Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1893-05-15
TRANSPORTATION.
How Worlds Fair Visitors are
Carried About.
Movable Sidewalk on Pier--SIiding
Railway--l50 Miles an Hour.
Supe rb Horses. Dromedaries. Renders asd
Other Beasts Of Burden.


here a comparative display of the horses
and riders Of many countries. 1t happens
that Il number Of hussars or other caval-
| rynen are attached to the foreign commits
sions here to serve as official messengers.
Hence one may see, almost any fine day, a
German hussar, a Russian cossack, an
English horse guardsman or an Arab
courier flying about in the vicinity of the
exposition grounds. There are American
cavalrymen, too. The foreigners all use
big horses and resplendent trappings Tho
American horse soldier alone looks as II
he were outfitted for actual service, the
Others being mere parade soldiers. More
serviceabie than any of the military horse
men in the capacity of messengers are the
cowboys of the plains, twenty or thirty Of
them having been constantly employed in
the days of construction, carrying mes
sages and orders to and fro. They are to-
day the most interesting horsemen in all
this international menage. Their little
mustangs or bronchos fly about with soft,
sure foot, dodging obstructions and pedes-
trians, swift and intelligent.
| A magnificent specimen of the horse
manship is to be found here in the outfit
of Colonel Rice, commandant Of the Co
lumbian guards 1t is no small response
bility the colonel has undertaken-cap-
taincy of the troop Of z, 900 men who are q
sort of cross between policemen and sol
diers. In management and training OF his
men the colonel finds it necessary to 90
rapidly from one part Of the grounds to
another. In fact, he acts like man who
would, if he could, be at forty widespread
! spots in one minute of time. He rides a
massive iron gray charger, a noble animal
| who carries himself with proud stride as
| il he were the bearer of the general Of a
| great army.
| 1t is indeed a cosmopolitan showing of
horsemanship and beasts of burden which
| we have here. Buffalo Bills cowboys,
| rough-riders, steer tanners and Sioux
| horsemen are to he seen on the same
bridle-paths with the Cossacks and Hus-
sars. Immediately after them may be a
| pack-mule from the Andes going over to
| State street for load of feed for his fel-
lows, or dromedary from the Egyptian
| village in the plaisance. Now and then, at
| rare intervals, a Laplander may be seen
| out exercising big reindeer. In Hagen
| bd1h = SiloW llOuS may D6
| seen riding horseback, and two or three Of
| the elephants are often ridden about the
| neighborhood of the plaisance by their
trainers.
The horse show proper will not begin
till late in August. Then it Is expected
there will be here the greatest horse show
ever seen. Certainly the management Of
the exposition has been liberal enough in
its provisions and prizes There are twen-
ty-five acres of stock sheds, and in huge
| amphitheatre that will seat nearly 1000
persons hundreds of animals may be SIM
ultaneousiy exhibited. 1t is elliptical in
shape, 300 feet wide and 40 feet long, and
looks like an enclosed track. No fewer
than forty-six barns are to be erected for
the accommodation of horses and if these
prove inadequate more will be built. The
premiums offered for horses are very lib
eral, consisting of both cash awards and
medals There are cash premiums on sim
gle animals as high as 500.
There is wonderful variety of con-
trivances and vehicles for people to ride
| upon within the enclosure of the exposi-
tion. The elevated electric railway,
which runs around the grounds the steam
and electric launches on the lagoons, the
gondolas and the rolling chairs are all well
known. But this does not exhaust the list,
by any means One of the most interest
ing spots in the exposition is visited by
| only n small proportion of the people who
come here. 1t is the steamboat pier which
runs more than half mile into Lake
Michigan from the Casino at the southern
end of the peristyle. One is not surprised
to learn that this is the greatest pier in
the world, for these Chicago people have
habit of building everything little larger
than any similar thing was ever built else
where. This pier is the landing place of
the many big steamboats, which run be-
tween Chicago and the fair, and on warm
day this is the best route to and from the
city. The pier alone is worth going to see
Its vast proportions may be better under
ktood from the fact that it contains fifteen
acres of space, and that $1,000 people may
move about upon it without crowding.
The view of the lake and the exposition
from this pier is very fine, and one may go
out on the pier for the purpose of sight
Seeing without taking passage on a steam
ship for the city.
1t would not be like Chicago to build a
pier more than half mile long and pro-
vide no means of transportation from one
End TO the other Of it. A pier so long that
n passenger railway is needed on its sur
face will be a novelty to most people, but
u greater novelty is the railway itself 1t
Is what is known as a movable sidewalk,
md is a very ingenius contrivance. Two
ilw platforms, endless, run side by side on
I; series of small wheels. The outer one
runs constantly at speed of three miles
an hour, and though it does not stop to
take on or let off passengers one has no
difficulty in stepping upon it. With the
al ga from, fbia y,lo
form to the upper one, which moves at a
Epeed of six miles an hour This faster
platform has comfortable seats, and bet
ter means of resting ones weary limbs the
| while refreshing body and soul in the cool
reezes which nearly always blow over
lake Michigan, could not well be devised.
The fare on this novel railway is only a
nickel, and already it is quite popular.
t'he road is four-fifths of mile long, and
$50 passengers may ride upon the plat
forms together.
over in the plaisance or side-show sec
tions of the exposition is another novel
means of transportation. 1t Is known as
the sliding railway, and is the same sys-
TEN that created such sensation at the
Paris exposition foar years ago The
structure much resembles an ordinary ele-
| waited railrosd, but the speed attained liz
something tremendous. One hundred and
sixty miles an hour may be reached under
pressure, but about ninety or 100 miles is
| the speed at which passengers are carried
every day. The cars have no wheels; in
stead there are shoes which closely fit the
rails. the latter being about eight inches
wide. Into each shoe leads small pipe
bearing water under pressure of 159pounds
| to the square inch, and thus a film of
water probably no more than sixteenth
of an inch thick is produced between the
shoe and the rail. In other words, the car
Is lifted from the track and fioated along
upon street of water, thus reducing fric-
ticn to an ideal minimum, averting all jar
and rumble. 1t is literally sliding or
floating train. The motive power il water,
also. Under every other car of train is a
small turbine motor, which receives the
force OF the Jets of water automatically
thrown out Of pipe running between the
tracks.
OF course there are plenty of places ip
which one may ride in an elevator to a
considerable hight for a view of the expo
sition and the city. There is no EiffeI
tower, except a model of that famous
structure: but the gigantic Ferris wheel is
an even greater curiosity. One may go up
in a captive balloon along with fourteen
other curious passengers. and rise to q
hight of so feet, or third higher than
the top Of the Eiffel tower The balloon
seems perfectly safe, and Is always kept