I've ridden a bike with solid tires once, so I completely understand the desire/need for a front suspension like that!

The bottom bracket arrangement is similar to a bike on display at the Museum of Transportation in St. Louis. The whole bottom bracket is adjusted fore & aft as a way to tension the chain. It makes me wonder when horizontal dropouts were invented.

a couple of shots of the bike at the Museum of Transportation.....






I'm not sure why the manufacturer used radial spoking on the rear wheel. Tangential spoking was used on the earlier Ordinary bikes, so it existed when this bike was built.

Steve in Peoria