Page:Bassetts scrap book 1907 03-1909 02.djvu/57

Rh a generation. Seems to be the receiver of an infant industry. Portraits of prominent Americans appear upon postage stamps, internal revenue stamps and paper money, but never on coins. In England, as soon as King Edward succeeded Queen Victoria, the queen's face gave way to that of Edward on all the coins and stamps in the British empire. Seems to indicate that he is the head of the nation. TO MY BICYCLE. My bicycle! my brave old steed! I would not part with thee Were all the pleasures life could give Flung in its lap for me; I would not give the glorious sense Of joy bound in thy wheel, For all the vaunted pleasures hfe Could, or could not reveal. For where can I so surely find, Outside of human kind, A friend like thee, who never fails To ease this tired mind? — Chris Wheeler. The modern automobile is a development of com- paratively recent date, but its inception dates back to the early days of the steam engine. In 1680, Sir Isaac Newton proposed a steam carriage to be pro- pelled by the reactive effect of a jet of steam issuing from a nozzle at the rear of the vehicle. In 1790 Nathan Read patented and constructed a model steam carriage in which two steam cylinders oper- ated racks running in pinions on the driving shaft.