The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1893-06-20
FOUNTAIN OF FIRE.
Wonderfully Beautiful Effects
at the Worlds Fair
MARVEL WITH WATER AND WIRES

uuc1nS Hydra uiIc CireWorkS at CAlc2Eo
Flowing Water and Electric Refectors
the Agents-Tke Great Plant and the
Glorious Results.
WORLDS FAIR, June l.. = Especial =
Now the electric fountains play two nights
week in front of the Administration
building. OF all the cortrivances Of man
for the creation of beautiful effects this
electric fountain is the most wonderful.
1t IS impossible for me or any one else TO
describe for you the glorious spectacle pro
duced by combination OF water jets OF
changing form and vivid electric lights OF
Kaleidoscope coloring. This is something
that must be seen to be appreciated, CT
even understood. But imagine, if you
can, a bouquet of gorgeous water flowers
rising to hight OF $50 feet and changing
their coiors chameleon ike as they fall;
showers OF rubies, pearls and amethysts.
great sheayes Of golden wheat; ferns in
columns and sprays of water greener than
moss in the woods. You have seen bril-.
liant displays Of fireworks, made with com.
bustibles and explosives. They are very,
very beautiful But these hydraulic fire.
works are infinitely more graceful, more
alluring
Though it is impossible for me to de.
scribe the effect hope to give you q fairly
satisfactory idea of the cause. I want &c
tell you some thing of the wonderfully
complicated and ingenious machinery by
which this rare spectacle is produced Few
Of the multitudes of people who gather in
that most glorious spot of the exposition,
the central court, whenever the fountains
are playing, realize the magnitude of the
machinery and the mightiness of the
forces that are operating, far away and
underneath the ground, for their amuse-
ment.
Let US go first to the source Of power, to
the alpha of the system, and follow it till
it rises in those brilliant water columns
before which the multitudes stand in de-
light. In the eastern end of Machinery
hall is the generating plant for the cleo
trio light part of this magic factory.
There are four of these big dynamos, set in
a row. You will have no difficulty in de-
termining them among the many dynamos
in the vast building, for this quartette are
painted white, the fields Of their generating
cylinders are wound with white cord, and
the switchboard by which their forces are
controlled is of white marble. The whole
plant, as neat as a new watch, suggests
the radiance of its role.
These four dynamos generate the cur
rent which throws fierce, white light
from the refectors upon the rising col
umns of water. How much energy do you
suppose is required to operate them? One
thousand horsepower. Yes, the power of
thousand horses is converted into light
for the illumination Of the fountains
There are two engines in this plant, and
one OF them, of the cross compound type,
cylinGers 20 inches and 3S inches, running
at pa revolutions per- minute develops 600
horsepower and is said to be the largest
high-speed engine in the country. This
pair OF engines, painted white like the re-
mainder of the plant, are as graceful and
perfect in their operation as if they were
built for beauty and not for power. While
not in use for the fountains the engines
charge the batteries Of the feet of electric
launches which run about the lagoons.
Before following the electric current
generated by the dynamos to the lamps
which illumine the fountains, it will be
well for us to 60 to the source of our water
power; for it must always be borne in
mind that these effects are both electrical
and hydraulic, The water is the body, the
electricity the soul Of the perfect creature