Charlevoix county herald. (East Jordan, Mich.) 189?-1953, 1906-08-18

PALATIAL STEAM YACHT, MOTOR
pictured by many as being driven
speedily along the Roman roads,
crushing beneath them the forms of
the common and lowly subjects of the
Empire. 1t remained for the rich of
the modern world, however, to
develop great speed. and still greater
speed from some selfpropeIled vehicle.
While to some poor inventor might be
ascribed the origin Of our "Spced-toys,"
still the world owes to the rich every
advance made, through their financial
encouragement
The Earliest Bicycle.
At about the time when the Thirteen
Original Colonies were ringing with
shouts of freedom, a French balloOnist,
named Blanchard, invented what was
known as 'straddle wheel for his
own amusement. This was nothing
more than two wheels concerted by a
simple framework, with no pedals. The
rider straddled the machine and
pushed it along with his feet, or
coasted down grade The dandieS of
Paris and London took up this toy and
had great sport with it. but it was too
hard work and the speed was not great
enough.
Following this, in about 1928, Cug-
not, a Frenchman, and Trevithick, an
Englishman, and Oliver Evans, an
American, experimental with a sort
of carriage propelled by steam. Moth
ing so fast had ever been seen, and the
carriage became quite the fashion with
gentlemen who had money to spend
and whose aim in life was enjoyment.
l,,f4 ,pio al u
and very dirty affairs and were dis
carded
The Wheel of the Last Century.
The bicycle with the high wheel in
front and little wheel behind came
next. and being fairly comfortable,
speedy, clean and creating no noise,
quickly sprang into fashion, but there
was always an element of danger TO
the "speed-seekers" through concealed
stones IN the path, which meant a
header so that something even more
speedy and safe was called for.
The safety bicycle was an evolution
coming some twenty years later,
whose high price at first placed it MS a
luxury much to be desired Bicycles
were for long time placed in the
same category as pianos and carriages,
though they were of little use other
than for pleasure. The safety was,
as it's name implied, safe, swift and
noiseless. BY 1895 the bicycle boom
rose beyond any proportions assumed
by the previously demanded speed
toys. In the United States four hun
dred factories. representing a capital
of something like S75.000.000, turned
out nearly a million machines year.
Half a Mile a Minute too Slow.
The fad lasted five years. when a
demand arose for something even
faster than the speed of a mile in two
minutes or so. attained by the bicy-
Gle. and more comfortable seat than
that afforded on the bicycle frame.
Inventors were already at work. and
while 1t may not be true that out of
the bicycle developed the automobile,
yet the two-wheeled conveyance. with
its pneumatic tires, created the
demand for something better.
Men like W. X. Vanderbilt, Jr..
John Jacob Astor. and Albert G.
Bostwick were among the pioneers
I'm America to bring over from Europe
the speed toys of the rich. and their
machines were the targets for thou
sands of pairs of eyes in the streets
of New York.
a Mile in Thirty Seconds.
When one of these men made n
record of n mile in something like IS