The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-04-09


| ahead of the avalanche and the wind
which it cause will kill him. More peo-
! pie are killed every year in Switzerland
/ by the wind of an avalanche than by the
/ avalanches themselves. Now. you see, go
! ing with the avalanche you are out or the
wind; then the fms on my machine keep
| you from sinking in the snow, and if you
strike rock the wheels revolve and send
you up into the air, where, after most
| delightful flight steadied by the patent
| fms l have spoken of. you join the ava
lanche lower down. l know Of nothing
more celebrating than going eleven miles
| in two minutes and sixteen seconds. When
the avalanche quits business at the bot
tom your momentum carries you out of
| II until you strike some path and then
| you cycle along as any ordinary man
would on any ordinary wheel. ! intend
to get up avalanche parties for Switzer-
land next summer and We would be very
Cad to have you join u.s.
There was a deep silence after John w.
Simpson had concluded. l mopped my
brow and thought deeply for while; then
l said to the man VINO sat next Simpson,
Lapthorn Davis by name:
Il suppose you have been avalanching
with your friend also?'
No" said Davis with a sigh; I'm
afraid am rather a reckless person, and
tame. plain, ordinary avalanche cycling,
such as my friend Simpson delights in,
has few attractions for me. l have been
practicing with my aquatic bicycle which
has quite justified all the expectations l
had of It,"
Dear me!' said 1, land what is a
aquatic bicycle?"
"Wen, perhaps you have been over in
Havre and have seen the new roller steam
er, the Ernest Basin invented and built
by an engineer of that name. AS doubtless
you know, 1t goes on six wheels, which
are simply exaggerated pneumatic tires
/ made of steel There are three on each
side, and Sir Edward Reed says that he
believes this wheeled boat will mark an
era in steam navigation. 1t struck me
that a bicycle on two wheels could be
made on somewhat similar lines. l ac-
| cordingly ordered two gigantic pneumatic
tires, foot and half through / had
these fitted on my wheel and practiced for
while on a pond a home in a bathing
| suit, until 1 got thorough control of my
machine"
DO you mean to say you venture on
the surface of the water with that ma
chlne-how do you keep afioat? Doesn't
it turn over and sink you?'
Yes, it is a little apt to do that until
you get accustomed to it. OF course, yol
turn the wheel toward the direction you
are falling, and by and by you go along
on the surface of the water as if you were
on a smooth road. OF course, I don't ad-
wise any one to practice in an ordinary
suit, but even then there is little danger,
because the two wheels form life preserv-
ers when the machine goes over. At first
! intended to take off these huge covers
when l was cycling along the road, but
after found they made the machine very
easy riding / didn't trouble to remove
them, but ran along the road until
came 10 canal or a river and then took
to the water, coming out on the road again
when got tired of aquatic travelling
/ But can you get up any speed on that
machine?"
That is just the trouble. As my wheel
is now constructed. YOU can't go very fast
on the water, but / think that might be
easily remedied by sort of fin-shaped pad
dies, like my friend has on his avalanche
bike; still. it Was not7f for smooth water
/ / wanted it. You see, there are great
many cataracts in Switzerland, of which,
owing 10 their situation, 1t is impossible
to get complete view. My pleasure con-
sisted in going over he cataracts."
Good gracious!' l calculated
1T is well 10 have a good waterproof
on if you are particular about getting
wet. After practicing on the lake of Switz-
erland until had fun control over my
machine, l took the train up the Goschen-
en-. and from there went to Andermatt
and started down the Reuss, which as you
know is very turbulent stream. l found
! a good deal of difficulty in keeping up
/ right especially in such turns as when we
dashed under the Devils bridge, but il Is
/ safe enough if you keep your head and
! don't get excited You bounced up into
! the air good deal when you strike the
rocks, as my friend does when coming
! down an avalanche. but on the whole it
/ forms very pieasurable trip to start with.
1 Then | tackled my first fail, the Handeck,
| on the Grlnnsel pass, 1t is hardly possible
! except from the top to obtain good view
! of this fan, but as you go over it on the
| bike you get an excellent idea of the cata-
| ract by simply turning your head as you
| go down. taking care however TO strike
| fair at the bottom. After that L went over
! the Cries pass and did the Tosa river The
Tosa falls are 470 feet high and eighiy-five
| feet wide; that is trip worth doing, but
| you ought to look over your machine very
| closely before you start it; be sure there
! are no punctures in the big cover, and
! tighten up the screws a bit. l have no
! patience with cyclists who are careless
| about their machines when taking trip
| like this
Then you got safely over the Tosa?"
| / ventured.
30, Certainly, several times. The last
| time I went over backward so as to get
| a better view of the falls as / went down,
but THIS is a very dangerous experiment,
| and do not recommend 1t to any one but
experts Still, you do get much better
! knowledge of the falls. and 1t is prefer
| able to craning your neck round as you
| have to do when you descend face for
| ward But 1t has its drawbacks, because
when you get down to the turmoil at the
! bottom and have to circle round and turn
| your bike, the situation presents many
! difficulties which | would not advise an
amateur to encounter. I intend TO do
! Niagara when I reach home, but won
! try IL backward al first.
Again there was deep silence IN the raii-
way compartment. and 1t was some mo-
| ments before could command my voice
sufficiently to make myself intelligiole, /
looked a / the third man, George Washing
| ton Verify, he said his name was. lie
came from Maine, and l knew by his in
| nocent countenance that he could not tell
| a lie He admitted that himself when ne
began to speak. He said:
"Of course II I had not seen my two COM