Scooter

“ Going before the wind it is all right, but when sailing on or up into a stiff wind it will keep a boy moving to hold his balance and steady the boat.
The shovel-nosed scooter shown in Fig. 8 is an easier boat to handle as it is broader than the sharpy, but it is not quite so fast, being slightly heavier.
It is twelve feet long over all with a five-foot beam and fourteen inches high including deck and bottom. The side boards are twelve inches wide, curved up at the bow, and bent in at the stern as shown in the illustration. ”

“ When I say "coming," I say it reservedly. It is a weak and inadequate word with which to describe his method of arrival.
Gran'pa—the horrible truth must out!—was scoot [Pg 63] ing! He was not doing it with one foot standing on a strip of board and the other knocking against the pavement, as is the wont of small children, but with both feet firmly placed on a platform of spacious dimensions and both hands gripping a pair of elaborately-fitted handlebars. He was seated, too! In other words, he had reached that acme of modern locomotion—the motor scooter! ”

“ No person who is riding upon a bicycle, scooter, skateboard, toboggan, sled or toy vehicle or wearing roller skates, in-line skates or skis shall attach the same, himself or herself to a vehicle or streetcar. ”

“ The chairs and table were upset. The matches and cards were scattered every which way on the floor. Scared out of its wits, the pig was dashing first in one direction, then in another. The policeman and the Strickers, with smeared hands and faces, were trying to grab it. But the four-legged scooter, with its coating of grease, had no trouble keeping its freedom.
“We better beat it,” Scoop advised. So we streaked it down the alley to the dock. In a jiffy we had the Sally Ann untied and the engine churning. ”

“ There is no rudder, the scooter being steered entirely by trimming the sails, particularly the jib. As the craft is flat and buoyant it sails well in water, and can thus be used on very thin ice without danger. ”

“ Picking up his scooter, he did not wait for a word from the policeman, but dashed on down the hill.
Half an hour later Dr. Byrne was up at the cottage in his car, with Pat and his scooter on the seat beside him. Of course the cut on the chin had to be explained. And, when baby was fixed up, it was stitched and bandaged. The next day Dr. Byrne drove his small patient to the Police Court.
“Crash! The scooter and its small rider had hurled themselves against the burglar’s legs”
79
Ten pounds reward! Why, the very excitement of the adventure would have been enough reward in itself! ”

“ The smaller mechanical pieces form a history of locomotion during the half-century covered by the displays. Bicycles, motor cars, looping the loop, aeroplanes, costers’ barrows, hansom cabs, fire engines, scooters have all been represented, and in 1895, on the occasion of the visit of the Railway Conference, two of the best mechanical pieces ever 54carried out—full-sized representations of the “Rocket” and the latest type of express engine with exact details and working parts. ”

“ Locomotive driving at a hundred miles an hour is but mild exhilaration as compared to the feelings of the motor-car driver who travels at fifty miles an hour on the public highway.
Gigantic motor trucks carrying tons of freight twist in and out through crowded streets, controlled by one man more easily than a driver guides a spirited horse on a country road.
Frail motor bicycles dash round the platter-like curves of cycle tracks at railroad speed, and climb hills while the riders sit at ease with feet on coasters. ”

“ Now, since the rider, by the action of his momentum107 and that of the machine, is rolled upon the obstacle or out of the rut, it is easily seen that if he is attending strictly to his work and is at all a skilful rider, he can, by a lively thrust upon the pedal at the opportune time, right himself and keep the drive-wheel rolling on, in which case the rear part of the machine will, in all ordinary cases, drop back upon the ground, from which, of course, it will have raised. ”

“ Look! If some one hasn’t been up here on a bicycle I miss my guess!”
“A bicycle!” exclaimed Bob. “Do you mean to say that the robbers rode a bicycle up here?”
“There are the marks of the rubber tires plain enough,” replied Jerry, pointing to them.
“That’s no bicycle track!” declared Ned.
“Why not?” the tall lad wanted to know.
“Or, if it is, the fellow rode on one wheel, or else is more expert than anyone I ever saw. See, there’s only one straight mark, and the best rider in the world turns his front wheel every now and then, making a separate track from the rear one. That’s no bicycle mark.” ”

“ When the end of the ride is reached, the man quickly dismounts and is at his companion’s side to assist her, she, in the meantime, assisting herself as much as possible. This is done—that is, dismounting in the most approved style—by riding slowly, and when the left pedal is on the rise, the weight of the body is thrown on it, the right foot is crossed over the frame of the machine, and, with an assisting hand, the rider easily steps to the ground. ”

“ It is evident that one of the greatest, if not the very greatest, of the requirements of a practical road wheel, or a man-motor carriage, is that the power of the rider shall be transmitted to the said wheel in the most direct manner possible; that is, by causing the strain to come upon the muscles in such a way that these muscles shall be placed in the best possible position to overcome such strain, and to take advantage of such conditions as nature has already provided for, in training our muscles to the work we have had to do under the old régime, without the wheel. ”

“ In first gear, avoiding the deceptively smooth but slimy roadside, we made for the deepest ruts, racing the engine till it left a trail of thick white smoke behind, clinging to the steering wheel, while the heavy car rocked and creaked in the tyrannical grip of the ruts like a ship in the trough of the waves. Without our friend, we never should have got through. ”

“ Those who were in the city and could go saw many wheels and many queer inventions in seats, pedals, frame, tires, and all the other parts of the machine. Each bicycle-maker had his own little compartment, with samples of his bicycles, and a big sign with his name in electric lights upon it for the evening. Even if you knew nothing at all about a wheel you were intensely interested in all you saw, and the more intimately you knew bicycles the greater was your interest. ”

“ We have now arrived at the stage when a high bicycle was regarded as dangerous, and, if the front wheel were too small, it detracted from the rider’s speed owing to the shorter distance covered by each turn of the wheel. What was the next move? The engineer’s mind turned towards a method of gearing by cogs or chains, by which one turn of the crank axle would cause the driven wheel to turn more than once. That is where we get our method of describing the ratio of gearing between the crank and the wheel of a modern safety bicycle. ”

“ These were really what we of the Overworld would consider simple and reasonable: that all "scootscoots" keep to the right of the road, that green and red lights be installed to guide traffic at intersections, and that no "scootscoot" be permitted to travel faster than two miles a minute. ”

“ The grinding of the brakes; the short sharp pants of the engine, the fierce glare from its opened furnace, the figures of the stokers silhouetted ink-black against the flame-red; the slow creak-creak as the wheels turn and turn again to an ever new curve, make a scene unparalleled. Every few minutes sinister figures, slouch-hatted, scarlet blankets thrown round them to chin-height, men who in the dim light look terrifyingly brigand-like, pass through the cars, in their hands swinging lamps. ”

“ To long cranks little objection can be made, but as to increased rake and large rear wheels, this is a thrust at the heart of all we have to admire in the Ordinary. We are willing to take the old mount with all its dangers, for the sake of its neat appearance and ease of running, but when we get back nearly off the large wheel; when we reach out to the end of a longer crank; when we get over and drag along after us a great ungainly rear wheel to wag about over the road; and lastly, when we strike at the life of easy steering, pray what have we left? ”

“ The motor-cycle of to-day is fast taking the place of the ordinary bicycle, and the automobile, or auto, as it is commonly called, is taking the place of our horses. This being so, it has occurred to the writer to prepare a line of stories, telling of the doings of a number of lively, up-to-date lads who at first own motor-cycles and later on become the proud possessors of a touring car.
This tale before you, “The Motor Boys,” is the first volume of the series, telling of the doings of Ned, Bob, Jerry and their chums in and around their home town. ”

“ Considering that the railway-carriage builder gives up the coach-wheel principle, and returns to the primitive construction of the pair of wheels fixed to the axle turning in bearings, we see that our ordinary carriage-wheels turning independently on their axles are best suited to comparatively narrow wheels, and to smooth ground or made roads. Here they give greater lightness and speed, and especially have the advantage of easily changing direction and turning, which in the old block-wheel cart can only be done by gradually slewing round in a wide circuit. ”

“ To those who can realise, by actual possession, the pleasures of the motor-car, this chapter will be of little interest. But there are many aspiring motorists to whom the original cost of a car, or its maintenance when purchased, is a barrier to ownership. Hence the favour with which motor cycles are regarded, and the growing importance they are attaining in the automobile movement. The familiar forms are the tricycle, quadricycle, and the bicycle, the latter having rapidly come to the front, to the apparent supersession of the more cumbersome type of motor cycle. ”

“ The design of engine and bicycle was clever, and as the modern patterns have won the Tourist Trophy race in the Isle of Man on more than one occasion, it will be recognized that Mr. Scott is more than usually learned in motor cycle construction. ”

“ They slept rolled up in blankets on the floors; they obtained their meals where and when they could and paid for them themselves, and made themselves extremely useful. If you possessed sufficient influence to obtain a motor-car, a boy scout was generally detailed to sit beside the driver and open the door and act as a sort of orderly. ”

“ A rider sitting well back can use his ankles much more effectively than one right over the pedals, and can consequently exert a driving force through a considerably greater part of the stroke, whereas the vertical rider depends chiefly upon the weight of his body during a comparatively short portion of the down stroke for propulsion, and upon the momentum of the machine to carry him over the dead centre. ”

“ For a young man or party of young men who are traveling through Britain on a summer's vacation, the bicycle affords an excellent and expeditious method of getting over the country, and offers nearly all the advantages of the motor car, provided the rider is vigorous and expert enough to do the wheeling without fatigue. The motor cycle is still better from this point of view, and many thousands of them are in use on English roads, while cyclists may be counted by the tens of thousands. ”

“ I wanted food and was casting about for an eating-house when I heard the purr of a motor-cycle and across the road saw the intelligent boy scout. He saw me, too, and put on the brake with a sharpness which caused him to skid and all but come to grief under the wheels of a wool-wagon. ”

“ If you prefer you can choose the Ranger “Superbe” or “Arch-Frame” model. There are many others to choose from—a most complete line of roadsters, racers, delivery models, juniors for small boys, girls’ and ladies’ models.
TIRES, Lamps, Horns, Cyclometers, Handle Bars, Chains, Stands, Locks, Pedals, Rims, Bells, Pumps, Enamels, Sprockets, Front Forks, Grips, Inner Tubes, Ready to Use Front and Rear Wheels, Repair Kits, Parts and Repairs for all Bicycles and Coaster Brakes, all accurately pictured, numbered, and sold at factory to rider prices, and fully described in the big new Ranger catalog. ”

“ What difference it may make in the Facile or other treadle machines that the point of application of power is in the rear of the driving axle, I cannot say, or what difference a lever motion would show as compared with the simple crank is also not apparent; in fact, there is very little of established data from which to draw a conclusion, and a good reason which would now deter any cautious man from offering much experience or any theory in the matter will be readily surmised after reading the following extracts from the Cyclist on the subject. ”

“ The triumphs of engineering and mechanical skill have improved our means of travelling from one place to another. The great engines that are now turned out from the locomotive sheds at Crewe are as vastly superior 207 to the Rocket (models of which are now but a curiosity in our museums) as the twentieth-century motor-cycle is to the velocipede or wooden 'bone-shaker' that your fathers rode. ”

“ The vehicle drawn by the light locomotive, except where the light locomotive travels at a rate not exceeding four miles an hour, shall have a brake, in good working order, of such efficiency that its application to the vehicle shall cause two of the wheels of the vehicle on the same axle to be so held that the wheels shall be effectually prevented from revolving, or shall have the same effect in stopping the vehicle as if such wheels were so held. ”