Democratic Sentinel, Volume 18, Number 19, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 May 1894 — “SHOULDER CYCLES!" [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

“SHOULDER CYCLES!"

FRENCH SOLDIERS NOW HEAR A NEW COMMAND. A BlcyeJe Deafened for Military Pnrpoeee —The Machine Wrfflu About Thirty Pounds end Folds Cp Nently-New Bicycle Drill Book. Hikes on Their Backs. The field of Intention in bicycle construction has produced many novelties, some of which are not likely to appear in any other than the original models. A Fiench mechanic has turned out a bicycle, which may have a future It is built with a view to use by military cyclers, being so constructed that it can be readily folded up and packed away when not in use, and easily transported in quantities. The intention of the inventor is to

have the wheels of a detail of militia or soldiers transported in wagons, and on arrival at the destination to be unpacked and used for reconnoitering, scouting, etc. When any fighting is to be done the wheels are packed away out of the road, leaving the soldiers free to perform any duty assigned to them. The machine has a front drivingwheel twenty-two inches in diameter and a rear wheel of from ten to fourteen inches. The backbone has a hinge about half way between the two wheels, so that the rear wheel may fold over the front wheel. The saddle is raised or lowered by a stout C-spring, which, with the steeringpost and the handle, folds down over the front wheel. The driving gear is covered to keep out the dust and straps are attached to the machine so that when folded it may be slung over a light pack on the bicycler’s back. The machine weighs about thirty pounds and costs in France* about SSO. Just about the time that the especial military bicycle is produced comes Gen. Albert Ordway’s “CycleInfantry Drill Regulations,” a manual for the use of military bicyclers. Gen. Ordway is Adjutant General of the District of Columbia and.an enthusiastic bicycler. Except in the fact that the elements of the commands to be dril:ed are bicyclers, and that Jheir formation requires intervals of six feet instead of six inches, the book is not essentially different from the drill book for infantry. The formation is in single rank, and the cycle infantrymen go through about the same movements that common or garden infantrymen do. This form of bicycle may also prove of service to tourists, where it is necessary to travel part of the distance by wagon, train or boat, being light and easy of manipulation. Agood

Idea of the form of the new wheel both folded or packed and ready for riding, can be gained from the accompanying illustrations.

ELECTRICITY FROM WIND. A Windmill So Arranged as to Drive a Two Horse-Power Dynamo. In 7 1887 Professor James Bly th, of Glasgow, constructed at Maykirk a windmill so arranged as to drive a dynamo which charged an accumulator for electric light and power purposes. This motor had, however, only some of i the requisites for utilizing windpower in generating electricity, namely, being always ready to go, without attendance, and in the wildest gale. He was, therefore, led to consider the revolving cups of the Robinson anemometer, and has recently set up a windmill on the same principle. It is illustrated in the figure, where the “cups,” c c c c, are semi-cylindrical boxes attached tc four strong arms, aa, each twentysix feet long, revolving. Blyth further augments the power of the machine by adding a smaller auxiliary box, b b, to each arm behind the larger one. As to the electrical con-

nections required, the dynamo circuit should be automatically interrupted when the dynamo is running at less shan storage speed. This is accomplished by a governor attached to the dynamo shaft, which makesand breaks contact in a mercury pool at the required speed. Another form of governor merely regulates the number of storage cells to suit the current, and in this way the machine is always doing some work. The round and vertical iron shaft, s, carries at its lower end a massive pit wheel actuating a train bf gearing, and driving a fly wheel six feet in diameter Frdm this fly wheel the dynamo is driven by belting, and charges the accumulator. The opening of each box is 10 feet long by 6

feet wide, and the machine going with a fair wind at ordinary speed gives about two electric horse-power. It runs well in a strong gale, and is well adapted for small domestic installations: but, of course, the size can be increased, and more than one installed on windy sites. Professor Blyth’s plant is well adapted for lighting houses in the country, where wind is more available than coals or waterpower. Wind is a cleanly form of power, and the motordoes not require much attention.

READY FOR THE ROAD.

FOLDED UP.

ELECTRICITY FROM WIND