The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1920-05-28
THE BEGINNING OF
 THE BICYCLE

 France is the home Of the original bicycle, and even to this day bicycles are in more common use in that country than perhaps any other in the world. Bicycles have not been supplanted by the well known 'tin lfzzies" to nearly so great an extent in France as they have in the United States and Canada. and they are still used rather extensively as a means of travel and recreation.
 It was in 1915 that a daring mor- tai first risked his dignity on an un- steady two-wheel vehicle. During the latter part of the eighteenth century various F'renchmen had begun con- ducting experiments to devise some means whereby the individual could travel about more speedily and with less effort than by walking. Blanch ard. one of the earliest baloonists, de- vised a sort of a velocipede, but il had no practical value and was re- garded as a toy. A little later Nice phore Niepse, Baron von Drais and other inventors began building veloc- ipedes. but it was hot until 1O5 years ago today that the daring mortal pre- viously mentioned made his first ap- pearance on the Parisienne boule- vardes on two-wheeled bicycle, popularly known as "dan1y horse" during those times.
 It was not long before bicycle riding became a craze in France, and every young gallant of means wanted to own one of these metal horses" The original dandy horse'' was consider ably different from the modern bfcy- Gle. The two wheels were of an equal size, but there were no pedals. gear wheels, chains, etc, and the rider pro- pelled himself along by touching his feet against the ground and pushing strenuously. He could then lift his feet off the ground and coast for while. The rider straddled the bicycle just as the modern rider does. Sev- eral improved means of propelling such machines were next experiment. ed with, but without any great suc- cess VelocipedeS with three wheels which could be operated by the feet were put on the market, but owing to the labor necessary to keep these in motion they never became very pop ula.r. It was the combination of the form of the two-whee1ed dandy horse" and the gearing principle of the three-wheeled velocipede which gave birth to our modern bicycle.
 The popularity of these various ma chimes did not last long, for they all required considerable effort to operate and very little speed could be ob- tained. In 1861, however, both the bicycle and the velocipede came back to use again. The old-fashioned high wheel, frequently known the 'Tbone- shaker" was introduced at about this time and gained wide favor through out Europe. In 1870 it was introduced on this continent, where it also gained much popularity. France continued to hold the lead in the development of the bicycle.
 Various models of the h;gh-wheeled bicycle were exhibited at the centen- nial exposition held at Philadelphia in 1878, where they attracted consider able attention. From then on the bi- cycle fever began to develop in the United States and Canada The ear- Hest bicycling activities centered around Boston, where the first bicycle club on the continent was organized and where the pioneer American bi- cycle shop began doing business Among the pioneers of the bicycle in- dustry ~ins1the ssIJnited States were Frank w. weston. David Stanton, William M. Wright and A. D. Chand- Ter.
 Early in the eighties the bicycle in. dustry actually sprang into existence in the United States. In 1881 the first distinctive American bicycle was put on tho market. It was a queer-look- ing device, having the big wheel used in the English and French models. but having a very small wheel in front instead of behind, as was the style in Europe. The machine was driven by a. lever and clutch action instead of the system of cranks customary in Europe. It was not long before the dwarf or safety type of bicycle was introduced to Americans. This machine, which was very similar to the moder nbicycle. had a hard fight before it won supremacy over the high, undignified and even dangerous old time model
 Pneumatic tires were invented in 1888, and with their coming into use the bicycle craze began to develop rapidly. Within few years after this the whole world went cycling mad Of late years the bicycle has lost most of its popularity on this side of the ocean, although it has picked up ma terially during the past year or two.