St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1893-10-05
1nistrllanu.
THE FERRIS WHEEL.
Remarkable Achievement In Enginee
ing.

Whatever other regulations the
Exposition at Chicago may establish
it will have brought generous ane
lust measure of fame to young
engineer, whose daring and brilliant
exploit has already set him fal
in the front rank of the engineers O
America, if not of the world. This
is George Washington Gale Ferris
the inventor, as he may properly be
called of the great Ferris wheel
There are few among those who
attend the Worlds Fair who do not
visit this huge and curious mechan-
ism, few who do not pause to
wonder and to marvel at its bulk, its
symmetry and it's tremendous
strength. But it is the members OF
Mr.. Ferris own profession who best
realize the full measure of his achieve
ment.
For after all its spectacular quail
ties are dismissed, the wheel is the
triumph OF modern engineering. 1t
brings into play new mechanical
principle, and exhibits the almost
iimtless possibilities of steel con-
struction When one considers all
the problems which its building in
volved, the absolute perfection of its
design, the massive strength of it's
slender and apparently frail contour,
that much of it was wholly expert
mental and that it was built
against the judgment Of many of
the ablest engineers of the United
States, it would seem that there is
no feat, no possibility of mechanics
so great that between Bessemer and
a genius brain it may not one day
be realized
1t is interesting to know that the
whole conception Of the wheel was
almost the flash inspiration of a
moment. Edison has done so much
to destroy the orthodox belief in the
inspiration of genius that it holsters
up our old faith immensely to find
that not above twenty were required
for the parturition of this unique
idea, and that it stepped forth at its
birth as complete, as full fledged as
the goddess of the Greek myth.
The young engineers proposal
was for perfect pinion wheel, $50
feet in diameter. 1t was to be,
moreover, tension wheel-that is
to say, a wheel with tension" and
not solid spokes. His brother
engineers said promptly it could not
be built-that is, to be success.
When it revolved it would become
an ellipse. Besides, there was no
way of revolving such an enormous
mass, any way. There were objec-
tons in multiple. Not that they
exactly secuted the idea. It's
authors position in the engineering
world was too well established.
But in the interest of his long and
hard-earned reputation they advised
him to let the project alone.
OF course he did nothing of the
kind. Satisfied that he had hit up
on feasible plan, he drew it up,
and submitted it to the Worlds
Fair Directory. His design was
novelty so absolute and original
- lat the powers Of the fair hesitated
to so much as give 1t recognition.
After first granting concession, the
directory withdrew it, and not until
December 16, just four and half
months before the fair would open,
was the concession finally confirmed.
Given the circumstances, in no
other country than America would
the wheel have ever been built. 1t
took three years to complete the
Eiffel tower. Even here it took two
years to build the St. Louis Bridge.
Both were comparatively simple
work. The builder of the Ferris
wheel had not only to construct a
work equaling these, but in such
way that it would move, and more
over, move perfectly-a far greater
problem.
On December % every scrap of
iron and steel used in the wheel was
pig" On June 81, less than six
months later, 2200 tons of this
pig" converted into a revolving
mechanism as perfect as the pinion
wheel of an Elgin watch, began to
turn on its 70-ton axis, and has been
turning, without let or hindrance,
without creak or crack, ever since.
The firm of which Mr.. Ferris is the
head inspects the bulk of the steel
and iron that is put into the bridges
Of this country. He was able to
secure the aid of nine of the larger
steel mills, and almost in a twinkline
his material was at hand. The
wheel was constructed, in its
separate parts, at Detroit, and ship
ped to Chicago. So absolute wa:
Mr.. Ferris confidence in the accuracy
of his plans and measurements thai
he did not take the trouble to set W
the wheel before it was shipped
When it was taken from the cars a
Chicago, every spoke and bar, trus
and girder, went together as though
each had been previously fitted tt
its neighbor,
The foundations for the support
ing towers were already in place
They had been begun back i