Democratic Sentinel, Volume 17, Number 47, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 December 1893 — An Ice Bicycle. [ARTICLE]

An Ice Bicycle.

The latest Ice bicyole news comes frem Leavenworth, Kan. It is said that Dr. E. Christiansen, of that city, owns the American patent right to a bicycle sled or velocipede sled, as its inventor, Leonhard Thanner, of Germany, and a brother-in-law of tho Doctor, cills it. “The original German patent was granted May 4, 1890, and the American patent May 9, 1593. Tho sled has also been patented in Austria, Switzerland, Denmark, England, and Canada. One hundred and thirtythree thousand of these novel contrivances have been sold in England so far. The manufacturing price is low because of the machine’s simplicity. Bicycle enthusiasts by means of these machines, it is said,” would be enabled to follow the sport the year round, and its use with pedals, or a small sail, on tho ice would revolutionize the sport of skating or coasting. The velocity of the sled, as tested in tho lee Sport Corso at Munich, Bavaria, showed it to be as speedy as the safety bicycle, and in a long run it excelled, "as it required loss effort on the part of tho rider. The levers work as speed producers and as a brake. The machine is very light, and can be readily taken apart and packed in small compass, making it as portable a 4 an umbrella. Dr. Christiansen has a small model of the sled. Several Leavenworth manufacturers have seen it, and there is a possibility of a company heiug formed there for its manufacture. Some of the bicycle manufacturers have heard of tho sled, and Dr. Christiansen has had several opportunities to dispose of his rights at a good round sum.’’—Hardware.