Part 4

There are large numbers of bicycles in the market which are both unsafe and dangerous, and which the makers push into unsuspecting hands by offering them at much reduced rates. Many portions of these which should be of wrought iron, are made of cast iron, of course attractively painted. Nothing should be cast about the metal works of a velocipede except the brasses.

A bad machine carefully kept, may, perhaps, last longer than a good machine very badly managed. It should be the ambition of a good rider, however, to have a good machine, kept in good order. There is danger to the velocipedist in pushing ahead with speed, when the slightest collision, or the giving way of some minute portion of the machine, may smash the whole affair.

FOUR-WHEELED VELOCIPEDES.

BRADFORD’S VELOCIPEDE.

If any of our readers desire the luxury of a ride on a velocipede without the necessity of taking lessons, or the danger of getting a fall, they will find “Bradford’s Four-Wheeled Velocipede” ready and able to afford them the pleasure.

The inventor of this vehicle, Mr. C. K. Bradford, has devoted the greater part of the last five years to experiments upon the velocipede, and took out his first patent three years and a half ago. The machine, as now constructed and improved, obtained its American patent October 13th, 1868. It has since been patented in England, France, and Belgium. It is made of the best material, and finished like a gentleman’s trotting wagon. It weighs but sixty-five pounds, and combines in a high degree both lightness and strength. Any man, woman or child, can learn to guide it easily with but a few moments practice.

The inventor claims that it is able to maintain a speed of a mile in three minutes, and that the extraordinary time of a half mile in one minute and forty-five seconds, has been made upon a country road. It can be driven by almost any man, at the rate of a mile in four minutes, on almost any road, without greater exertion than is ordinarily used in walking. This velocipede, unlike all others, is seen to best advantage on the street. In Mr. Bradford’s tasteful little curricle, the rider can sit at ease as carelessly as in a carriage, giving himself up wholly to the exhilaration of the rapid movement, and the pleasurable exercise of the muscles, which is just enough to make the machine skim over the ground, and give an enjoyable sense of power. The increase of friction, which would naturally result from the additional number of wheels, is prevented by an application of anti-friction rollers, which reduce the labor of propelling the machine to a minimum, a requisite of the highest importance to a person seeking either recreation or utility.

This velocipede has an adjustable seat, which may be placed nearer or further from the pedal crank, to suit the rider’s length of limb. The seat is furnished with a high, strong back, which, besides adding materially to the rider’s comfort, serves him as a _point d’appui_, a firm base from which he can exert a powerful force in propelling.

The steering device is simple and complete, and is the same principle upon which one guides the horse. It is guided by the hands, and the large rear wheels are operated upon by means of a wheel and cord arrangement, conveniently placed beside the seat. It is claimed that the machine can be steered almost to a hair’s breadth. It is used by many city firms for the purpose of carrying messages and parcels, and can be seen upon Broadway in the thickest part of the travel. It does not hesitate at curb-stones, and will run over most roads as easily as any light wagon. It can be ridden up almost any hill without a fatiguing expenditure of force. It offers excellent advantages for carrying refreshments and various articles of light baggage, necessary in a flying trip or excursion.

Though this machine requires more room for its accommodation than the bicycle, and cannot be stored against any wall; and though it does not give the peculiar and fascinating kind of exhilaration which balancing upon the bicycle affords, it will be seen to have many advantages over the two-wheeled vehicle.

This velocipede is especially adapted to ladies, and allows the rider to sit as becomingly and gracefully as she would in her carriage or her parlor chair. The proprietors have a very ingenious device which can be attached to the machine for ladies, which completely conceals all points of motion.

The Bradford Brothers have a large manufactory in Newark, N. J. Mr. J. W. Thorp is their agent, and is rapidly selling State and county rights. This velocipede is sold at $150.

The Messrs. Bradford also manufacture a smaller size for boys, complete in every particular, for $75.

CALLAHAN’S VELOCIPEDE.

This velocipede was patented January 5th, 1869, and is on exhibition at 17 State Street, Boston. It has been thoroughly tested and is pronounced a complete success. It will be seen that it is very different from Bradford’s machine. The front wheels are used as guiding wheels, the rear as the driving ones. It is propelled by both hands and feet, acting together or separately. The propelling power is almost unlimited, and is furnished by cranks in the hind axles, with lever attachments. It has three different steering arrangements, either of which can be applied, according to the taste of the purchaser. In all these, the forward wheel and axle are turned with a lever arrangement, operated upon by the hand.

The machine develops both chest and limbs, and can be readily used by ladies and children. A little girl of six years has ridden it for an hour without fatigue. It is so constructed, that scruples of delicacy need prevent no lady from driving it. It can be driven either backwards or forwards, will run upon the road, at the rate of fifteen miles an hour, and will ascend any ordinary hill with ease. It is claimed, that it is the only machine made that can be checked in going down hill, or that can be stopped instantly. The machine varies in size and weight. That most in favor, has a wheel of three feet and a half in diameter, and a weight of about one hundred pounds. It is constructed of the best material, and is neat and nobby in appearance. Its price is $125.

THE TRICYCLE.

The generic tricycle, or three-wheeled velocipede, as used abroad, is not likely to meet with general favor in this country.

In its steering arrangements and mode of propulsion, its construction is similar to that of the bicycle. The rear wheels are large and light; the fore wheel is smaller, and serves to guide the machine, being acted upon by means of the steering bar or handle, which causes it to bend in the direction indicated by the rider. The pedals are attached to the front wheel, and are shaped like slippers, which facilitates the movement of the legs, and at the same time admits of the feet being disengaged simultaneously. The movement required to propel this machine is a natural one, does not produce unusual fatigue, and is analogous to that of walking.

The larger three-wheeled velocipedes have a lever which follows the line of the eccentrics attached to the pedals, and fits on to the axles. By assisting the movement of this lever, the speed of the vehicle is considerably increased, and a simple pressure against it checks the rotary motion of the wheel, and stops the progress of the machine. This lever is, in fact, both a means of impulsion and a brake. As this vehicle is chiefly patronized by the fair sex, the seat is more commodious than that of the bicycle; having sides and back of wicker, and a horse-hair cushion.

The tricycle is simply a hack, while the bicycle is a blooded horse that fully demonstrates the “poetry of motion.” The tricycle is easier to guide, and safer to ride than the two-wheeled machine; there is however more friction, and its speed is much less rapid. It has, thus far, been found impossible to construct a three-wheeler with the pedal method of propulsion, that could compete with the bicycle in speed or pleasure of driving. Large wheels are necessary for speed. If a guiding wheel be applied to a tricycle of this kind large enough to run rapidly on the road, and to counterbalance the size of the other wheels, it would be unsteady of motion; the rider would be apt to be thrown headlong at any jar, and the whole machine would be rendered unsafe.

Many of the larger manufacturers have built the tricycle to some extent. Most of them have discontinued their make, finding it unprofitable, and that the machine gave but little satisfaction.

The Bradford Brothers of New York City obtained a patent, and entered largely into the business, at considerable expense. They, however, soon stopped the manufacture, and gave exclusive attention to their four-wheeled machines. The three-wheeled velocipedes of Messrs. Kimball Brothers, Boston, seem to be as popular as any in the market; but the sale is mostly local, and but few of them are manufactured.

Various inventors have endeavored to obtain power, by additions to the gearings, in the shape of spring wheels and levers, but with little success. Others have applied the principle of the crank to be turned by the hand, using the hand for steering purposes.

Mr. Wm. H. Hall, of Boston, Mass., has invented a tricycle, which is impelled by a crank, acting upon a small wheel, connected to another by an endless pulley. Every revolution of the crank turns the wheels of the machine once. This machine has not yet been fairly tested.

A mechanic in Indiana also claims to have invented a machine very similar in construction to this of Mr. Hall’s.

Messrs. Forbes & Sears of New Bedford, Mass., have invented a machine with two hind wheels running only about five inches apart. It is claimed that the hind wheels are so near together as to run practically as one wheel; and yet the rider can stop the vehicle and maintain his equilibrium.

Messrs. Topliff & Ely of Eleria, Ohio, patented February 23d, 1869, a tricycle, in which, by a simple movement of a lever, the rear wheels can be run into one, and the vehicle instantaneously changed into a bicycle.

A gentleman of Poughkeepsie, N. Y., has invented a machine, in which both the hind wheels are drivers instead of the forward one. They are fastened on independent axles meeting in the centre, connected by a novel arrangement of gearing, so that either wheel can stand as a pivotal point, and the other be driven round it very swiftly. The inventor states that it will turn in less space than any other velocipede.

Mr. John Tremper, of Wilmington, Del., has designed and patented a tricycle in which the front wheel is the driver as usual; but placed so closely to the axle of the hind wheels, as to give almost as complete command over the motions of the machine, in turning corners, as the two-wheeled velocipede.

“The Bennet Velocipede” is characterized by a driving wheel four feet in diameter, and two guiding wheels behind, each about a foot in diameter.

“Samuels’ Velocipede” has also a large driving wheel, with small guiding wheels behind. This machine is propelled by hand cranks, connected with corresponding cranks in the driving wheel shaft. The feet are used for steering. The inventor claims that this machine will run twenty-five miles an hour on a level road. A New Yorker has invented a machine for ladies, which he has placed on exhibition at Pearsall Riding School. The pedals are applied to the rear wheels, and the small wheel in front is guided by a rod, passing back to the hand of the lady occupying the seat.

One or two of the novel tricycles, modeled upon new principles, have proved decided successes.

A gentleman of Ypsilanti, Mich., has invented one that he claims to have ridden from that place to Detroit, a distance of twenty-eight miles, in two hours and forty-eight minutes; and to have made a mile in Ypsilanti in two minutes and thirty seconds. The wheels of this machine are forty-two inches in diameter, and are propelled by means of a double hand crank, no treadles being used. On each side of the hub of the forward wheel, is a grooved pulley; and attached to the straight portion of the crank are two more pulleys, the four being connected by belts. At each revolution of the pulleys, the vehicle is propelled a distance of sixteen and a half feet; and when an ordinary rate of speed is attained, it runs quite easily. Its weight is forty-nine pounds, and the inventor claims that it will sustain two hundred pounds without danger of collapsing. It can be run on ordinary carriage roads, with comparative ease.

Samuel Marden of Newton Corner, Mass., has lately commenced the manufacture of a three-wheeled velocipede for which he obtained a patent in February, 1868. He calls his machine “a mechanical horse;” it is propelled _by the weight of the rider_, and by friction. It has neither treadles, cranks, or guiding arms. The rider rises in his stirrups as on a trotting horse. The saddle is so arranged that the pressure upon it revolves a gearing wheel, which acts upon a small one connected with the axle of the rear wheel; these wheels are thus made to turn very rapidly. It will be seen that this velocipede is constructed upon an entirely new principle. It is claimed that it can be driven upon the road, at the rate of from ten to fifteen miles an hour. This machine can be used by ladies, with a side-saddle arrangement. Its price is $125. Mr. Marden’s velocipede has been tested, and we think he has a fortune in his invention. He has more orders than he can fill, and is prepared to sell State, county, and town rights.

HEMMING’S UNICYCLE, OR “FLYING YANKEE VELOCIPEDE.”

The single-wheeled velocipede has at length received a palpable body, and “a local habitation and a name.”

Richard C. Hemming of New Haven, Conn., invented the machine herewith represented, two years ago; but has only recently brought it into the market and applied it to practical purposes. The main wheel has a double rim, or has two concentric rims, the inner face of the inner one having a projecting lip for keeping the friction rollers and the friction driver in place; each of these being correspondingly grooved on their peripheries. The frame on which the rider sits, sustains these friction wheels in double parallel arms, on the front one of which is mounted a double pulley, with belts passing to small pulleys on the axis of the driving wheel. This double wheel is driven, as seen, by cranks turned by the hands. The friction of the lower wheel on the surface of the inner rim of the main wheel, is the immediate means of propulsion. A small binding wheel, seen between the rider’s legs, serves to keep the bands or belts tight. The steering is effected either by inclining the body to one side or the other, or by the foot impinging on the ground, the stirrups being hung low for this purpose. By throwing the weight on these stirrups, the binding wheel may be brought more powerfully down on the belts. Over the rider’s head is an awning, and there is also a shield in front of his body to keep the clothes from being soiled by mud and wet. When going forward, the driving wheel is kept slightly forward of the centre of gravity by the position of the rider. By this means the power exerted is comparatively small. Every turn of the crank is equivalent to a rotation of the great wheel.

Mr. Hemming says that this machine can be manufactured for fifty dollars, of a weight of only thirty pounds; that it will ascend steep grades, and that it can be driven on the roads with but little exertion, at the rate of twenty or even twenty-five miles an hour. This wheel is of a diameter of from six to eight feet.

Mr. Hemming’s boy of thirteen has one five feet in diameter, the first manufactured, crude in construction, and heavier than necessary, which he propels at the rate of a mile in three minutes.

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A mechanic of Dubuque, Iowa, has invented a one-wheeled machine, which he calls a velocycle or velocyde. This velocipede is not ridden upon, but transports its rider into the position of “walkist.” It is a large wheel or double wheel, made a unit by a light rim of five feet one inch in diameter. The operator steps upon the rim and commences to ascend an endless ladder. It being movable, of course he does not ascend but sets the wheel in motion. The inventor claims that the effort is not greater than the force of muscle required in ordinary locomotion, and that by his arrangement of pulleys, each step gives a complete revolution of the wheel and is equivalent to a stride of eighteen feet. He claims that it will ascend steep grades, will run at the rate of twenty miles an hour, will not weigh over twenty pounds, and that it can be manufactured for $40.

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The single wheeled velocipede was perhaps predicted in Ezekiel i. 15-21. A gentleman in Pittsburg, Pa., claims to have invented one, which can be propelled by the combined force of five men, who occupy comfortable seats in the automatic horse. This wheel is ten feet in diameter, and the inventor thinks it can be driven at the rate of twenty miles an hour.

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A New York mechanic has devised a monocycle or single machine, which consists of a wheel eight feet in diameter, with a tire six inches wide, or two narrow tires on its outer edges, with two sets of spokes connecting with a double centre, which fills the place of a hub, the two sides of which are two feet and a half apart. The operator is in the middle, and propels the wheel by an apparatus, in which both his weight and his muscles are brought into play.

We present an engraving of an English one-wheeled velocipede. The feet are placed on short stilts, connected with the cranks, one on either side of the rim, while the rider sits upon a steel spring saddle over the whole wheel. The inventor modestly limits the diameter of the wheel to twelve feet, and the number of revolutions to fifty per minute. Twenty-five miles per hour is the speed expected to be reached. The riders of this machine, without the ability to overcome the laws of gravity, would be very likely to get broken bones and noses. It is not likely to come into general use.

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Captain Du Boisson, a Frenchman and captain of Prince Napoleon’s yacht, “Jerome Napoleon,” has invented a velocipede which runs upon water with great facility. It is composed of two parallel tubes of cast iron, cigar-shaped, connected by iron cross-pieces. In the centre is a propelling wheel, covered by a house or drum, on the top of which the person using the vessel sits comfortably in a sort of saddle, with stirrups. By means of these stirrups and a hand crank upon each side, he gives the wheel its motion, precisely as it is given to a velocipede on shore. The novel craft is easily propelled at the rate of six miles an hour.

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A gentleman of Poughkeepsie, N. Y., has invented and uses an Ice Velocipede, which he propels with astonishing rapidity. The frame of this velocipede is built like those which are commonly used in this city. It has but one wheel, steered with a bar as in the land machine, but armed with sharp points to prevent its slipping. Instead of the wheel behind are two sharp runners, like those attached to the ice boats.

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A Steam Velocipede has also been invented, from which great speed is expected. The cylinders and their attachments to the two driving wheels are not shown. They are placed vertically in front of the boiler, between it and the seat, and connect with cranks on the shaft of the driving wheels. The engraving shows the position of the boiler relatively to the other parts of the machine. The engine is a direct acting compound engine of two cylinders, each cylinder two and a half inches diameter, and five inches stroke. The steering gear consists of an endless chain over a grooved wheel on the engine shaft, and passing over a corresponding wheel fixed between the forked shaft just over the front. The latter grooved wheel is a wide one, and over it passes another chain. This latter chain works round the boss of the front wheel. This arrangement gives power to the front wheel, so that in turning a corner, this wheel takes a wider sweep than the two driving wheels, which go first. In travelling on a straight road (backwards) the machine is turned to either side by turning the steering wheel to the opposite side. The boiler is a vertical one, with four tubes, one and a half inches internal diameter, hanging down by the side of the fire-box. The fire-grate is cast with four holes in it to receive the bottom ends of the tubes so as to hold them firmly. Height of boiler, two feet six inches; height of fire-box, fifteen inches; diameter of fire-box, eleven inches; diameter of boiler, fourteen inches. The fire-box and tubes are copper, pressure two hundred pounds; but twenty-five pounds of steam will be equal to a velocipede propelled by the feet.

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Philadelphia has recently produced a velocipede of an entirely new style. There are but two wheels, the seat sitting quite low between them. The novelty consists in a cog attached to the guiding-post, by means of which the rear wheel is made to follow directly in the track of the forward wheel. No matter how short the turn, both wheels make it at the same time, and the seat always remains parallel with the driving wheel. In other machines there is no guide to the rear wheel, and consequently the machine cannot be turned so readily when a collision is threatened. The new machine, which is called the “Keystone,” in honor of its native State, is substantially built, and so far as it has been tested in the riding school, is pronounced a success.

There is an ingenious gentleman in Cincinnati, who is at work constructing a velocipede to be propelled by a spring, on the principle of a watch. After winding it up, he calculates that it will move two miles before it will require winding.

A gentleman in Albany has arranged a velocipede to run on railroad tracks. The wheels have flanges to them, so that they cannot leave the rails. The flanges are so arranged as to be removed when occasion requires, so as to make the machine available on ordinary roads. The inventor claims fifty miles an hour.

An expert velocipedestrian in the West, has had rubber tires put upon the wheels of his vehicle; and finds by their use, he can ride in winter over snow and ice without slipping, and that in summer he is much relieved of the jar from roughnesses of roads.

The vast majority of the new velocipedes of which we hear daily, prove total failures on trial. Most of their inventors proceed upon abstract principles, and fall into absurdities, from which previous practical knowledge would have saved them.

VELOCIPEDES FOR LADIES.

We present a bicycle for ladies, lately invented and patented by Messrs. Pickering & Davis of New York City. It will be seen that the reach or frame, instead of forming a nearly straight line from the front swivel to the hind axle, follows the curve of the front wheel until it reaches a line nearly as low as the hind axle, when it runs horizontally to that point of the hind wheel. The two wheels being separated three or four inches, allow of an upright rod being secured to the reach; around this is a spiral spring, on which a comfortable, cane-seated, willow-backed chair is placed. This machine, with a moderate sized wheel (of thirty to thirty-three inches), will allow being driven with a great deal of comfort and all the advantages of the two-wheel _veloce_. In mounting, a lady has to step over the reach, at a point only twelve inches from the floor, the height of an ordinary step in a flight of stairs.