According to his statement the water freezes smoothly, and the salt crystals that form on the top of the ice make the surface like a gravelled path, and there is consequently no danger that the wheel would slip.

He says that where the snow covers the ice it is pounded so hard by the winds that the crust is quite solid enough to bear the weight of a man.

In his opinion a wheelman would find no difficulty in travelling over it.

He thinks wheeling to the Pole is the simplest and most practical plan that has yet been proposed.

If he goes with Lieutenant Peary, Mr. Lee declares that he will take his wheel along with him and make the experiment.  He thinks that a man could wheel to the Pole and back from the north of Greenland in one week.

The great difficulty in the way of his scheme is that it would not be safe for one man to make the trip alone.

He thinks that at least half a dozen ought to start together.  In those far northern lands the fewer white men there are in a party the better its chance of success, because they require so much more food than the Eskimos, and it has to be of a more dainty character.  Where provisions are so scarce, this is a serious consideration.

Mr. Lee says that the present pneumatic tires would not be of the slightest use, as rubber cracks and splits with the extreme cold.  He has a plan for a new kind of tire that could withstand the climate.

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We saw an account the other day of a new sport for the wheel, which is being indulged in by the cyclists of England and France.

It is called bicycle duelling, and consists of fighting mock duels on the wheel.

It is said by those who have witnessed it to be a very interesting sport.

The contestants are masked; use foils with buttons on the points, and fight according to the strict rules of fencing.  The game is won by touching the adversary over the heart with the sheathed point of the foil.

In fencing, a man has to keep his eye closely on his adversary, and dares not allow his attention to be distracted for a moment.  It is therefore absolutely necessary that those who engage in a bicycle duel should be expert riders.

The mimic battle begins by the two riders circling slowly round each other, waiting for an opportunity to dash in and strike a blow.

This circling continues for a few moments until one darts forward—­the foils clash, and the aggressor passes swiftly on, only to turn and recommence the circling until he sees another opportunity.

They fight in this way, back and forth, round and round, until the final touch is given; then the cyclist who is touched is obliged to dismount, as a sign that he has been defeated.

This pastime is particularly popular in France, where fencing forms a part of every young man’s education.

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