(FFFURBING AMERICA'S <SFIN§^ WWTTH DEATH-DEFYING ♦H* W/LLARD W. OARRI6ON A jfc J* 112 TAKING /I TRIP ON A THRIILZR ■■i' l O-OW, whee-ee-e, 00-00-o, //TTT gee-e—whi-iz, but that was W a bump!" It was our friend from ——• the sand dunes of Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Ohio. Minnesota, Wisconsin, or £ 'a any other state with plen -1 Qrß ty of farming districts, I trying out a thriller at I Coney Island, Atlantic Ciity, one of Chicago's big four amusement parks or for that matter at any city or town which supports these summer devices for extracting coin of the realm from thme plebeians. No matter how stolid he may be in life's ordinary pursuits or how emo tionless in an interurban wreck, his spine curls, his sympathetic nerve system tickles and he is compelled to give himself up to thrills. You can find him in every resort where there are scenic railways, roller-coasters, velvet-coasters, figure-eights, shoot the-chutes, dip-the-dips, leap-the-gaps, ticklers and scores of other modes for shooting the electric currents up and down the spinal cord of the laughing, howling public. lie is a source of amusement for his tutored city brother who tickles the day ledger with a pen during daylight and cavorts about on amusement de vices throughout the summer evenings. The city pleasure-seeker has much of this sport and the thrills fail to rise up in his anatomy the way they do in that of the man, woman and child who are taking their first turn at the game. Statisticians claim that there are so many actual thrillers of different cali ber and variety at work daily in the United States that if one should travel on every one of them, just once, the trip would take all summer. There were more this year than ever before. If all of the rides were strung out they would reach clear across the con tinent, high browed scientists claim. But that only goes to show that America is amusement-crazy. The populace and the elite, too, can't get enough thrill. Not long ago, an Illi nois man with an idea proposed to in stall an automobile in the parks of the country and this device was scheduled to run down an incline, turn a double somersault and alight upon its wheels again. America's thrillers are terrific and getting more so each year, but the man from the middle west was perhaps a bit premature with his death-defying machine. Sometimes It didn't alight as per program. The process of starting a thrill through the pleasure-seeker's frame consists of laying out a device which combines both speed and the unexpect ed. This subject has been studied by every amusement manager in the United States and they can't get the jumps, drops and bumps lon® enough or fast enough to attract your shekels fr< >m your hank account to their coffers with the desired rapidity. "Say, by heck, I'm afeared to ride on thet shebang. It don't hev a safe look, to me." Well, hurtling through the air faster than an aeroplane in working order certainly doesn't look safe, but at the same time the visitor to the city who made that remark did not know where of he spoke. Every single device, no matter how small, how large or how "safe-looking," is required to undergo a rigid test by the building commis sioners, before being allowed to accept the public's dimes. There must b? a block system of lights, much the same as that used by railway systems, also stoppage devices on every incline to prevent cars, chairs or other seating vehicles from sliding backwards down an incline. The framework of the device is test ed for Its strength and made to sup port far tieavlej weights than are ever '''''''' „ sir.":" ;;. 4 GROUP or THRUIZM if S THE <JC£NIC &A7IWAY. / vXZX l v.?; after made its burden. On the curves of riding thrillers there is the usual horizontal track above • the wheels of the vehicle to prevent it from leaving the scheduled pathway. Persons pos sessing weak hearts are forbidden the thrills and few accept the chance to test that organ when in bad condition, j There are also straps, chains, guards, etc., to hold the patron in the car and if he or she falls out it is little short of a miracle and only once or twice a season are accidents reported, so carefully do the amusement managers guard the lives of those who provide a method of bread-winning. Perhaps the scenic railway is known more generally to those who would line their interiors with momentary thrills. This ride consists of a series of cars strung together. There are brakes between each car and the levers are manned by strong-armed boys from the railway yards. To them there are no thrills. It's monotonous as driving the cows home from pasture for them. Even catching a pair spoon ing while the train is running through the blackness of a mimic Canadian forest, can't make them feel weary. It happens on every trip. The average scenic railway runs up a 45-degree incline or rather is hauled up by a chain and you are ready for the first dip. The brakemen release their levers and down the cars go faster than the New York-Chicago 18- hour limited. If the uninitiated puts his head between his knees he is apt to kick himself in the face on the journey up the hill which follows every dip. Therefore if you haven't yet been bounced around in this man ner, hang to the iron guard, stick your hat under your arm, grit your teeth and make up your mind not to care if your hair does get mussed. After the train has completed the first series of dips there is usually a journey through a dark recess, tragi cally known as the "cavern," this being installed to give the spooners a chance to gloat over their nerve. The rest in a repetition, generally. Next in line as a death defying con trivance is the coaster. There are fewer cars and not so many seats in each vehicle. Then, too, the coaster needs no hauling up a second incline, for there is only one, the difference be ing noticeable in the length of the de scents. In some parks in both east and west there has been a tendency of late to turn the coaster into a seml loop-the-loop, that is to say, the cars drop off t he top of the runway onto a de scent at an angle of about TO degrees, dropping about 80 feet, and then start up the ascent at an angle which is not quite so abrupt. Some coasters have only one of these terrifying dips, while others have about 20 —it seems to the first-nighter. Well, one isn't so bad, but about the third jump you begin to calculate that the seat must have slipped out the bottom of the car— you're so high in the air most of the time. Passing onto another part of the resort you strike the figure-eight. Every hamlet has its figure-eights these days. That contrivance is fash ioned like an "8" and much resembles the coaster, except that the cars follow the lines of the figure, the dips are smaller and you naturally don't get so fussed up. It's tamer in fact, and for that reason graduation from the figure-eight entitles you to prestige, which should carry you fearlessly over the jumps which the coaster takes and allow you to blandly hand the "second ride-lady" 20 cents for another trip for yourself and friend. Then there's the tickler. That's a new ride just put on in the west this season. You get into a round car and the device is dragged up an incline for the downward thrill. Starting down it enters a labyrinth of rails, the car re volving in one direction and the de scent carrying it in another. This gives a remarkable opportunity to learn how it feels to be jerked in two directions at the same time. The Potsdam railway is a practical device, "made in Germany," which runs on an overhanging rail and which magnates among the Teutons threaten to make a conventional mode of travel there within a few years. The thrill in this consists of hoping it won't fall off this trip. Amusement-loving Americans also have the aerostat. Cars are suspended at the ends of long cables, you are locked in and the device is started. It is like a Maypole, except that the cables don't become interwined around the pole. As the speed increases the cars rise higher at the ends of the cables and, inclined, speed through ether far out over the heads of the multitude. Anyone who is susceptible to sea-sickness might possibly become immune by this treatment for the blues of everyday life. The giant swing, while it is not much like the aerostat, gives the same feeling to some. Then there is the airship, which ma jestically winds about the outside of a tall tower and then winds down again. Merry-go-rounds are numerous and despite the fact that this is the father of all thrills, it still has its patrons among the children. Among the time-honored creations is the shoot-the-chutes, which consists of a slide down a toboggan and a few bounces after the boat strikes the water of the lake at the bottom of the chute. If you're wise you'll not sit in the front seat. There's where the big bump comes and the occupants of the bow of the boat feel the leaps over the water most. Having traveled on rides enough to stimulate an appetite for something in j a different line we steer our down- | state friend into the stationary de vices for the same purpose. These are of every variety. You step into one at random. The floor starts to move with a circular motion toward the top COW BROKE UP BARN DANCE Of course, realism is all well enough | in its way, but it can eacily be carried to an excess. Here, for instance, is the case of that barn dance in the [ east, where an actual barn was the scene of revelry. And in the midst of the fun a blood ed cow broke away from her stall and took an active interest in the proceed ings, ripping the shirt waist from a college youth and hooking a roomy hole in the big fiddle. After which i she pranced up the middle with her j of the room. If it moves backwards from you, intuition tells you to step forward. Don't step too speedily or you'll find yourself walking on the ceiling, head down. Finally an open ing is reached. You step out onto a floor which bounces up and down as you meander along. A moment later you walk upon what seems to be the top of an airship, loosely Inflated. By that time, if you're one of the fair sex, you need protection. The recess es are all pitch dark Then, perhaps you are swayed by a wave-like motion of the entire room, which very naturally elicits very prop er screams from the women folks. Freed from ocean-liner imitation, you are immediately introduced to a 200- miles-an-hour cyclone, coming from the floor, ceiling, walls and in fact from all sides. The floor begins to move sideways with a quick-jerky motion. You try to steady yourself on a rail, just perceptible in the blackness. Ouch! It's charged with electricity. Ahead are several staircases and you feel rather relieved to think you're out of it at last. Reaching them safe ly you start up when, without warning, the whole contrivance begins to move backward and forward, compelling you to grab the rail for safety. In darkness again, you try to make your way through a typical labyrinth of rooms. Feeling along the wall with one foot ahead of you to ascertain the nearness of bottomless pits, etc., for your mind's eye sees lots that don't exist, you bump your nose against a few barriers and eventually push against a wall, which gives way and you And yourself alone in a turnstile, inclosed on .all sides. When your ter ror has reached a burning point some one else behind pushes the wall as you did and you are liberated, only to again find yourself in the midst of weird ghostlike cries and see skele tons darting hither and thither (on pulleys). A little scream just at this moment might bo appropriate. Just to get your mind off the terrors of the place, the next few turns are tame, when suddenly your feet slide out from under you and you find yourself shoot ing down a Chute in a sitting position. Daylight ahead and once again, before you have time to think it over, you've landed among the crowds outside, thanks to the manly strength of the spieler, whose arms received you where the chute ended. | head down, and six girls and three boys crawled onto the feed box and fell off in a shrieking heap, and the j athlete of the party, with wild yells, broke the record on a quick climb to the hayloft., and four girls hid under the straw cutter, and there was the merry mischief to pay. The cow quickly had her gambol out, and then backed into her stall with a satisfied moo and immediately resumed her cud. But the barn dance was effectuallv ; broken up.—Cleveland Plain Dealer." THE INDOMITABLE ENGLAND'S SHIP OF MYSTERY NOW IN AMERICAN WATERS. Prince of Wales' Visit to Canada Gives Naval Officers of United States Chance to Gratify Their Curiosity. The prince of Wales has coine to America, and incidentally has brought with him England's great, ship of mys tery, the Indomitable, or rather the big, fast, all big gun battleship cruiser has brought him to Canada to take part in the Queb c centennial celebra tion, and the coming of the great fighting ship will r ive our naval chiefs the opportunity they have long wanted ol' prying into the secrets of this ves sel around which England has thrown so much mystery. This new ship, built on the lines of the Dreadnought, is a combination of battleship and armored cruiser, and, what is more remarkable, she is re gard by those experts who have man aged to learn something of her armor, armament, and speed, as being effi cient both as a battleship and as an armored cruiser. She is bigger than any other completed battleship except the British Dreadnought, and she is swifter than any armored cruiser yet sent afloat. Previous to her advent our three fast scouts of the Salem class were reckoned as the fastest war ships in the world. Of this trio the Bathbuilt Chester recently maintained a gait of 20.52 knots an hour. Designed for a speed of 25 knots an hour, this British racer is now credited with 28 knots. The Indomitable is the first of the all big gun cruiser-battleships togo afloat. The Michigan, the first of our all big gun just plain battleships, was launched a few weeks ago. The Michi gan is rated as a "Dreadnought." This Dreadnought cruiser of Great Britain carries a battery equal to that of the Michigan, and her speed is such that she can easily outrun any of our much boasted scouts. As the British Dreadnought revolu tionized naval construction, so doubt less will this new type of cruiser Dreadnoughts revise naval pro grams. The Dreadnought is the most powerful battleship now in existence. She mounts ten 12-inch rifles. The In domitable carries eight guns of this caliber, and in actual fire is equal to the Dreadnought. Moreover, while the Dreadnought has a speed of only 21 knots an hour, the Indomitable can steam nearly six knots an hour faster. And whereas the Dreadnought has only 12-pounders for repelling torpe do attack, the cruiser battleship has HI Are Fine Horsemen Nothing evoked more genuine ad miration at the great international liorse show at Olympla recently than Italian officers who # took part in the J able for a firm seat Rii|> witil iiie ios ' 'if' all nothing "Hjljuiiseemed to move TOTHtwy!w tllem in 'heir sad i* W <l,es * I n t^ e jump f '" S competitions ■9CKKiMMB*p distinguished them- Down an AI - selves ~ in tlie most Perpendic- " over ,lle course" ular Drop of 16 competition for of peet. fleers four of the first five were Ital ians—and it was evident that both the riders and their horses had been sub jected to a severe training. It is interesting to remember that every year a certain number of Italian c t. » //; ' /' ' Vertical Section of Course Followed During Riding Exhibition. A.—Level hard grass. B.—Oak rail fence 2% feet to 3 feet high. B ho C.—Level hard grass about !i feet wide. C to IX—Almost perpendicular drop of l>: f«t to is feet. Cliff of hard, pebbly soil, and quite dry. D to 13.—Slope of soft soil 2ti feet long. K to K.—Gravel road with rough grass 15 to 20 yards wide. The oflicers rode in three squads of about 12 each at a hand gal lop, and there were no falls or accidents on this occasion. The horses slid down the cliff C to D Immediately following the jump. Twelve went down nearly in u line. oflicers—about :!0 or 40—join the Cav alry Hiding school of Tor di Quinto, just outside Rome, and there qualify as instructors of V riding for various g regiments. At l;« | detail in his army, \. holds an official ex- \>V* « \. M aminatlon, which \1 is a serious and L WOMM very businesslike affair. The oflicers Going Down Fast of the year have on a 45 Per to follow a guide Cent. Grade, 80 —who is a first- Feet in Length, rate horseman and admirably mounted —for about two ') an anti-torpedo argument consisting of 1G 25-pounders. The Indomitable is driven i>y turbine engines, which have an estimated horse power of 41,000. Her great free board would seem to enable her tc maintain high speed in almost any kind of weather. Forward the vessel measures 32 f< et above waterline. The amidship freeboard is 29 feet; aft it is 20 feet. The armor protection consists of a belt seven inches in thickness. Prior to the advent of the Dreadnought the officers of all ships of war had their quarters aft. Thii; custom is as old as the navy itself. Hut new types de mand new arrangements, and in the Dreadnought all of the officers, includ ing the admiral and the commanding i JL JL / The Indomitable, Showing After Tri pod Mast and Method of Hoisting and Stowing Boats. officer, have their quarters forward, ir. the space formerly occupied by the crew. The Indomitable has same arrangement. Still other unusual features that give the vessel a singular appearance are the tripod masts. The representative of our shipyards which has gone to meet the Indomit able in Canadian waters is the New- Hampshire. This is the newest battle ship which we have in commission. The vessel is of IG,OOO tons, has a speed of 18 knots, and is armed with four 12-inch rifles, eight eight-inch, and 12 seven-inch. The cruiser bat tleship of Great Britain is superior tc her in speed, and her eight 12-inch guns just double the four of that cali ber carried by the New Hampshire. hours over rough, hilly and broken* country, with banks, ditches, and; very formidable unbreakable rail, fences, and at the end of the ride the whole number follow him up and! E/_ ; Vertical Section of Another Course, A.—A gentle gravel slope. B.—A steep gravel slope, about 12 feet vertical height, a bit rounded at tup to C, a strong stone wnl* 2 feet to 2'4 feet high and about 2 feet thick, with flat top. D.—Rounded bank falling away from wall. D to E.—Slope at angle of 4.1 degrees. E to F.— Gentle slope at bottom. The officers rode the of Arm grass about SO feet vertical height same horses as for the other course mostly Irish hunters, some very wel bred, others more common—and here also there were no accidents to record, the really fine horsemanship of th» down steep declivities interspersed with the jumps around the hill' on which the I I buildings of the Cavalry school I «nand. JgaWßfc/' this hill the king. /SSjjafc Y/ft can see clearly the ft '/j// whole of this truly wonderful display of pluck, tfrn/ nerve, patience ft p V }/*• which is an ad- i ( mirable training Horse Taking i f °r t he horses and Slope After f° r tlle men who Jumping Low them. The Fence at Upper first portion of the- Edge. r 'de ma >' be de scribed as similar to a fast run with foxhounds in a dale country, while the latter part con stitutes a series of achievements which are unique. The Allotment of Benefits. "You believe in the greatest good* for the greatest number, do you not?" said »he altruist. "Yes," answered Mr. Pustin Stax. "But. this is a mercenary age. The greatest number doesn't count unless it has a dollar mark in front of it."— Washington Star. A Business Hint. She (bitterly)— That mineral mpg> nate who is trying to get you to invest in his enterprise, is a snake. He (interested) —Copper h°ad, I sup pose.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers