St Nicholas [serial] . on soon set in, and as suddenly as theDraisine had risen into favor so suddenly did itfall from grace. Though for many years after the coming ofthis vehicle, different forms with three, four,five, and sometimes six wheels were made, themeans of driving still remained the same. La-salle, a French carriage-builder, invented a giant wheel, through which an axle-tree ex- 448 THE STORY OF THE WHEEL. [April, tended some distance on each side. This ve-hicle, known as the Pedocadere, carried twopassengers, one on each side of the wheel atthe extreme end of the axle. Revis, of Ca
St Nicholas [serial] . on soon set in, and as suddenly as theDraisine had risen into favor so suddenly did itfall from grace. Though for many years after the coming ofthis vehicle, different forms with three, four,five, and sometimes six wheels were made, themeans of driving still remained the same. La-salle, a French carriage-builder, invented a giant wheel, through which an axle-tree ex- 448 THE STORY OF THE WHEEL. [April, tended some distance on each side. This ve-hicle, known as the Pedocadere, carried twopassengers, one on each side of the wheel atthe extreme end of the axle. Revis, of Cam-bridge, and B. Smith, of Liverpool, both thoughtof driving the wheels by the feet instead of bythe hands; and each brought out a wheel —the former named his wheel the Alleopode; thelatter chose the name Facilitator. These in-ventions enjoyed only a brief existence; but theDraisine held its own in Europe nearly thirtyyears. It has been recently stated that the first ve-locipede in America was built in the year 1823;. A michaux wheel of i860.(From Le Cyclisme.) by a young mechanic of Troy, N. Y.; but thestatement is doubtful, and there appears to beno trace of the machine, which is stated to havecaused much wonder at the time. In 1840, a Scotchman named McMillan in-vented a driving-gear of rods, which, six yearslater, was improved by one of his fellow-coun-trymen, Gavin Dalzell, of Lesmahogaw, Lanark-shire, a cooper by trade. Dalzells machine haslong been considered the first two-wheeled, one-track vehicle in which the rider waslifted clear of the ground and provided with atrue driving and steering mechanism. It will repay us to look a moment at Dal-zells creation, which is not only still in exis-tence, but is to-day in good working wheels, like the entire machine, are princi-pally of wood, with metal fittings and rear wheel — that is, the driving-wheel ofour modern safety — is forty inches in diameterwhile the front or steering-wheel measures butthirt
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, bookidstnicholasserial251dodg
