- A Barrier
These rooms are divided by barriers, guarded by gentlemen of the household, which prevents over-crowding. It is an extraordinary sight to see room after room filled with nervous young girls and their more composed mothers sitting in the unbecoming light of an afternoon sun, with white plumes in their hair and the family jewels on their necks. With the exception of a now and then whispered conversation, everything is quiet until the barriers leading into the next room are opened; then a rush follows and small pieces of lace, spangles, flowers, and ostrich feathers are left on the floor. Mothers and daughters are separated. After the confusion of finding each other, all is quiet for another thirty minutes, when a rush for a better place in the next room begins. - A Constitutional in the Park
A Constitutional in the Park - A Drawing Room
On March 11, 1896, the first Drawing-room of that year was held at Buckingham Palace. Through the courtesy of the Lord Chamberlain I was given the entree to the palace on that day. As a Drawing-room is strictly a feminine affair, it matters very little what a man may think about it, for the line points of social advantages and the costly costumes he seldom understands. Apart from the foreign ambassadors, members of the Cabinet and attendants, men are not wanted and are seldom seen. Women go in hundreds, and sit for hours in carriages, extending in long rows down the Mall, while a crowd of curious idlers stare in at the carriage windows, making audible personal remarks. At two o’clock the palace gates are open, and the waiting continues in the different rooms above stairs. - A Drawing-room Tea
A Drawing-room Tea - A first night
A London audience is brilliant. Everyone is in evening dress, and the audience is often more entertaining than the play. This is especially true on a first night. - A Gentleman at Arms
A Gentleman at Arms - A Park Orator
Separated from these people by another social gulf, and toward Marble Arch, are the unemployed listening to the park actors and park orators. If you are tall enough to look over the heads of an English crowd you will see in some of these `groups` strolling players at work. In the centre of one group a short, red-faced park orator declares that a Prime Minister has robbed him. - A Sidewalk Artist
In the early part of the day the parks are occupied by very young people; the visitors become older with the day. The nurses and their charges leave, and evening finds an old lady leaning on her husband’s arm, walking slowly along their favorite path, while their carriage follows at a little distance. And as night comes on they roll back into the great city among the never-ceasing tread of feet, past the side-walk artist sitting by his pictures on the pavement, looking anxiously at the passers-by—and the park’s day is done—a curtain of darkness falls on the great stage - After Dinner
After Dinner - After Presentation
After Presentation at a drawing-room - An Early Departure
Man in Top hat - At Dinner
At Dinner - At the National Sporting Club
The most interesting place of amusement for men is the National Sporting Club. Every Monday night during the winter the sports of London meet there in the same building that Colonel Newcome and his son once left because they objected to Captain Costigan’s song. The Colonel would be more amused there now, well-trained and scientific boxers from all the world meet in a roped-in square, surrounded by an orderly crowd of stock-brokers, bankers, and miscellaneous sporting characters, who wait for the best man to win. - At the Pavilion
A Music Hall audience is the most demonstrative and amusing. It will applaud the longest, hiss the loudest, and sometimes join in the chorus. From the moment the numbers are posted announcing the next turn, it is easy to tell what the performer’s reception will be. On both sides of the orchestra are bars, and when a London barmaid stops work to listen and laugh you may be sure that the turn is a good one. Last winter they paid Dan Leno this compliment. The air is filled with tobacco-smoke, and the calcium-light, on its way from the gallery to the stage, looks like a sunbeam in a dusty hayloft. - At the Savoy
At the Savoy - Beaver Trap
For a few years after Stuart’s party disappeared up Hoback Canyon, the Tetons and Jackson’s Hole were left in solitude. Due to the hostility of the Blackfeet, the loss of Astoria in the War of 1812, and the indifference of the Federal Government, American interest in the Western Fur trade suffered a relapse. British interests now took the initiative. In 1816 the Northwest Company, licensed by the Crown to trade in Oregon, put Donald McKenzie in charge of the Snake River division. From Fort Nez Perce at the mouth of the Walla Walla, he set forth in September of 1818 at the head of an expedition “composed of fifty-five men, of all denominations, 195 horses and 300 beaver traps, besides a considerable stock of merchandise.” - Between Times, Leicester Square
Between Times, Leicester Square - Bradford's Velocipede
If any of our readers desire the luxury of a ride on a velocipede without the necessity of taking lessons, or the danger of getting a fall, they will find " Bradford's Four-Wheeled Velocipede" ready and able to afford them the pleasure. The inventor of this vehicle, Mr. C. K. Bradford, has devoted the greater part of the last five years to experiments upon the velocipede, and took out his first patent three years and a half ago. The machine, as now constructed and improved, obtained its American patent October 13th, 1868. It has since been patented in England, France, and Belgium. It is made of the best material, and finished like a gentleman's trotting wagon. It weighs but sixty-five pounds, and combines in a high degree both lightness and strength. Any man, woman or child, can learn to guide it easily with but a few moments practice. The inventor claims that it is able to maintain a speed of a mile in three minutes, and that the extraordinary time of a half mile in one minute and forty-five seconds, has been made upon a country road. It can be driven by almost any man, at the rate of a mile in four minutes, on almost any road, without greater exertion than is ordinarily used in walking. This velocipede, unlike all others, is seen to best advantage on the street. In Mr. Bradford's tasteful little curricle, the rider can sit at ease as carelessly as in a carriage, giving himself up wholly to the exhilaration of the rapid movement, and the pleasurable exercise of the muscles, which is just enough to make the machine skim over the ground, and give an enjoyable sense of power. The increase of friction, which would naturally result from the additional number of wheels, is prevented by an application of anti-friction rollers, which reduce the labor of propelling the machine to a minimum, a requisite of the highest importance to a person seeking either recreation or utility. - Bullet Mold
Bullet Mold - Callihan's Velocipede
This velocipede was patented January 5th, 1869. It has been thoroughly tested and is pronounced a complete success. It will be seen that it is very different from Bradford's machine. The front wheels are used as guiding wheels, the rear as the driving ones. It is propelled by both hands and feet, acting together or separately. The propelling power is almost unlimited, and is furnished by cranks in the hind axles, with lever attachments. It has three different steering arrangements, either of which can be applied, according to the taste of the purchaser. In all these, the forward wheel and axle are turned with a lever arrangement, operated upon by the band. The machine develops both chest and limbs, and can be readily used by ladies and children. A little girl of six years has ridden it for an hour without fatigue. It is so constructed, that scruples of delicacy need prevent no lady from driving it. It can be driven either backwards or forwards, will run upon the road, at the rate of fifteen miles an hour, and will ascend any ordinary hill with ease. It is claimed, that it is the only machine made that can be checked in going down hill, or that can be stopped instantly. The machine varies in size and weight. That most in favor, has a wheel of three feet and a half in diameter, and a weight of about one hundred pounds. It is constructed of the best material, and is neat and nobby in appearance. Its price is $125. - Church Parade
By long odds the best-looking exhibit is to be seen during church-parade. It extends from Hyde Park Corner to Stanhope Gate, and consists of the well-to-do. - Construction of the Bicycle
The accompanying engraving will convey to the mind of the reader a correct idea of the French two-wheeled velocipede. The majority of makers in this country fashion their machine upon this pattern in every essential respect. We append a full technical description. A is the front wheel. This is the steering wheel, and upon its axis, the power is applied. B is the hind wheel; C, the treadles or foot-pieces ; D, the treadle cranks; E, slots in cranks, by which to adjust the foot-pieces and accommodate the length to the legs of the rider; F, bifurcated jaw, the lower part of which forms the bearing for the axle of the front wheel. From the upper part of this jaw, a rod or pivot extends, to which is attached the steering arm or handle F; G, the reach or perch, extending from the jaw of the front wheel to the rear or hind wheel. This reach is bifurcated, forming jaws for the hind wheel. H, " rests" on the front part of the reach. The rider puts one leg on the rest and works one of the cranks with the other leg while riding " side-saddle," or a leg may be placed upon each rest when the velocipede has acquired sufficient momentum, and the rider does not wish to keep his feet upon the treadles. I, the saddle or seat, which is adjustable on the seat-spring L, by the thumb-screw K. The seat-spring L, is attached at M to the reach G, which, at the other end, is fastened to the spring-struts N, that rise from the reach G; 0, the brake-lever, on the fulcrum P; Q,, the " shoe " of the brake that acts against the periphery of the hind wheel. The brake is operated by means of the cord S, one end of which is attached to the steering handle F, and the other end to the reach at 3. A cord passes from the steering handle under the pulley or roller 4, thence over the pulley 5, on the brake-lever 0, and from there to the point 3, where it is attached to the reach G. The brake is operated by giving a slight turning motion to the handle F, thus winding a small sheave upon the axis of the handle, and bring-ing the shoe Q, of the brake-lever 0, in contact with the surface of the wheel B. - Daniel T. Potts at the Bear Lake rendezvous of 1827
At the 1827 rendezvous at Bear Lake Jedediah Smith appeared like a ghost out of the Great Salt desert, reporting that the Spanish Governor of California had expelled him from that province. He arranged with his partners, Jackson and Sublette, to meet two years hence “at the head of Snake River.” Then, after a rest of only ten days, he summoned volunteers and again set his face toward the Pacific Ocean. In the winter of 1827-28, while Sublette attended to the business of getting supplies from St. Louis, Jackson sent fur brigades north from Bear Lake to the Snake River and its tributaries, where they came in frequent contact with the Hudson’s Bay Company trappers under Ogden. In 1828 the rendezvous was again Great Salt Lake, and again the trappers dispersed to hunting grounds on the Bear, the Snake, and the Green. - Distinguished Guests
The “season” begins about the time Parliament opens, and Parliament’s opening and closing depends more or less on fox-hunting and grouse-shooting. As the “season” approaches, town-houses are opened and “green” servants are broken in; secretaries busy themselves with lists and stationery, and the winter campaign begins immediately upon the family’s return to town. As a London house is seldom needed for more than the formal entertainments of a season, it is in most cases hired; consequently, it is seldom attractive. Acquaintances are entertained in the city, and friends are taken into the country to spend the week’s end on the family estate, surrounded by the household gods and the most attractive side of all England. - English one-wheeled Velocipede
We present an engraving of an English one-wheeled velocipede. The feet are placed on short stilts, connected with the cranks, one on either side of the rim, while the rider sits upon a steel spring saddle over the whole wheel. The inventor modestly limits the diameter of the wheel to twelve feet, and the number of revolutions to fifty per minute. Twenty-five miles per hour is the speed expected to be reached. The riders of this machine, without the ability to overcome the laws of gravity, would be very likely to get broken bones and noses. It is not likely to come into general use. - Flying Yankee Velocipede
HEMMING'S UNICYCLE, or "FLYING YANKEE VELOCIPEDE." The single-wheeled velocipede has at length received a palpable body, and " a local habitation and a name." Richard C. Hemming of New Haven, Conn., invented the machine herewith represented, two years ago; but has only recently brought it into the market and applied it to practical purposes.. The main wheel has a double rim, or has two concentric rims, the inner face of the inner one having a projecting lip for keeping the friction rollers and the friction driver in place; each of these being correspondingly grooved on their peripheries. The frame on which the rider sits, sustains these friction wheels in double parallel arms, on the front one of which is mounted a double pulley, with belts passing to small pulleys on the axis of the driving wheel. This double wheel driven, as seen, by cranks turned by the hands. The friction of the lower wheel on the surface of the inner rim of the main wheel is the immediate means of propulsion. A small binding wheel, seen between the rider's legs, serves to keep the bands or belts tight. The steering is effected either by inclining the body to one side or the other, or by the foot impinging on the ground, the stirrups being hung low for this purpose. By throwing the weight on these stirrups, the binding wheel may be brought more powerfully down on the belts. Over the rider's head is an awning, and there is also a shield in front of his body to keep the clothes from being soiled by mud and wet. When going forward, the driving wheel is kept slightly forward of the centre of gravity by the position of the rider. By this means the power exerted is comparatively small. Every turn of the crank is equivalent to a rotation of the great wheel. Mr. Hemming says that this machine can be manufactured for fifty dollars, of a weight of only thirty pounds;- that it will ascend steep grades, and that it can be driven on the roads with but little exertion, at the rate of twenty or even twenty-five miles an hour. This wheel is of a diameter of from six to eight feet. Mr. Hemming's boy of thirteen has one five feet in diameter, the first manufactured, crude in construction, and heavier than necessary, which he propels at the rate of a mile in three minutes. - Fort Hall
Three significant events occurred in connection with the rendezvous of 1834. (1) En route from St. Louis, Sublette and Campbell began the building of Fort Laramie (originally Fort William) on the North Platte. (2) Nathaniel Wyeth, embarking on a second venture, brought in trade goods which were not accepted, and so resorted to the establishment of Fort Hall near the junction of the Snake and Portneuf. The advent of these two fixed trading posts prophesied an end to the traditional rendezvous system. Also (3), at the rendezvous the partnership of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company was dissolved, Fraeb and Gervais selling out their interests. The remaining partners—Fitzpatrick, Bridger, and Milton Sublette—formed a new firm, but they made an agreement with Fontenelle which gave the American Fur Company a virtual monopoly of the Rocky Mountain fur trade. - Frightful struggles for life
The losses, however, are as nothing compared to the frightful sacrifices of precious human lives. During Sunday Johnstown has been drenched with the tears of stricken mortals, and the air is filled with sobs that come from breaking hearts. There are scenes enacted here every hour and every minute that affect all beholders profoundly. When brave men die in battle, for country or for principle, their loss can be reconciled to the stern destinies of life. When homes are torn asunder in an instant, and the loved ones hurled from the arms of loving and devoted mothers, there is an element of sadness connected with the tragedy that touches every heart. - George du Maurier
English-speaking people have been introduced to each other by a long line of clever draughtsmen. They have laughed together about the same people in the truest and sweetest-natured way in all the world. Above all others, one hand awakened the interest resulting in people knowing themselves and others better. The beautiful was safe in that gentle hand. Although the heart that guided it no longer beats, the human interest and kindly feeling that it awakened will live forever, and all the world has placed among the foremost men of his day the affectionately remembered name of George Du Maurier. - Hamlet
An actor in the park - Hyde Park Corner
Hyde Park Corner - In the 'Whispering Gallery'—A Small Loan
In the 'Whispering Gallery'—A Small Loan - In the Row
The old gentleman in the Row undoubtedly first appeared there on Shetland ponies under the watchful eye of the groom. It is not a thing to tire of, and Sunday after Sunday these well-dressed people attend church-parade as seriously as they attend church. - Indian 'Buffalo Jump'—Yellowstone Valley
Indian “Buffalo Jump”—Yellowstone Valley. - Jim Bridger
The remaining three expeditions were guided by James Bridger, who in 1843 had set up Fort Bridger on Black’s Fork of Green River, to cater to the emigrants who were beginning to follow the Oregon Trail. James Gemmell claims to have been among those present in 1846 when Bridger led “a trading expedition to the Crows and Sioux,” north up the Green River through Jackson’s Hole to West 78Thumb, making a tour of the “wonderful spouting springs” and other scenic features before continuing down the Yellowstone. E. S. Topping states that in 1850 Jim Bridger, Kit Carson, and twenty-two others on a prospecting trip out of St. Louis “crossed the mountains to the Yellowstone and down it to the lake and the falls; then across the Divide to the Madison River. They saw the geysers of the lower basin and named the river that drains them the Fire Hole.... The report of this party made quite a stir in St. Louis.” - Keelboat up the Missouri
The extent of the wanderings of this trio is not known. In the spring of 1807 Colter alone paddled a canoe down the Missouri to the mouth of the Platte where he found keelboats of the Missouri Fur Company of St. Louis, led by Manuel Lisa. He was promptly recruited and went with this expedition up the Missouri and the Yellowstone to the 14mouth of the Bighorn River, where Lisa built a log fort known as Fort Raymond or Manuel’s Fort. - Ladies head
Ladies head - Lady
Lady - Lady
Lady - Lady
Lady - Lady
Lady - Man in London
Man in London - Marcus Whitman removing arrow from Jim Bridger
Marcus Whitman removing arrow from Jim Bridger - Mother and daughter passing by the Yeomen
The bustle and waiting was transferred to the grand hall below, where little olive-skinned Indian ladies of high birth, and famous English beauties whose photographs could be bought on Piccadilly, stood side by side until their carriages stopped the way. Mothers and daughters passed between rows of Yeomen of the Guard to the door, daylight, and the photographers; finally home, where tea is arranged, and friends are gathered to hear about it. - On Bond Street
On Bond Street - Outside Morley's
Outside Morley's - Outside the pit entrance
Nowhere is caste more noticeable than in a London audience. A little board fence divides the ground-floor of a theatre into orchestra stalls and a pit. It would cost you ten shillings less and your social position to sit on the wrong side of this fence. It does not follow that sitting on the right side of it assures your position. But it does give you an uninterrupted view of the stage. No hats are worn, and that alone makes it worth extra charge. There is, in most of the theatres, room for your knees, and in some, additional room for the man who goes out between the acts, and people who arrive after the curtain is up. A London audience is brilliant. Everyone is in evening dress, and the audience is often more entertaining than the play. This is especially true on a first night. At such times the pit is watched most anxiously by the management, as the success of the piece generally depends on their verdict. It has often occurred to me, when I have seen them on a stormy night forming a line on the pavement outside the pit entrance, taking it all seriously enough to stand there for hours before the doors were opened, that by letting them inside the management might improve their spirits, and they in their turn might be more gentle. - Patiently Listening
Patiently Listening - Phil May
The fact that Phil May is a prophet in his own country should alone clear Englishmen of the suspicion that they are slow to see fun. On an Englishman’s love of fair play and good sport no suspicion has ever rested. It is the most attractive thing about him, and it is only natural that the greatest assortment of good-natured people are to be found at the Derby. I had already met them in May’s drawings, and I was prepared to find the good-nature contagious. Last year a party on a coach opposite the Royal box and a policeman, who looked after that particular part of the course, drank champagne out of the same bottle. - Pickering's American Velocipede
As will be seen from the accompanying engraving, "Pickering's American Velocipede," manufactured by Messrs. Pickering & Davis, differs very materially from the French model, so generally used by other manufacturers. It is claimed that it is more simple and durable, lighter and stronger. The reach or frame of this velocipede is made of hydraulic tubing. The gun-metal bearings are so attached that, when worn, they may be replaced by others, which are interchangeable like the parts of sewing-machines and fire-arms. The axle is so constructed as to constitute, in itself, an oil box. It is made tubular, and closed at either end with a screw, on the removal of which it is filled with lard oil. Cotton lamp-wick is placed loosely in the tubular axle and the oil is by this means fed to the bearing, as fast as required, through the small holes made for the purpose in the centre of the axle. The saddle is supported on a spiral spring, giving an elastic seat; it is brought well back, so that the rider maintains an erect position, and is adjustable to suit the length of limb of the rider. The tiller or steering handle is constructed with a spring so that the hands are relieved from the jolting that they would otherwise receive while running over rough ground. The stirrups or crank pedals, are three-sided, with circular flanges at each end, fitted to turn on the crank pins, so that the pressure of the foot will always bring one of the three sides into proper position. They are so shaped as to allow of the use of the forepart of the foot, bringing the ankle joint into play, relieving the knee, and rendering propulsion easier than when the shank of the foot alone is used. The connecting apparatus differs from that of the French vehicle in that the saddle bar serves only as a seat and brake, and is not attached to the rear wheel. By a simple pressure forward against the tiller, and a backward pressure against the tail of the saddle, the saddle spring is compressed, and the brake attached to it brought firmly down against the wheel. Messrs. Pickering & Davis have a large manufactory, and are the constant recipients of orders from all parts of the country. Mr. Pickering has always been a practical machinist, and personally superintends the structure of each machine turned out. - Powder Horn
Powder Horn - Profile of lady
Profile of lady - Rendezvous scene
At the Pierre’s Hole rendezvous, Drips and Vanderburgh, the American Fur Company partisans, were frustrated in their competitive effort by the fact that their supply train under Fontenelle had failed to arrive. It was now too late to bid for the furs taken out by Sublette, but they might follow Bridger and Fitzpatrick with profit if they only had trade goods. Accordingly, they resolved to hasten to Green River to see if they could find the belated caravan. - Rocky Mountain men setting traps
Rocky Mountain men setting traps - Ruins in Main Street, Johnstown
The eastern end of Main street, through which the waters tore most madly and destructively, and in which they left their legacy of wrecked houses, fallen trees and dead bodies in a greater degree than in any other portion of the city, has been cleared and the remains of over fifty have been taken out. - Sergeant Charley
...also the recruiting sergeants, among them Sergeant Charley, the best known of all. He has stood at the corner of the National Gallery for many years, and has probably talked more country boys into Her Majesty’s service, consoled more weeping mothers, and cheered more disappointed maidens than any other man in the British army. There is no better place in which Sergeant Charley can operate than Trafalgar Square—or from which the stranger can begin London - Small Wigs and Big Fees
The greatest variety of expressions are to be seen in the audiences that come together at the law courts. There is the never-changing face of the judge, and the ever-changing face of the witness rocking from side to side in his box, and there are the black-robed barristers with small wigs and big fees, and pale law students crowding in at the doors and filling the passage-ways; and in front of the long table that is covered with papers and high hats sit those most interested in what is going on—care-worn parents and women thickly veiled. - Sunday Morning near Stanhope Gate
Sunday is Hyde Park’s day “At Home,” and in the shape of a blue sky she sends her invitation to all London, and her popularity is easily shown by the number and variety of her friends. By long odds the best-looking exhibit is to be seen during church-parade. It extends from Hyde Park Corner to Stanhope Gate, and consists of the well-to-do, most of whom probably first came to the park with their nurses and a little later with their tutors, and they now come grown up and with white hair to pay their respects to the good doctor of their childhood. They form what is distinctly a Sunday gathering, and one as serious as a wedding. Seldom a loud voice is heard. There is a feeling of rest throughout the whole scene, and it is impossible to be there without entering into the spirit of it. - Tearing down houses in Johnstown
Adjutant General Hastings, who believes in heroic measures, has been quietly trying to persuade the "Dictator"—that is, the would-be "Dictator"—to allow him to burn up the wrecked houses wholesale without the tedious bother of pulling them down and handling the débris. The timorous committees would not countenance such an idea. Nothing but piecemeal tearing down of the wrecked houses tossed together by the mighty force of the water and destruction by never-dying bonfires would satisfy them. Yet all of them must come down. Most of the buildings reached by the flood have been examined, found unsafe, and condemned. Can the job be done safely and successfully wholesale or not? That is the real question for the powers that be to answer, and no sentiment should enter into it. - The break in the South Forks Dam
The valley of the Conemaugh in which Johnstown stood lies between the steep walls of lofty hills. The gathering of the rain into torrents in that region is quick and precipitate. The river on one side roared out its warning, but the people would not take heed of the danger impending over them on the other side—the great South Fork dam, two and a half miles up the valley and looming one hundred feet in height from base to top. Behind it were piled the waters, a great, ponderous mass, like the treasured wrath of fate. The South Fork Reservoir was the largest in the United States, and it contained millions of tons of water. When its fetters were loosened, crumbling before it like sand, a building or even a rock that stood in its path presented as much resistance as a card house. The dread execution was little more than the work of an instant.