A Novel Military Machine.

Auckland Star, Volume XVIII, Issue 143, 18 June 1887, Page 2 (Supplement)

A Novel Military Machine.

The "Daily News" of April 20 says:— "People in many London thoroughfares must have been considerably astonished yesterday by the appearance of a strangelooking vehicle speeding swiftly along propelled by 10 riders, who sat all in a row like the crew of an elongated University rowing boat. This novelty in means of locomotion was on its way to Aldorshot, where, by authority of the. War Office, it would be soverely tosted with a view to its adoption for military operations. It is Messrs Singer and Co.'s latest adaptation of their ' Victoria ' or ' Four-in-hand ' quadricycle, and it is intended for the rapid transport of infantry from one point to another. When fully manned it carries 12 men, who can take with them, if ordered, a light baggage or ammunition waggon. The advantages of mounting men thus in single file instead of two or four abreast are, first of all, that the machine is more manageable, and, second, that power for power it presents lees surface to a strong head wind, one of the obstacles most difficult for cyclists to overcome. The speed that can be got out of such a machine by ten or twelve moderate riders is quite surprising. Ten miles an hour would be considered a low average rate, and sixteen have been easily accomplished. It ie said to be affected less than any other velocipede by any roughness in the thoroughfares, and it passes over newly-metalled bits of roa.l with comparative ease. All the tires are wired on the O'*;o principle, so that they cannot be greatly damaged by cuts from sharp stones. For men mounted thus there is of course a considerable saving in labour, and probably other advantages might be claimed from a military point of view. .These, however, are points that will be fully tested at Alderehot during the next week or so. Yesterday a machine manned by 10 riders, who did not take their baggage van -with them, set out from Messrs Singer's warehouse, on Holborn Viaduct, at 1 o'clock, when the cm-rents of traffic were running strong in opposite directions. The whole control and steering of the machine is in the hands of one man" and he yesterday had no apparent difficulty in managing it even when the thoroughfare was most densely crowded. Itturned easily enough in less space than a hansom would have needed, and threaded its way among numberless vehicles without mishap' though the drivers of cabs and omnibuses neglected their own business to gaze at the strange apparition as it sped past them. The 'crew' in charge of the multicycle are all trained volunteers, who will be able to execute .any military .evolution that may be demanded of them with intelligence, and altogether the experiment is .one in .which military men take aliyely interest. Messrs Singer have lately supplied large numbers of tricycles for use in the German army, but this latest novelty in velocipedes has not yet been submitted to the gents of any Continental Power, and will be subjected to the-first practical trial for military purposes at Aldershot."