Dec. 



1884.] 



♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦ 



463 



that there were good and substantial grounds for the pro- 

 moters to work upon, that the commodity they were 

 offering was valuable, and must ere long take its place, 

 and that a prominent one, in the market. A few years 

 served to demonstrate this, and in 1S20 nearly every town 

 of importance had made a start, the light having created in 

 the minds of the people a great feeling in its favour ; so 

 much so, that we read of a prominent Frenchman who, in 

 writing to a friend says, " Where gas-light exists there is 

 no night ; where gas-light is, there is continuous day." 



Having said thus much on the early history of gas pro- 

 •duotion and lighting, it would best accord with the object 

 in view if attention is now turned to the manufacture as at 

 present carried on. There is one thing to be noticed, how- 

 ever, before quitting this portion of the subject, viz., that 

 before many months had passed over the heads of the Gas- 

 light and Coke Company they had competitors in the field, 

 and then began one of the most ruinous struggles for 

 supremacy ever known in the history of any industry. 

 The futility and cost of these struggles should read to us 

 to-day an important lesson. There was room for many gas 

 companies; in 1829 two hundred were formed in the 

 United Kingdom, and there was, doubtless, scope for 

 more. We have a few electric light companies, but they 

 are given up too much to fighting ; there is room for the 

 gas companies, as well as for them and for others too, but 

 they must learn how to discriminate between a good market 

 and a bad one. 



THE TRICYCLE IN 1884. 

 By John Browning, 



Chairman of the London Tricycle Clnh. 

 SAFETY BREAKS. 



BEFORE the year closes I should like to say a few 

 words respecting breaks. 



The break is one of the most important parts of a 

 tricycle. Since vertical pedalling — that is, sitting directly 

 over the pedals — has been the rule, the rider has lost 

 much of the power formerly possessed of arresting the for- 

 ward motion of the machine, whenever it is necessary, by 

 back-pedalling. 



Again, many machines ai'e now ridden with clutches, 

 and these, of course, give the riders no power of back- 

 pedalling. In all such machines a most efficient break is 

 indispensabla 



The band-break introduced by the elder Starley, the 

 father of the modern tricycle, has never been beaten in 

 efliciency. On one of the first Sociables he made I 

 descended the worst of the two hills at Westerham with 

 my wife, anc, although I have done this many times since 

 on various machine?, 1 have never had another Sociable in 

 which I could descend it so safely and easily, for, while 

 with every other Sociable I had to ride down carefully, 

 with the Starley machine I could let it run at tenor twelve 

 miles an hour, and pull it up on a steep part of the 

 incline in twenty or thirty yards. 



Many Sociables I have tried for my friends have proved 

 efiicient in every other respect, but, the break being 

 ineffective, have caused them months of trouble and 

 anxiety. 



Nearly the worst accident that can happen to a tricyclist 

 is for the break to give way on a steep hill. 



When it does so, the best thing to do is to turn the 

 machine round, if possible, into the side of the road, be- 

 fore the pace becomes alarming. 



I have done this once on a iSociable, and twice on single 



machines without getting a scratch myself or in any way 

 injuring the machine. 



On the last occasion I was descending from Chipstead 

 to Merstham, by what I suppose the parish authorities call 

 a road, but I should call a water-shoot, when it came on 

 to rain suddenly and heavily. I was on my small Humber, 

 which I was holding in by the break easily. But, after a 

 few minutes, I found my pace increasing in spite of the 

 utmost pressure I could apply to the break. As the 

 machine had a clutch in the lower chain-wheel, I could not 

 pedal backwards. I was at a sharp corner and heard the 

 sound of wheels below me, so immediately put my machine 

 into the bank, and the shock threw me off backwards, 

 unhurt. 



My reason for mentioning this little mishap is that I 

 find few riders are aware that heavy rain will lubricate a 

 break so as to render it nearly useless. The moral, of 

 course, is that you should dismount if you have to descend 

 a steep hill when it is raining heavily. 



I have long been of opinion that to avoid such mishaps 

 all tricycles should be provided with a second, or safety, 

 break. The first safety-break which I thought useful was 

 that introduced by Pausey, who put two breaks upon a 

 machine of the Humber type. They were two separate 

 baud-breaks, acting on the same drum, provided with 

 separate levers, one actuated by the right hand, and the 

 other by the left. As either or both of these levers could 

 be used without leaving go of the steering-handles, this 

 appeared to me an admirable arrangement, and I am sur- 

 prised that it was not generally adopted. 



The Sparkbrook Tricycle Company have just introduced 

 a new safety-break specially adapted for the Humber 

 Tricycle. This is a band-break, working on a drum 

 attached to the lower chain-wheel, the band being acted on 

 by the step which is just behind the lower bracket. The 

 break is applied by placing the foot on the step. To do 

 this the weight of the rider must be thrown so far back 

 that it is contended that there will be no risk of his being 

 thrown over the handles. 



I shall ceitainly adopt this as a safety-break on my small 

 Humber, if I can do so without relinquishing the excellent 

 two-speed gearing which Mr. Bown has just fitted to the 

 machine for me. 



By far the simplest and most efficient safety-break yet 

 seen has just been introduced by Messrs. Lloyd Bros, on 

 their new Xo. 8 and No. 9 front-steering Quadrants. 



Instead of attaching the mud-guard of the front wheel 

 as a fixture by the upper end, they have made it stout, 

 and attached it by a spring and hinge fixed at the lower 

 part. In case of need, the rider can place his foot on 

 the upper part of the mud guard and press it firmly against 

 the tire. As the front wheel in this machine is 26 inches 

 diameter, this would no doubt prove a sufficiently-power- 

 ful break even were there no other on the machine, but 

 with the band-break which Messrs. Lloyd Bros, put to 

 their roadsters, it might be said that the break arrange- 

 ments would be perfect, and an accident from deficiency of 

 break-power impossible. 



According to the Drugman, the Japanese are threatened with 

 severe losses on acconnt of the extinction of the lacquer indnstry. 

 The tree from which the varnish is made is disappearing. An old 

 law compelled the people to rear lacquer trees, but it is not now in 

 force. Another law compelled every person who cut down any- 

 kind of tree to plant two in its place. This also has become a dead 

 letter, and the native newspapers fear the deforestation of Japan. 



INTEKXATI0X.4L EXHIBITION. — Gold medal (highest award) has 

 been awarded to Messrs. Walker & Harrison, of the Phcenix 

 Biscuit Works, Katcliff-cross, London, E., for their new Phcenix 

 Carbonated Meat Biscuit for Dogs, &c. — [Advt.] 



