which seems to have realized the perfection of human ingenuity in one direction, clearly fore shadowed a half-century ago in the inventions of two canny Scots, who may never have seen each other's respective vehicles. And yet, strangely enough, these two cleverly designed machines were destined to share a worse fate than that of their predecessors, for they were resurrected too late to be credited with having contributed in the slightest degree toward the evolution of the wheel from the draisine to the safety.
During the next ten years we hear more or less of the French velocipede, and finally, in 1855. one M. _Niehaus, a carriage-repairer in l'aris. brought out a machine not unlike the draisine, but having cranks and pedals fitted to the front wheels. A monument was erected to Michaux in France in 1S94. Another inventor, Pierre Lallement, said to have been in the em ploy of M. Michanx, shares with the latter the credit of having laid the foundation stone of modern cycling. At all events, Lallement secured, in 1865, a patent on a two-wheeled velocipede, propelled directly by cranks and loose pedals, and surmounted by a wooden perch. The inventor then came to the United States, where he patented a second velocipede November 20, 1866. Lallement's machine, which was dubbed 'boneshaker' in England. was vastly in in France shortly afterwards, and is said to have made cycling a fashionable pastime in Paris during the .winters of 1866 and 1367. Schools were established for teaching the art of riding, and everybody who claimed to be anybody possessed a velocipede. So universal was the practice, in fact, that at the Grand Opera House straps were fixed to the walls of the vestibule for holding the machines of fashionable veloeipedists. These vehicles were handsomely finished, and cost from 625 to 750 francs each. Meanwhile, cycling interest was revived in England. In 1366 Ed ward Gilman patented a velocipede which was to he propelled by a treadle, connected with cranks on the axle of the rear wheel. An endless chain and a 'two-speed gear' had already been suggested the same year. The cycling mania soon spread to the United States, and by 1369 manufacturers had all they could do to supply the demand for veloci pedes. Inventive ingenuity continued to make surprising progress in England until, in 1873, James Starley, of Coventry, the second 'Father of the Bicycle,' produced the first machine em bodying most of the features which are found in the ordinary nr high wheel. The driver was about three times the size of the rear wheel, and both were provided with rubber tires and cross tension spokes. Succeeding changes increased the size of the front wheel until it was GO inches in diameter, and that of the rear wheel was corre spondingly reduced until it fell to 16 inches. In 1875 the average roadster weighed 65 pounds. The modifications and improvements of the ten years. during which the bicycle enjoyed a hal cyon career on both sides of the Atlantic, in cluded plain. roller, and adjustable hall bearings, direct and tangent spokes, and cushion tires. Most important of these improvements was the ball bearing, which soon was applied to all the moving parts of the wheel, with the result that its propulsion was accomplished with far less effort and the rider was able to make greater speed and ride longer distances. The ball bearing illustrated in section consists of a series of steel balls, arranged in a circle, on which the axle moves, its hearing surface being a cone so turned that it is tangent to the steel ball at c. The
balls in turn hear against two other tangent sur faces at a and b. Consequently friction is re duced to a minimum. as the points of contact are theoretically a number of points instead of surfaces.
.Teanwhile the idea of a safety machine was slowly but surely beginning to assume a tangible shape. An Eliglishnian named II. T. Lawson in vented a rear-driving safety in 187G. This ma chine was followed by the Ricyelette in 18S0. the kangaroo in ISS:i, and finally by the :11arvel and the original Rover in 1884. The last•mentioned, brought out by tile veteran James Starley, was really the prototype of the modern bicycle. For a long time the word Rover was applied to all safeties of the new pattern—those with wheels of nearly equal size, the front wheel steer ing, and the rear one driving by means of a single chain. But the name gradually lost its meaning as the designation of a type, and WeS replaced by the more comprehensive term of Safety. At present the words bicycle and safety are virtually synonymous, for since 1890 the high wheel is scarcely to be found outside of junk or curiosity shops. Previous to 1878 English bicy cles were imported to supply the demand in the United States, but in that year the Pope Manu facturing Company started the manufacture of bicycles in Boston. The safety model was versally adopted by manufacturers in this coun try in 1888. A year later the most important of all modern improvements on the bicycle was made by the application of the pneumatic tire. This was not originally designed for the bicycle, but was patented by It W. Thompson in England in 1843 and in the United States in 1847. Its application to the bicycle was patented in 1889 by Dunlop. Since the general adoption of the pneumatic tire the development of the bicycle has consisted in improving its various parts to secure greater strength and lightness: and more graceful form; in the invention and improvement of special parts, such as the coaster brake, sad dles, adjustable handle-bars, and other familiar fittings; the application of bevel gears and a driving shaft in place of the sprocket wheel and chain; the invention of the drop frame for ladies' bicycles. and the development of the machine for two, four, six, and even eight. persons. Some notion of the number ther of inventions developed in connection with the bicycle is •onl•eyed by the fact that over 5000 patents have been granted on velocipedes and bicycles. At the end of 1900 there were s lllll e 1511 manufacturers of bicycles in the United States, with an output of about 1.000,000 wheels annually.
A description of the modern bicycle is some what superfluous. so familiar has the construc tion of the machine become during the last dec ade. Generally speaking, the bicycle of 1902 weighs from 23 to pounds (mnplot e. The frame vonsi•ts of cold•drawn, steel tubing, with all joints brazed, and all bearing: of the ball type. Suspension wheels with steel wire spokes, wooden rims. and pneumatic tires are uniiersally employed. Popular favor approves the sprocket wheel and chain driver, but a large number of machines are built with shaft and bevel-gear driver. Consult: H. A. Garratt, The Modern Safety Bicycle (New York, 1899), which contains a careful discussion of bicycle design and construction. See CYCLING.