The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1893-11-11
Mr.. Ferris and His Wheel.
From the New York World.

The Ferris wheel is an inspiration of a
moment. But it took time to actualize the
inspiration. Engineers laughed at the idea
of tension wheel 250 feet in diameter
wheel, in other words, with tension" and
not solid spokes. In the first place, they
thought there was no way of revolving
such huge mass in the second place,
that, even if it could be made to 90. it
would become an ellipse But gradually
capital was enlisted in the enterprise.
Then the Worlds Fair directory demurred.
They, too, doubted of the practicability of
the scheme. A concession, reluctantly
granted, was revoked, and not till four and
half months before the opening Of the
Fair was the final permission given 1t
took just six months to get the wheel con-
structed June q was the first day fixed
for starting it. Then came a moment of
anxious suspense. Would it answer the
touch Of its driving gear? A finger was
lifted md throttle opened. The great
wheel began to reyolve A burst of ap-
plause went up Mr. Ferris had justified
his confidence in himself. The new inven-
ton was success.
What the spectators saw was a monster
wheel, somewhat resembling huge bicycle,
revolving between two towers Around
it, suspended between two crowns by great
steel trunnion pins, were 36 cars, each ca
pable of seating 40 people.
The entire structure is of steel. The
great axle is the largest piece of steel ever
forged, being 33 inches in diameter, 455
feet long and weighing Sc tons. The cost
of this piece of steel alone was $1,000.
After all, to the casual eye, there seems
nothing very original in the structure, ex-
cept its immensity. 1t seems little more
than a magnifcation of the ordinary razzle-
dazzle of the county fair.
This is only to the casual view, how
ever. The civil engineer and the machinist
know that a principle of real scientific value
has been enforced by Mr.. Ferris. The
application of the tension spoke to wheels
Of large dimensions has been vindicated.
Hitherto the famous 35-foot tension water
wheel, employed in mill in Scotland, was
looked upon as the acme of possible achiev-
ment. But here is wheel eight or nine
times larger. There is no reason why
larger wheels, if necessary, should not be
made. The expense of the tension spoke
is far smaller than that of the stiff spoke,
such as was used in the Corliss engine at
the Philadelphia Centennial. Mr.. Ferris
believes that the tension principle is capable
of almost indefinite application. 81 would
not be surprised" he says, ''to see the
pinion wheel on the watch ten years from
now made with tension spoke" He ex-
plains that in the construction of a watch,
the great point to be overcome is the vari-
alton in expansion due to atmospheric con-
ditions. He believes it will eventually
be found possible to build a watch
wheel on the tension principle in such
way that the wheel would be counteract-
ing and equalizing. Indeed, he thinks
that the tension wheel, now that its capa-
bilities have been demonstrated, will, in
future, be very generally employed.
Mr.. Ferris, although it is only recently
that his name had been banded about from
mouth to mouth, has for many years back
been looked upon as an engineer of great
creative SKILL He was born in Galesburg,
ILL.,, in 1859. When years old he moved
West with his father and mother. The
elder Mr.. Ferris had gone out to the coast
when the gold fever broke out, and, having
done well there, had returned to take his
family with him, first to Carson City, New,
then to Virginia City. Young Ferris
graduated as an engineer at the Rensselaer,
Polytechnic School, Troy, N. Y, in 1881.
For twenty months he was engaged in
railroad work in West Virginia. Later he
assisted in building the big bridge at Hen
derson, Ky. He also built the immense
cantilever bridge across the Ohio river at
Cincinnati He is a resident Of Pittsburg
and the head of one of the largest civil and
metallurgical engineering firms in the
country.