ELAINE, JAMES G. 



in the plane of one of the large wheels ; both 

 the driving and the steering may be done either 

 by one or by two of the wheels. The tricycle 

 has the same general principles of construction 

 as the bicycle suspension-wheel, ball-bearings, 

 and hollow tubing frame. 



A three-wheeled velocipede was used and 

 patented in France in 1826, and since then 

 velocipedes of this species have been more or 

 less used, and from time to time improved. 

 The tricycle was in use in very small numbers, 

 both in England and the United States, prior to 

 the introduction of the bicycle ; but it is only 

 since the successful and general use of the 

 latter that makers have given tricycles suffi- 

 cient attention to improve them, and have vent- 

 ured on the expense of making them with care 

 and accuracy. There is a species of tricycle 

 designed to carry two, which is called a "so- 

 ciable," and many of them are now in use 

 throughout Europe, and some in this country. 

 The tricycle requires more power to propel it, 

 by about one-fifth, than the bicycle does, is not 

 so speedy, nor perhaps so graceful; but it is 

 more comfortable and safe. In this country 

 several firms are engaged in its manufacture 

 and importation, and its use is growing rapidly. 



BLAINE, JAMES GILLESPIE, an American 

 statesman, born at Indian Hill Farm, on Mo- 

 nongahela river, Washington co., Pa., Jan. 31, 

 1830. He is a great-grandson of Col. Ephraim 

 Elaine, of Middlesex, Cumberland co., Pa., who 

 was Commissary -General of the Continental 

 army, on the staff of Gen. Washington, from 

 1778 till the close of the Revolutionary War. 

 The family were a part of the colony of Scotch 

 and Scotch-Irish Presbyterians who had settled 

 in the Cumberland valley about 1725. His fa- 

 ther inherited a large landed estate in west- 

 ern Pennsylvania, and removed to Washing- 

 ton county in 1818, where in 1820 he married 

 the daughter of Neal Gillespie, a well-known 

 Eoman Catholic, a man of wealth, noted in his 

 section for high character and ability. The 

 education of the boy was looked after with 

 great care both by his father and his maternal 

 grandfather, who personally conducted it to 

 some extent themselves. He was sent to school 

 for a time at Lancaster, Ohio, in 1841, where 

 he lived in the family of his relative, Thomas 

 Ewing, at that time Secretary of the Treasury. 

 In his fourteenth year he entered Washington 

 College (Pa.), where he was graduated, the 

 youngest member of his class except one, in 

 September, 1847. He was awarded one of the 

 honors of the class, and delivered at commence- 

 ment the English salutatory and an oration on 

 "The Duty of an Educated American." He 

 ranked high in mathematics and languages. 



After graduation, he was an instructor for 

 some time in the Western Military Institute of 

 Kentucky. During this period he made the ac- 

 quaintance of Miss Harriet Stanwood, the lady 

 who became his wife, and who is the mother 

 of a large family of sons and daughters. After 

 leaving Kentucky, Mr. Elaine lived in Philadel- 



phia for three years, where he was a teacher 

 in one of the public institutions, and was an 

 editorial writer lor a considerable part of the 

 time on the staff of the " Daily Inquirer." Mr. 

 Elaine at the same time completed his law- 

 studies, which he had been pursuing ever since 

 he left college. He had an excellent opportu- 

 nity in 1853 to enter the law-office of Theodore 

 Cuyler (who afterward became prominent at 

 the bar of Philadelphia), and seriously contem- 

 plated the acceptance of this place with the in- 

 tention of pursuing the law as his profession. 

 But he was induced by a very flattering offer 

 from Maine to remove to that State and enter 

 upon the editorial profession. He settled, there- 

 fore, in 1854, in Augusta (Mrs. Elaine's birth- 

 place), and purchased a half interest in the 

 " Kennebec Journal." His partner was John 

 L. Stevens, late United States Minister to Swe- 

 den. Mr. Elaine is gifted with an extraordi- 

 nary memory, and, on assuming his editorial 

 duties, rapidly familiarized himself with the 

 details of Maine politics by reading every issue 

 of the paper in the bound files, from January, 

 1825, when it was originally established. Un- 

 der his management, the paper was both a 

 financial success and a journal of great influ- 

 ence; while, both through its columns and 

 through his personal qualities of leadership, 

 Mr. Elaine became powerful in the councils of 

 the Whig and Republican parties. From 1858 

 to 1861 he edited the Portland "Advertiser," 

 but still retained his residence at Augusta. 



In 1856 he was a delegate to the first Na- 

 tional Convention of the Republican party, 

 in Philadelphia, which nominated Fremont, 

 and in 1859 he was made chairman of the 

 Republican State Committee, which post he 

 held until 1880. In the same year he was 

 elected to the lower house of the State Legis- 

 lature. His first public speech was made in 

 Augusta, on his return from Philadelphia in 

 1856, in response to a request of his friends 

 and neighbors that he tell them about the con- 

 vention. During the canvass then begun he 

 spoke many times, and since then he has been 

 known as one of the most effective political 

 orators in the country. 



In his capacity as editor, he had called at- 

 tention to the condition of the penal and re- 

 formatory institutions of the State, and severely 

 criticised their management. Thereupon Gov- 

 ernor Morrill appointed him a commissioner to 

 examine the prisons and reformatories of other 

 States, and suggest improvements in those of 

 Maine. In the discharge of this duty, Mr. 

 Elaine visited fifteen States, and made an elab- 

 orate report. Most of his recommendations 

 were adopted, and the penal institutions of 

 Maine were thereby greatly improved. 



He retained his seat in the Legislature till 

 1862, and in the last two years of his service 

 was Speaker of the House. 



In 1862 he was elected to the national House 

 of Representatives, where he held a seat by 

 successive re-elections till July, 1876, when 



