¼ ball at 3 tons 15 cwt. did not break, but crushed on removing part of the weight.
5/16 ball at 4 tons 9 cwt. broke.
3/8 ball at 8 tons 6 cwt. did not break, crushed under another 120 lb.
7/16 ball crushed before 3 tons, with which I was starting, had been applied. Examination showed that the steel bar of which it was made had been laminated.
These experiments do not tell much of importance; they are curious, and perhaps of sufficient interest to bring before your notice. The fragments are all preserved in tubes, and labeled, so that any one who likes to see them can do so.
Of the advantage which a machine which will collapse or fold up when desired, but retain its form on the road, offers in convenience, it is unnecessary for me to speak.
Of double machines, the Rucker tandem bicycle seems to me to be in every respect the best, but I should add that I speak only from imagination and not from experience. The independent steering, the impossibility of capsizing forward or sideways, the position of the rider over his work, the absence of any little wheel with its mud throwing and vibrating tendencies, combine to make a machine which ought to be superior in almost every desirable quality to any other; what it may be in practice I hope to hear in the discussion.
Of double tricycles, the Sociable has been tried by many, and is practically a failure in so far as traveling quickly and easily is concerned. The Tandem, though it presents so objectionable an appearance, seems likely to become a favorite, for it surpasses any single tricycle, and rivals the bicycle in speed. How it may compare in comfort or in safety with the single machine, perhaps those few who are well acquainted with them will say; at any rate, in the case of the Humber, greater stability is given to the steering, owing to the weight of the front rider.
Time will not allow me to say more of these machines, or to attack the subject of steam, electric, or magic tricycles, which I had hoped to do. With steam and electricity we are well acquainted; by magic tricycles, I mean those driven by a motor which, without any expense, will drive one twenty miles an hour, up or down hill, with perfect safety. Highway regulations, and certain reasons not well understood, have at present prevented these contrivances from making a revolution.
There remains one machine which must be considered separately, for it cannot be classed with any other. This is the Otto bicycle. My opinion of this machine is so pronounced that I do not care to state it fully. I shall merely give the reasons why I prefer it to anything else, and in so doing I shall be taking the first step in the discussion, in which it will be interesting to hear from riders of other machines the reasons for their preference.