Word: cranks
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...writes upon a slip of paper his age, college class, the address of the superintendent of the Sunday school which he attends, and his mother's maiden name. He drops this into a little box; below is a sealed compartment in which are one thousand assorted excuses; turning the crank of the machine, the proper excuse drops...
...bicycle; but in the mean time men had been expending their genius on "polycycles," machines of four, six, and even eight wheels, all of which required too many cogs, levers, etc. to meet with success. In 1862, however, an American inventor, recognizing the utility and simplicity of a direct crank action, operated by pedal power, on a revolving axle, turned his attention to the development of the principle involved, and the result was the improved "hobby horse" which in 1869 jumped so suddenly into favor both in this country and in Europe, under the cognomen of the "velocipede." Clumsy...
...being the eating of pork or fat of any kind, the drinking of vile whiskey, and the smoking of worse tobacco. One accomplishment they have, however, - a wonderful skill in poling. One man stands in the bow, and one in the stern, and with marvelous dexterity they push their crank barks up a very rapid current, and on their return let it slowly glide down stream, avoiding the rocks. Our course now is up the stream, we on the bank, and the guides in the canoes with the baggage. At times, however, the advance along the bank is impracticable...