The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1918-03-10
THIS TELLS ABOUT
EVOLUTION OF WHEEL

History seems IN give the EgyB-
sAanS the honor Of FIRST developing
the wheel. with their tremendous
sob Of building the pyramids 1t is
natural that they should have been
rhe f4rm to invent skidS and roiierS
Then some genius found Il way OF
attaching the rollers to the skids or
platform and the first truck was born
Then came another genius who foohd
"A wav of max ing wheels out or slices
Of tree trunks and fastening these
wheels solid 10 che axle. so that the
wheel end axle turned together, The
NEXT step was TO make the VIII >
iouxa on tho axle ana this enabled
the crude vehicle 20 turn corners.
The two wheeled chm riot. NJ which
there il a record thousands Of years
before Christ. was among the nrst
passenger vehtcles.- That II had
spokas 81 proved iu Homer's Had
eight brazsn spokes, the felloes
Were OF gold secured with brazen
tires ali around, admirable to the
sight"
WITH the Tall of Rome tho wheel
FAILED TO develop or some hundreds OF
years Then. suddenly, a. the begin
ming Of he Seventeenth century, botn
IN England ana Oh the continent
many new types ~ vehicles, wagons
and coaches began 10 appear. Oak
was used az tha spokes for the first
EN- wheels F1lYr was used for
the hub and IN Enghshman writes
adnfrinRly OF ~the ea Tiy American
buggy: The four wheels were made
30 slender az 70 resemble spiders
web
In the early part Of 'he nineteenth
century came the two-whe eied We
lnciped. The early models used the
wooden wheel But later the wire
wheel was adopted. not only for this
type but aiso Tor the bicycle and trt-
ey~ae.
AS 4arl, as 184s one robert
Thompson a pol ed fo- patents for
what was evidently the forerunne
Of the .pneuYna1tC tire. However,
T-bonpsor. lived TOO far ahead OF his
dsy and tu 1883 Dunlop wss Riven
pafents tor Tho INST real pneumatic
ftrs. In the early efaEes Of the mo
'or car Industry tile wooden wheel
rroved quite satisfactory There was
then a plentiful supply cf good hlck
ory They had time 10 season their
wool a'.d Z o take plans to pick our
e,nrv yhe Lest However. the WOODEN
wheeI Is u com preston wheel. The
load IL mainly upon the bottom
wpokes. ard the wheel Ia therefore
subject 10 side thrapts. such aS you'd
be produced in alid6ag or driving
around corner~. Alec, thu tsssSAzmscc'
of the wood to shrink or wwssl pee.
ser1ts dangers and weaknesses In ss4s
wheel
Fer exan PIE. IN the present war
trucks with wooden wheels cannot be
kept ont az doors nSht and day. as
ftg wooden wheel soon shows serious
smpalrrnent These climatic effects
are particularly uoticsa bic in the hot
and dry states az our own Southwest
In thes1 states there is q particular
demand a metal wheels
The -- wtcai seems to overcoms
sorne o. t5e<e 3ffIcuIttcs but on the
Other "a has been FOUND "
have TROUBLES 30 IT'S own. The wire
wheel hes p great mum Der II parts
upon nhich s. relies fer strength
varying frosn @fy 20 eeventy spokes
The breaking ~ one spoke means
she veal, eufng ~ the entire construc.
tion and tho throwing If the whee,
out a. balance Also, the wire whee1
~ dificult and expensive 20 keey
clean Therefoye the steel disc
w'heei seems 70 be history's logica.
development.