KNOWLEDGE 



[June 30, 1882. 



The iiiacLiuc sliouki not bo steered to avoid loose stones 

 wbt-u running down hill, the speed should be decreased, 

 and the rider should go straight through them. A tricycle 

 will turn in a much shorter space than a bicycle, but it 

 should never be turned when running quickly. The speed 

 should be reduced to about four or live miles an hour, and 

 the rider should lean over in the direction towards which 

 he wishes to turn. 



The rule of taking the feet oft' the pedals when riding 

 down hill will not apply to tlie Humber Tricycle. That 

 machine throws a great strain on the arms as soon as the 

 feet are taken oil" the pedals. The feet are, with practice, 

 unconsciously used in steering, and after a time an expert 

 rider can steer this machine without holding the handles. 



Beginners will find it well not to pull hard at the handles 

 of any tricycle continuously ; but to use them scarcely at 

 all when riding down an incline, only moderately when on 

 a level road ; and to reserve them principally for use when 

 working on rising ground, when, from having Vicen only 

 occasionally used, they will be a powerful assistance. Their 

 constant use will be found very fatiguing. 



In all that I am saying I am supposing the rider wishes 

 to travel as far as his strength wiJl allow him, at a pace 

 of about seven or eight miles an hour. 



Should his only object be to ride at the top of his speed, 

 he must almost stand on his pedals, lean well forward, and 

 pull hard at the handles. 



A strong rider, with practice, can ride at the rate of 

 t»velve miles an hour for two or three hours, and at the 

 rate of ten miles an hour for four or (ive hours. The 

 amateur champion, Mr. Lacy Hillier, has ridden fifty miles 

 over an exceedingly hilly road in four hours, fourteen 

 minutes. 



I am often asked to state the comparative speed of 

 bicycles and tricycles. I consider the tricycle is about two 

 miles an hour slower than the bicycle. The remark is fre- 

 quently made that the tricycle is much harder work than the 

 bicycle. I reply, not at the relative speeds I have named. 

 The tricycle has an immense advantage over the bicycle in 

 being capable of adjustment to the strength of the person 

 who is going to use it A machine with driving-wheels 

 54 in. in diameter, geared level, would require a strong and 

 practised rider to drive it up a moderate incline ; but by 

 replacing the lower wheel, which carries the chain, with a 

 wheel from an inch to two inches smaller, the machine can 

 be made to run so lightly that it may be driven easily — of 

 course at a slower pace — up moderate inclines by a lady, 

 or even by a child. 



Tricycle riding is gaining ground more rapidly even than 

 bicycling. The best makers of well-known machines cannot 

 execute orders under about two months, and makers of one 

 well-known Sociable (that is double tricycle) will not at 

 prewnt accept orders to be executed in a stipulated time. 

 Tlie cranks of double tricycles are made in two ways. In 

 one construction the right foot of each driver rises and falls 

 at the same time. In the other the right foot of one driver 

 is half way up when the other is either up or down. This 

 is called putting the crank on the quarter turn. The last 

 arrangement is the best for hill-riding, but is not so con- 

 venient or erticient generally, as it gives the appearance and 

 sensation of two scullers in a boat taking strokes alter- 

 nat«ly — a proceeding most ungraceful in appearance, and 

 one by which strength is wasted. 



The advantages of tricycles over bicycles are numerous and 

 evident They can l»e ridden at a slower pace than the bicycle, 

 or stopped at any time, without dismounting, to admire a 

 view, in.sj^ec-t a building, read the direction on a linger-post, 

 or speak to a friend. They will carry almost any amount of 

 luggage. A great many tricycles are now employed by the 



postmen in country ilistricts for carrying letters and parcels. 

 Policemen and lamplighters are also using them. Tri- 

 cycling brings more muscles into play than walking, and is 

 a more exhilarating exercise. To the healthy and strong it 

 is oven more exhilarating than horse-riding. 



Our greatest authority on health, Dr. B. W. Richardson, 

 F.R.S., recommends stout people to adopt it, and says that 

 a very stout person will find that he can ride six miles 

 with less fatigue than he can walk one. 



I know many persons who have given up rowing after 

 a short experience of trieyling, sajing that the rush down 

 a breezy hillside is more exciting and exhilarating than a 

 row on either river or sea. 



I consider that a tricycle-rider has almost as great an 

 advantage over a walker as a rider in a railway train has 

 over a rider in a coach. Where roads are fairly good, a 

 tricyclist can cover six miles with less fatigue than a pedes- 

 trian can travel three. It is probable that the rapid 

 increase of tricycling will, before long, cause a great im- 

 provement in our country roads. Were they made exceed- 

 ingly good, ten miles an hour could be ridden on a geared- 

 up or speeded tricycle (in which the wheels would turn 

 round quicker than the cranks moved by the feet) easier 

 than a pedestrian could walk four miles an hour. 



The rapid improvement being made in double tricycles 

 is inducing many bicyclists to adopt Ihcm who have not 

 been tempted by the single tricycle. The weight of a 

 double tricycle is much less than that of two single tri- 

 cycles, and they can be ridden by two good riders at as 

 great a pace as a bicycle. The enjoyment of riding one of 

 these machines with a friend, particularly with a lady- 

 friend, must be tried before it can be fully appreciated. 



THOUGHT-READING. 

 By the Editor. 



DICKENS describes another feat which the conjurer 

 performed, which, were it not that the first can 

 only be explained as a feat of n)ind-ruling, we might 

 explain as a trick merely of legerdemain and quickness of 

 vision. But, under the actual conditions, it seems to indi- 

 cate powers of mind-reading far more surprising than any 

 ever noticed in parlour experiments. The conjuror "had 

 several common school-slates about a foot square. He 

 took one of thfmi to a fieldoilicer from the camp, decori and 

 what not, who sat about six from our scats, with a grave, 

 saturnine friend next him. ' My General,' says he, ' will 

 you write a name on this slate, after your friend has 

 done sol Don't show it me.' The friend wrote a name, 

 and the General wrote a name. The conjuror took 

 the slate rapidly from the officer, threw it violently 

 down on the ground with the written side to the floor, 

 and asked the officer to put his foot on it and keep it 

 there, which he did. The conjuror considered for about 

 a minute, looking devilish hard at the General. 'My 

 General,' says he, ' your friend wrote Dagobcrt upon the 

 slate under your foot.' The friend admits it ' And you, 

 my General, wrote Nicholas.' General admits it, and 

 everybody laughs and applauds. ' My General, will you 

 excuse me, if I change that name into a name expressive 

 of the power of a , great nation, which, in happy alliance 

 with the gallantry and spirit of France, will .shake that 

 name to its centre ?' [This was in 1854.] 'Certainly, I 

 will excuse it' ' My General, take up the slate, and read.' 

 (General reads : ' Dacoijkkt, Victohia.' The first in his 

 friend's writing ; the second in a new hand. I never saw 

 anything in the least like this ; or at all approaching to 



