A mechanic of Dubuque, Iowa, has invented a one-wheeled machine, which he calls a velocycle or velocyde. This velocipede is not ridden upon, but transports its rider into the position of “walkist.” It is a large wheel or double wheel, made a unit by a light rim of five feet one inch in diameter. The operator steps upon the rim and commences to ascend an endless ladder. It being movable, of course he does not ascend but sets the wheel in motion. The inventor claims that the effort is not greater than the force of muscle required in ordinary locomotion, and that by his arrangement of pulleys, each step gives a complete revolution of the wheel and is equivalent to a stride of eighteen feet. He claims that it will ascend steep grades, will run at the rate of twenty miles an hour, will not weigh over twenty pounds, and that it can be manufactured for $40.
The single wheeled velocipede was perhaps predicted in Ezekiel i. 15-21. A gentleman in Pittsburg, Pa., claims to have invented one, which can be propelled by the combined force of five men, who occupy comfortable seats in the automatic horse. This wheel is ten feet in diameter, and the inventor thinks it can be driven at the rate of twenty miles an hour.
A New York mechanic has devised a monocycle or single machine, which consists of a wheel eight feet in diameter, with a tire six inches wide, or two narrow tires on its outer edges, with two sets of spokes connecting with a double centre, which fills the place of a hub, the two sides of which are two feet and a half apart. The operator is in the middle, and propels the wheel by an apparatus, in which both his weight and his muscles are brought into play.
We present an engraving of an English one-wheeled velocipede. The feet are placed on short stilts, connected with the cranks, one on either side of the rim, while the rider sits upon a steel spring saddle over the whole wheel. The inventor modestly limits the diameter of the wheel to twelve feet, and the number of revolutions to fifty per minute. Twenty-five miles per hour is the speed expected to be reached. The riders of this machine, without the ability to overcome the laws of gravity, would be very likely to get broken bones and noses. It is not likely to come into general use.
Captain Du Boisson, a Frenchman and captain of Prince Napoleon’s yacht, “Jerome Napoleon,” has invented a velocipede which runs upon water with great facility. It is composed of two parallel tubes of cast iron, cigar-shaped, connected by iron cross-pieces. In the centre is a propelling wheel, covered by a house or drum, on the top of which the person using the vessel sits comfortably in a sort of saddle, with stirrups. By means of these stirrups and a hand crank upon each side, he gives the wheel its motion, precisely as it is given to a velocipede on shore. The novel craft is easily propelled at the rate of six miles an hour.