At the age of 12 Bruno Rossati began working eleven hour days.
"Now, approaching 91, I find myself reminiscing about my youth, still riding my motorcycle every day.
Letter re Ladetto
A. Desgrouas, of Chamarandec, Seine-et-Oise, show an extraordinary novelty in L'Axe moteur-bicycle. This machine has the motor fixed in a horizontal position inside the rear wheel. The motor is held on the left hand compression stay, and drives on to a large roller pinion wheel, to which the driving wheel is spoked, so that there is no hub in reality, but the large pinion is kept rigid by distance pieces, having rollers on ball-bearings. The motor can be thrown out of gear by a clutch worked from handlebar. An outside flywheel is used, and a remarkable innovation is a small rotary fan to help to cool the cylinder. The ignition is by coil and accumulator, and a Longuemare carburetter is used. Control is effected by four levers fixed on the handlebar. The motor is of 2 b.h.p. A silencer of large dimensions is used, and it is remarkable how compactly the system is arranged.
Paris Salon 1902 in Motor Cycling, December 17th, 1902.
