6
THE STURGIS WAOER |
$ A DETECTIVE STORY. J
| 5
By EDGAR MORETTE. £
Copyright, 1899, by Frederick A. Stokss Co. J
CHAPTER V.—CONTINUED.
"Point five," resumed Sturgis, "the
right arm was broken just above the
wrist."
"Yes," said the physician, "I thought
at first that the ujjrn might have been
broken in the collision with the cable
car; but the discoloration of the flesh
proves conclusively that the fracture
occurred before death."
"Precisely. Now, it is possible that
the man broke his arm when he fell,
after being shot; but the contused
wound looks to me as if it had been
made by a severe blow with some blunt
instrument."
"Possibly," admitted Thurston.
"This broken arm, if we can place
it in its proper chronological position,
may prove to be of some importance in
the chain of evidence," mused Stur
gis. "If the fracture occurred before
the man was shot, that, of course, ex
cludes the possibility of suicide; but,
on the other hand, it also brings in an
obstacle to the hypothesis of mur
der."
"How so?"
"Because we have settled, you will
remember, that the shot was fired from
the right of the victim, and close to him.
Now, if he did not fire the shot himself
the person who did must have reached
over his right arm to do so. In that
case, unless the victim was asleep or
6tupefied, would he not instinctively
have raised his arm in self-defense, and
thus deflected the weapon upward?"
"Evidi ntly."
"Well, it is idle to speculate on this
line for the present. Let us come to
point six. You remember I called
your particular attention to the cab
man. Do you still think he was only
drunk ?"
"No," replied Thurston; "while he
had unquestionably been drinking
heavily, lie also showed symptoms of
narcotic poisoning."
"Then the presumption is that he
had been drugged by those who wished
to place the wounded man'in his cab.
I observed him closely and I am satis
fied that he knows as little about his
dead passenger as we do. He prob
ably knows less about him, at all
events, than the young man in the
sealskin cap who gave the police the
slip during the excitement which fol
lowed the overturning of the cab."
Sturgis paused 1 a moment.
"This, I think," he continued, "cov
ers all the evidence we have thus far
collected in the Cab Mystery. It is
quite satisfactory, as far as it goes,
for it is circumstantial evidence, and,
therefore absolutely truthful. 11l the
Knickerbocker bank mystery we have
as yet 110 satisfactory data whatever;
for everything we have heard concern
ing it has its origin in the fallible evi
dence of witnesses, and has, more
over, reached us third or fourth hand.
There is, however, one ftjet that may,
or may not, prove to be important. Have
you noticed that these two mysteries
are contemporaneous, and. therefore,
that they may be related?"
"Do you think there is any connec
tion between the two?"inquired Thurs
ton, interested 1 .
"I do rot allow myself to think about
it at all as yet." replied Sturgis; "I
simply note the fact, that, so far as time
Is concerned, the Cab Mystery could be
the sequel to the Knickerbocker Bank
Mystery—that is all. Facts, my dear
boy, are like words. A word is only
an assemblage of meaningless letters
until it becomes pregnant with sense
by context. So. a fact, which, stand
ing by itself, has 110 meaning, may,
when correlated with other facts, be
come fraught with deep significance.
"And now," he continued, after a
pause, "1 think our work is concluded
for the present. I shall be able to lay
It aside for the night. Let me offer
you a glass of sherry. Pleasant evening
we spent at Sprague's to-night. I have
a great admiration for him as an artist,
and a great fondness for him as a mail.
Most of his friend's are strangers to
me, though. You know I have very
little time to indulge in social dissipa
tion. By the way, who is that Dr.
Mttrdock with whom I have made this
bet ?"
"Oh! he is a physician, though now
retired from practice. He devotes him
self entirely to scientific research, es
pecially in the domain of chemistry.
He has made some important discov
eries in organic chemistry, and they
say he has succeeded in proving some
of the supposed elementary metals to
be compounds. He has quite an envi
able reputation in the scientific world.
I understand he is a remarkable man."
"That is evident, at a glance. 1I«
showed himself this evening to be a
clear thinker and a brilliant speaker.
I should say he was something of a
genius, and I should judge, moreover,
that he was a man of magnificent nerve,
capable of the most heroic actions,
or—"
Sturgis hesitated.
"Or ?" asked Thurston.
"Or of the most infamous cruelty
and crime. It all depends upon wheth
er or not his great mental attributes
are under the control of a heart; a
point upon which 1 am somewhat in
doubt."
CHAPTER VI.
TIII3 ARTIST.
•Sprague was a dilettante in art as
he was in life. If he had not been
rich, lie might perhaps have become
a great artist. Rut, lacking the spur
of poverty, he seemed incapable of
sustained effort. Occasionally lie was
seized with a frenzy for labor; and,
for weeks at a time he would shut
himself up in his studio, until he had
creditably accomplished some bit of
work. Rut the fever was sq»a spent,
and a reaction Invariably followed,
during which palette and brush were
taken up only in desultory fashion.
Thus it.was that at the age of eight
and twenty, Sprague had painted a
f*,.* pictures which «ad attracted fa
vorable attention at the annual exhi
bitions of the Academy of Design, and
which the critics had spoken of as
"promising;" and thus it was that
the promise was as yet unfulfilled,
and that Sprague, though a man of
undoubted talent, was not likely ever
to rank as a genius in his profession.
Sturgis, with his keen insight into
human nature, fully realized the po
tential capacities of the artist, and at
times he could not control his impa
tience at his friend's inert drifting
through life. But, with all their dif
ferences, these two men held each
other in the highest esteem, each ad
miring in the other those very quali
ties which were lacking in himself.
The artist lived in a fashionable
quarter of the city, in a bachelor
apartment which included a large
and commodious studio fitted up ac
cording to the latest canons of artis
tic taste.
On this particular New Year's
morning, after waking and observ
ing, by the filtering of a few bright
sunbeams through the closely drawn
blinds, that it was broad daylight, he
stretched himself with a voluptuous
yawn and prepared to relapse into the
sensuous enjoyment of that semi
somnolent state which succeeds a
night of calm and refreshing sleep.
Just as he was settling himself
comfortably, however, he was startled
by a knock at the bedroom door.
Most men, under the circumstances,
would have betrayed some vexation
at being thus unceremoniously dis
turbed. But there was no suspicion
of annoyance in Sprague's cheery
voice, as he exclaimed:
"You cannot come in yet, Mrs.
O'Meagher. I am asleep, and I shall
be asleep for another hour at the
least. Surely you cannot have forgot
ten that to-day is a holiday. Happy
New Year! You have time togo to
several masses before—"
"Get up, old lazybones; and don't
keep a man waiting at your door in
this inhospitable way, when he is in
a hurry," interrupted a voice whose
timbre was not that of the house
keeper, Mrs. O'Meagher.
"Oh! is that you, Sturgis?" laughed
the artist. "Aren't you ashamed of
yourself to come routing honest men
out of bed at this unseemly hour?
Wait a minute, till I put on my court
costume, that I may receive you with
the honors and ceremonies due to
your rank and station."
A couple of minutes later the artist,
pituresquely attired in a loose ori
ental dressing gown and fez. opened
the door to his friend, Ralph Sturgis.
"Come in, old man,"he said, cordial
ly extending his hand to the reporter;
"you are welcome at any hour of the
day or night. What is it now? This is
not your digestion call, I presume."
"No," replied Sturgis, "I merely
to say that I should be un
able to take our projected bicycle trip
this afternoon. I shall probably be
busy with the Knickerbocker bank
case all day. By the way, if you would
like to come to the bank with me, I
shall be glad of your company. lam
on my way there now."
"I should like nothing better," said
Sprague, "but I have made an ap
pointment for this morning with a—
er —er —with a sitter."
"What, on New Year's day, you
heathen!"
Sturgis observed the artist closely,
and then added, quizzically:
"Accept my congratulations, old
man."
"Your congratulations?" inquired
Sprague, coloring slightly.
"Yes; my congratulations and my
condolence. My congratulations on
the fact that she is young and beauti
ful, and possessed of those qualities of
mind ai.d heart which—and so on and
so forth. My condolence because I
fear you are hit at last."
"What do you mean?" stammered
the artist, sheepishly; "do you know
her? What do you know about her?"
"Nothing whatever," replied Sturgis,
laughing, "except what you are tell
ing me by your hesitations, your reti
cence and your confusion."
The artist spoke after a moment of
thoughtful silence.
"Your inductions in this case are
premature, to say the least. My sitter
is a young lady,.so much is undeniably
true. And there is no doubt in my
mind as to her possession of all the
qualities you jocularly attribute to
her; but my interest in her is only
that of an artist in a beautiful and
charming woman.
"At any rate," he added, after a mo
ment's hesitation, "I hope so; for I
have heard that she is as good as be
trothed to another man."
The reporter's keen ear detected in
his friend's tones a touch of genuine
sadness of which the artist himself was
probably unconscious. Laying his
hand gently upon Sprague's shoulder,
he said, gravely:
" I hope so, too, old man; for you are
one of those foolish men whose lives
can be ruined by an unhappy love af
fair. I suppose it's useless to preach
to you —more's the pitj-—but, in my
humble opinion, no woman's love is
worth the sacrifice of a good man's
life."
"Yes, 1 know your opinion on that
subject, you old cynic," replied
Sprague, "but you need not worry on
my account; not yet, at all events. I
am still safe; the portrait is almost
finished; and 112 should be a fool to walk
into such a scrape with my eyes wide
open."
"Ilumpli!" ejaculated Sturgis. skep
tically, "when a man makes a fool of
himself for a woman, it matters little
whether his eyes be open or shut; the
result is the same."
Sprague laughed somewhat uneasily;
arid then, as if to change the subject:
CAMERON COUNTY PRESS, THURSDAY, AUGUST 30, 1900.
"Come and see the picture," he said.
"I should like j-our opinion of it."
The reporter consulted his watch.
"I shall have to come back some
other time for that," he replied'; "I
must hurry off now to keep mj- ap
pointment with Mr. Dunlap."
He started toward the door; but
suddenly facing Sprague ngain, he
held out his hand to the artist, who
pressed it cordiallj-.
"Good-bye, old man,"he said, af
fectionately. "be as sensible as you
can, and don't wantonlj- plaj- with the
fir?."
And before Sprague could frame an
answer, the reporter was gone.
The artist remained thoughtfully
standing until his friends footsteps
had died away in the distance. Then
he turned and walked slowly into the
studio. Here, in the middle of the
room, stood an easel, upon which was
the portrait of a beautiful j-oung
girl.
Sprague gazed at it long and earn
estly. Then he heaved an almost in
audible sigh.
"Sturgis is riffht," he said to him
self, turning away at last. *'and—and
I am a confounded idiot!"
CHAPTER VII.
AGNES MURDOCK.
In a quarter of the citj- which is
rapidlj- surrendering to the relentless
encroachments of trade, there still
stand a few old-fashioned houses, the
sole survivors of what was once an
aristocratic setlement.
One by one their fellows have been
sapped and swept away bj' the resist
less tide of commerce, until these an
cient dwellings, stubbornlj- contest
ing a position already lost, now rear
their sepulchral brownstone fronts in
stiff and solitary grandeur—huge sar
cophagi in a busy mart.
One of these houses stands well
back from the street line, the tradi
tioaal backyard of the ordinary New
York dwelling having been sacri
ficed, in this instance, to make room
for a tinj- garden, which i* separated
from the street by a ta'l spiked iron
railing, behind which grows an ar
bor vitae hedge. The former serves
as a defense against the marauding
of the irrepressible metropolitan
gamin; while the latter confers upon
"I SHOULD THINK YOU WOULD WEL
COME HARD WORK AS A
PLEASANT CHANGE."
the occupants of the garden a sem
blance of protection from the cu
rious gaze of the passers-by.
This, propertj-, having been the sub
ject of an interminable lawsuit, had
remained for many j-ears unoccupied,
and was even now beginning to be re
garded by some of the neighbors as
haunted, when at last it was bought
by Dr. Murdock, a wealthy widower
with an only daughter. For some
months masons and carpenters were
at work; and then, one day, the new
occupants entered into possession.
The Murdocks lived quietly but lux
uriously, like people accustomed to
wealth. Tliej- had their horses and
carriages, their house at Lenox and at
Newport, and their yacht. Their cir
cle of acquaintances was large, and
included not only the fashionable set,
but also a scientific, literary and art
istic set. For Dr. Murdock was a
chemist of national reputation, a
member of several scientific bodies,
and a man of great intelligence and
broad culture.
On this particular New Year's morn
ing Dr. Murdock was seated in his
studj-, apparently absorbed in read
ing the dailj- papers, a pile of which
lay upon his table. His occupation
might perhaps more accurately be de
scribed as skimming the daily papers;
for each journal in turn was subject
ed to a rapid scrutiny, and onlj- a f<.w
columns seemed occasionally to inter
est the reader.
There was no haste visible in the
doctor's actions, each one of which
appeared to be performed with the
coolness and deliberation of a man
who is not the slave of time; and j'et,
so systematic were they, that, all lost
motion being avoided, every operation
was rapidly completed.
In a short time the pile of newspa
pers had been disposed of, and the
doctor, lighting a choice cigar, leaned
back in his comfortable armchair and
placedly puffed the wreaths of fra
grant smoke ceilingward. He was ap
parently satisfied with the world and
with himself, this calm, passionless
man. And j-et a sharp observer would
have noted an almost imperceptible
furrow between the eyes, which might
perhaps have indicated only the
healthj- mental activity of an or
dinary man; but which, in one given
so little to outward manifestation of
feeling as Dr. Murdock, might also
betoken more or less serious annoj'-
anee or displeasure.
While the chemist sat in this pen
sive attitude, there was a rustle of
skirts outside, and presently there
came a gentle knock at the door of
the study.
"Come in!" said Murdock. removing
the cigar from his lips.
The door opened, admitting a tali
and beautiful young girl, evidently
not long out of her teens.
"Did I disturb you, father?" she
asked, stepping lightly into the
room.
"No, Agfnes," replied Murdock,
courteously; "as you see, 1 am indulg
ing in a period of dolce far niente."
The young girl laughed a clear, sil
very laugh, as her eyes fell upon the
pile of newspapers.
"If the reading of a dozen news
papers is dolce far niente, I should
think you would welcome hard work
as a pleasant change."
"Oh!" replied her father, "the
work I have done on those lias' not
amounted to much. I have only
been gleaning the news from the
morning papers.
"Yes," he added, answering her sur
prised look, "it takes a deal of skim
milk to yield a little cream."
The last paper which Murdock had
been examining lay upon the desk be
fore him. From the closely printed
columns stood out in bold relief the
glaring headlines:
MURDER IX A CAB.
MYSTERIOUS ASSASSINATION OP AN
UNKNOWN MAN, IN BROAD
DAYLIGHT.
CABMAN REILLY DENIES ALL
KNOWLEDGE OF THE CRIME.
Miss Murdock's glance rested care«
lessly upon these words for an in
stant. They aroused in her nothing
more than the mild curiosity which
attaches to events of palpitating hu
man interest, when they have been
congealed in the columns of the daily
newspapers and served to palates al
ready sated with sensational ver
bosity.
"Mary said you wished to speak to
me," said the young girl, after a
short pause. "I thought I would step
into see you before going to Mr.
Sprague's."
"To Sprague's?" inquired Murdock,
fixing his keen eyes upon the young
girl. "Ah, yes; 1 remember he spoke
of the appointment last night. How
is the portrait coming on?"
"It is almost finished. Probably
only one or two more sittings, at the
most, will be necessary."
Agnes seemed slightly embarrassed
by the fixity of her father's search
ing glance. She.settled herself in an
armchair and assumed a look of defer
ent expectancy.
[To Be Continued.]
AN INVOLUNTARY THIEF.
Drove Off with Another !Hnii\s Horse
and Wutfon and Got Into
Trouble.
There is no fun in being a criminal,
even though it be by accident. George
11. .Jessup, the novelist and play
wright-, who has now a big place in
Cabinteely, Ireland, once lived in San
Francisco, says the Philadelphia Sat
urday Evening Herald. There was an
epidemic of horse stealing at that
time, which was followed by a sym
pathetic attack of lynching. Vigi
lance committees were everywhere,
and strangers on strange horses were
viewed with suspicion.
Jessup and a friend were out driv
ing one day and took part in a picnic
where they knew nobody. They
passed several pleasant hours at San
Mateo, where the festival took place,
and then remembered an important
engagement. They left the crowd and
went to the neighboring grove where
the horses were tethered, and unfas
tening their own rig, as they sup
posed, jumped in and drove off. The
horse had trotted two or three miles
when the friend said:
"George, this isn't our horse. It's
a larger and better animal."
Jessup looked at the steed carefully
and replied: "Upon my word, you are
right. This isn't our carriage robe
either."
It was a handsome affair, and they
looked at it with some curiosity. On
the inside of it was revved a piece of
cloth bearing the name and address
of the owner. The friend gasped:
"George, do you know the owner of
this rig is the head of the vigilancfe
committee?"
Mr. Jessup broke into a cold per
spiration as he replied: "Let's drive
to the nearest te'*graph station and
wire him.''
They drove like mad, and when
they reached the station made ar
rangements at the hotel to Have the
horse and wagon cleaned. Then they
sent a dispatch, and waited their fate.
Indue time the irate owner arrived,
and to their inexpressible joy he came
in their own vehicle. There were ex
planations and apologies, and, accord
ing to California custom, the luckless
Jessup was compelled to "treat the
house," an act which kept Win poor
for the remainder of the month.
Gelliitemnne,
The Garden of Gethsemane, which
was so closely interwoven with the. clos
ing scenes in the life of Christ, is now
a desolate spot, containing a few old
and shattered olive trees, the trunks
of which are supported by stones,
though some of the branches are flour
ishing. It is a small square inclosure
of about 200 feet, surrounded by a high
wall, a little way out of Jerusalem, be
low St. Stephen's gate, and near the
foot of the Mount of Olives. Biblical
reference to it is made in Matt. 2G:30-
56; Mark 14:26-52; Luke 22:30-33. and
John 18:1-14. The garden is the prop
erty of the Latin Christians, the Greek
church having fixed upon another lo
cality as the true site of Gethsemane.
DlfTerent Deuoiulnntions.
"A man gave over a hundred dollars
for a cr»f>per cent the other day."
"That's nothing. An English syn
dicate has just paid $2,000,000 for a
woolen mill."—JJarlem Life.
HITTING THE BRUSH.
Treatment That Is Said to Be a
Cure for Brain Fag.
Ilarknnrd University S t u dent* Helped
Alonu by Electricity—*Yenr» of
&lud.v Preceded the A|»]»Hca
tion of the Current*
President Jordan, of Stanford uni
versity, California, is a hard worker
himseif, and has but little patience
with a person of indolent habits. lie
has always encouraged his thousand
or more students to putin their best
licks while at the university, never
letting them forget that success can
only be won by hard work. To this
unremitting industry on his part and
to faithful imitation on the part of his
young charges can be traced the fact
that in the short space of nine years
Stanford has taken her place among
the' leading educational institutions
of the land. In spite of everything,
however, the tasks imposed on the
youths under his care have proven
too much for them. Here and there
one or two would drop out of the race
and were soon forgotten by almost
everybody at the university. These
fallings by the wayside were the sub
ject of frequent thought on the part
of John J. Lewin, chief electrician at
the university, whose misfortune it
was to have a special frienu drop out
through inability to maintain the
pace. Mi*. Lewin set himself to the
task of discovering some way of giv
ing backward students such aid as
would prevent them from falling be
hind. That was five years ago, and
Mr. Lewin is now ready to give the
necessary stimulant in such cases.
His investigations have convinced him
that electricity is a sort of elixir of
youth; that it is a sure cure for brain
I —'
"HITTING THE BRUSH."
(The New Electrical Cure for So-Called
Brain Fag.)
fag. and thnt it will nurture the mind
of j-out.li and stimulate the wisdom oi
age. Mr. Lewin has ponderous and
exact ways of describing just how all
these miracles may be performed, but
the j - oung men at the university ex
press the same ideas when they refei
to the treatment as "hitting the
brush." They unanimously agree that
by following the electrician's instruc
tions the human brain's ability tc
withstand the fatigue of labor is vast
ly increased. Those who have taken
the treatment are also as one in ttie
assertion that no IHirm comes there
from.
Mr. Lewin has this simple method
of explaining the workings of his in
vention: The action of electrical in
fluences on the particles that compose
the brain centers excites the nervous
action controlling the flow of blood,
in that waj- enabling the mind to do
more work than would be possible for
it under normal conditions. Added to
this is the fact that the atomic action
of the brain cells is rendered more
controllable and facile, so that the
usual exhaustion from long continued
brain work becomes merely a mental
recreation that neither drags nor wor
ries nor exhausts. In Encina hall, the
largest dormitorj- on the college cam
pus, where some 3,000 freshmen have
during the last few years been intro
duced to student life at the university,
Mr. Lewin first placed his invention.
He did it bj- way of an experiment to
see how it would be taken up by the
inhabitants of the hall. He well knew
that to be acceptable it must be harm
less looking', and he made it so.
It is a simple thing to look at —a
small box of light oak wood with two
small handles attached, one at eaeh
end, an electric switch and arrow in
dicator (the whole bound, screwed and
bolted tightlj* together)—that is
about all there is to look at. A simple
thing on the whole, this mystic ma
chiiu-, on which you press a button to
make it "aiive," and to throw an un
known quality of electricity info a
common metal brush attached to tha
box by a wire, «n brush that stings
when you brush your hair, giving j r ou
an uncanny sensation. That is the
kind of machine Inventor Lewin
placed in Encina hall.
To "hit the brush" became a by
word. That was some months ago.
Then Inventor Lewin told what it was
—this electric machine of his—but one
thing he did not tell and that was
the quality of the current he uses
This secret he has patented, for in it
li£ all the wonderful powers with
which it is claimed this invention is
endowed. President Jordan is pleased
with results so far. but with com
mendable caution thinks the time has
not yet quite arrived for such une
quivocal indorsement as the idea
seems to deserve.
Spevtaclen for it Pel Cat.
A pet. Maltese cat belonging to an
English woman has been successfully
provided with spectacles to counter
art failing eyesight. A picture of a
mouse was used bjr the oculist to t#«4
the cat's eyes.
KANSAS' FIRST CAPITOL.
It I* All TI»«t In l.rft of Piwnef, One«
the Seat of (iovernmelit of the
State.
One of the ruins that Kansas pro
poses to guard from the ravages of time
is the iirst stutehou.se *)!' Kansas, one
of the few relics of the early days. when,
the settlement of the west was just
beginning.
It stands near Fort Ililey, in tha
central part of the s;ufc»,and. according
to the Philadelphia Pre.-s, is all that
is left of the town of Pawnee, tiie tirst
capital of the state.
The town was started by boomers
who "stood in" with the territorial
KANSAS' FIRST CAPITOL.
(All That Is Left of Pawnee, Once a Boom
ing Little City.)
governor, A. H. IJeeder, who owned
land there and was a good deal of
speculator.
The town association built the cap
itol. a stone structure two stories high
and 40x30 feet in outside dimensions.
They laid out the streets and boarding
houses Mere made ready for the first
meeting of the legislature. Then, in
1833, tin; governor called the legisla
ture to meet there, and the so'.ons de
cided that they would not assist hita
in his plays.
They went from eastern Kansas in
prairie schooners, a long procession
that wound its way 150 miles out on tha
prairie, the travelers growing more
angry that the governor had selected
so distant a place. They had pro\i
sions for the trip, and when they
reached Pawnee not one of the>m went
to the boarding houses, as had been ex
pected, but they cooked in their wag
ons and lived on the edge of the town
site.
On the day for the opening of the
legislature they went to the new stop#
building and held a session, which con
sisted of organizing and adjourning to
Shawnee mission, in the eastern part
of the state, where, despite all the ef
forts of the governor, the remainder of
the session was held.
Pawnee did not make a town. Tha
cholera broke out the next year at Fort
Riley and the people fled. The state
house stands out on the plain, deserted,
the roof gone and the*interior a place
for the hiding of coyotes and sandhill
owls. The state has been asked to pur
chase the old ruin and preserve it for
future generations, who will doubtless
appreciate it as a reminder of the ef
forts of the first-comers to make this
a great city, and for a time it seemed
likely that they would succeed.
Kansas has seven capitols, ending
with the present handsome building afc
Topeka, not yet completed; but none
has a more romantic history than tha
old Pawnee statehouse, and none ap
peals more strongly to the lovers of tha
picturesque.
A MUSICAL BICYCLE.
Deniijrneil for the Purpose of Gtvlnc
DlvrrtUi'mciil Duriiiti Lone
and Tedloui Kuus.
At th4s time when so many improve
ments are being made on bicycles, in
the way of attachable motors, etc.. tha
machine illustrated in the Scientific
American will doubtless interest our
readers. It is the invention of Mr.
Samuel Goss, of Chicago, and was de
igned for the purpose of furnishir~
THE MUSICAL BICYCLE.
(Plays Melodious Airs While the Rider
Works the Pedals.;
music for the rider of the wheel and.
his companions, in order to break the
monotony and give divertisement dur
ing long and tedious runs.
The mechanism, which is quite sim
ple, is mounted on an iron frame matla
to fit into that of the machine. On this
frame are stretched piano wires, H.
while ou the cross piece, A. are soma
small hammers operated by pins on
the cylinder, C. and made to strike tha
wires. The cylinder is rotated by
worm gears placed at its left-hand end
r.nd driven from the crank shaft by
cord and pulley.
The inventor has foreseen the cas®
when the riders should tire of tha
music, by providing a small lever for
throwing out the gears and thus stop
ping the cylinder. The tune may ba
varied by putting in new cylinders,
and the time of any air may be quick
ened by increasing the speed of th«
wheel.
on the Lrtt.
The place of honor at a €hir.cs»
banquet Is at the host's left hand. 1