A WATER BICYCLE SEAT.
Alphonse King, the water pedestrian, performed the remarkable feat on August 14 of crossing the Niagara river from the American to the Canadian shore on a water bicycle. There were about 8000 people present, including Prince Devawongse. Mr King’s machine is in appearance like a regular bicycle, except that the wheel has small paddles like those of side-wheel steamers. Buoyancy is 1 obtained from two ■ igar-shaped hollow tubes of zinc, which sank well into the water. Mr King wore a dress suit. It was believed that he would fail, and “ Tom ” Conroy, the guide, went along in a yawl to aid him in case the treacherous torrent capsized the bicycle. Fortunately, Mr King succeeded in riding across, the trip being made diagonally on account of the torrent drifting the machine in the direction of the Whirlpool Bapids. The wheel goes about four miles an hour, and the risky experiment only occupied four and a-half minutes. The crowd cheered Kng, and when he returned to the American side, Dr Lanigan, of Buffalo, presented him with a gold medal on behalf of his Buffalo friends King said that he intended shortly to ride from the Statue of Liberty to the Brooklyn Bridge on his bicycle.
Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TEML18871008.2.17
Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka
Temuka Leader, Issue 1644, 8 October 1887, Page 3
Word count
Tapeke kupu
207A WATER BICYCLE SEAT. Temuka Leader, Issue 1644, 8 October 1887, Page 3
Using this item
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
No known copyright (New Zealand)
To the best of the National Library of New Zealand’s knowledge, under New Zealand law, there is no copyright in this item in New Zealand.
You can copy this item, share it, and post it on a blog or website. It can be modified, remixed and built upon. It can be used commercially. If reproducing this item, it is helpful to include the source.
For further information please refer to the Copyright guide.
Log in