The preliminaries OF an agree
ment were stated to have been arrang-
ed whereby the company will acquire
the Hartford Rubber works plant; ~
will thus conduct one large tire plalnit
in the West, Morgan b Wright OF chi
caKo, manufacturing double-tube tires,
and one Ia the East, the Hartford Rub
Der works, manufacturing single"tupe
tires. 5a -,
The Rubber Goods company will also
acquire at once the American Dunlop
Tire company, which has been purcnas-
ed for it's account, as well as the Me
dence. IL the, negotiations with the
American Bicycle company are con
cluded this will add to the Rubber
Goods conipany's properties the Hart-
ford Rubber Works company. the re-
oria Rubber company and the ruooer
business Of the Indiana Cycle COM
pany. 1t is understood that arrange
ments were made some time ago Tor
the purchase of the American Dulop
Tire company. How much additional
stock will have to be issued to take
over the various, plants has not Net
been stated. 1t is also reported rnaI
there have been negotiations with the
bicycle trust looking to the Rubber
Goods Manufacturing company turn
isl1ing 1T with tires.
A Paris paper publishes statistics 70
show that in given period only one
death and So injuries have been caused
by automobiles in that city, and that
in the same time vehicles drawn py
horses have caused no less than 81
deaths and 745 injuries. The statistics
are interesting rather than conclusive,
because they do not take into account
the relative numbers of the two kinds
the automobile, whether in Paris or
elsewhere Is less dangerous to pass
ers BY than is the horsed carriage can
scarcely be doubted. Machinery is al
ways under better control than any
living organism, especially when the
living organism has high-strung nerves,
as Is the case with the horse, that
scares at an old hat or a vngrant news
paper and goes mad over vain imagin-
ings when 1t sees man drawing
buggy or a boy riding bicycle with
out holding the handle-bars.
Professor A. NJ. Herring of st. Joseph,
Mich, has invented a machine that
looks like A bicycle, runs like q bicycle,
and which he calls the "mobike" for
the reason that the machine furnishes
its own motive power. Professor Her
ring is well-known scientist, whose
experiments In aeroriautics have ere
ated much interest among workers In
that line. The mobike IL a self-pro-
PEELED bicycle run by small and light
nrotor-a sort of gasoline turbine,
which, In spite Of It's diminutive size,
possesses such astounding power that
the capabilities OF the new machine for
hill climbing and high speed throw the
old foot-power wheel III the shade. Pro-
fessor Herring's new bicycle is tan
dem, although ii Is invented for his
own use 1t plows through the sand and
rough roads and up all ordinary grades
with the same facility that 1T bowls
along the smooth streets. After seeing
the thing In operation and noting the
perfect control the operator has over
the engine one Is puzzled at the entire
absence of pedals, levers, hand wheels,
gauges and other mechanical adjuncfs
Of vehicle of this kind. This fact is
accounted for by the machinery being
perfectly automatic The machine has
been operated on runs aggregating 600
miles.
The mishaps to wheelmen and pedes
TRANS on account of wheels generally
begin In April and increase each month
until cold weather sets in. During the
last five years August has held the rec
ord for mishaps in cycling. The reck-
lessness of scorehers, instead OF being
diminished by the heat, appears to be
increased, and with the temperature at
80, well-meaning riders, also, seem to
be more thoughtless of their own well
fare and that of others than they are
in the spring and fall. In the summer
of 1897 the list Of bicycle accidents was
so large that some riders OF the timid
sort were inclined to condemn wheeling
as q dangerous exercise. In August of
that year more misfortunes of riders
were reported in the newspapers than
during any other two months of the
season. Apparently the only explana-
ton Of the fact was that the cyclists
were more enthusiastic and less eau
t,ous than at other times.
The cycling season Of 1899 has been
conspicuous for Its comparatively small
number of mishaps. Judging from the
accounts in the daily papers and from
the observations of wheelmen. not one
half as many fatal accidents have oc-
Cured in New York this year as were
reported Ia 1898. and the infrequency
of minor accidents has also been no
ticeable. There mas been q decided abb
sence this year Of Whesiwomen who are
likely to lesG their heads when in close
quarters, and little has been heard Of
riders who used TO mistake curbstones
and holes in the street for asphalt
pavement. But the exceptionally good
luck of cyclists may be attributed tn
Soute very SoOu TedsOHS "A veteran
rider, who has himself been mixed UP
in several bicycle accidents, accounts
for the wheels exceedingly gratifying
behavior lately as follows:
Not since the bicycle first became
popular have riders exhibited so much
skill as now: skill not only in keeping
their equilibrium, but in avoiding other
cycles, and particularly in steering
clear of street cars and four-wheel We
hicies. Their ability has come, not
through any Increased attention on the
part of cycle instructors, but solely
through experience. OF course hun
dreds Of men riders have been added
to the ranks this season, but nine
tenths of the pedalers to be seen on the
streets have ridden for at least two
years and have become pretty thorough
ly acquainted with their sport.
1T is true also that much of the
good fortune of wheelmen has been due
to the fact that they have learned 70
compromise, so to say. with tho drivers
of trucks and other vehicles, The i'm
preston which once prevailed among
'bikers' that they alone were entitled