The present form of bicycle was first made towards the end of the last century, after the invention of pneumatic tyres, but motor-cycles are now beginning to take its place, and we are all familiar with these wonderful little vehicles, many of which have a side-car for an extra passenger, and are able to travel at the rate of thirty, forty, or even fifty miles an hour.
EARLY MOTOR-CAR.
From cycles we go to motor-cars, and now when the roads are thronged with these swift conveyances it is strange to think that for a long time "horseless carriages" were considered an impossibility and spoken of with jeering incredulity.
More than a hundred years ago, however, a Frenchman invented a steam carriage which could travel at the rate of two miles an hour, and during the next half-century other vehicles of the sort were patented besides several very curious mechanical carriages.
A picture and description of one of these appears in a magazine of the time, and we see that it was a large carriage with four wheels. One man sits in front, holding what are apparently quite useless reins, while a second man, standing behind in a kind of box, works a machine with his feet and so propels the heavy conveyance along. Another and an even more extraordinary-looking carriage was invented by a Mr. Boller in 1804. It was propelled by a very complicated arrangement of large and small cog-wheels.
Progress was made during the next few years, and in 1829 two inventors had constructed a steam carriage which could travel at the rate of fifteen miles an hour. A little later we learn that there was a regular service of steam coaches running between Gloucester and Cheltenham.
After that, however, many years elapsed before horseless carriages came into general use, one reason being that such conveyances were heavily taxed and subjected to many rules. It was not until 1896 that these were altered, and then immediately there was a change and cars driven by steam, electricity, and petrol came into use.