Bennington semi-weekly banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 1894-1902, 1895-05-17
FROM EARTH TO SKY.
UNIQUE ATTRACTION FOR THE CON-
ING PARIS EXPOSITION.


Will Garry Visitors In a Vast Tower
Through Sea and Air to the Region of
the Stars.
The great Paris World S fair of 1900 will
beat the rercrd for big, unique and extraor-
binary cur iosities. One is n surprising en-
terprise, which the inventors have called
''the telescope"
This telescope" Ideals the invention Of
two French architects, Arthur Feron and
NJ. Mcge of New York city They have.
sent paintings, plans and other data to the
exposition commission and expect to hear
of definite action any day. A company with
sufficient capital to build the telescope"
has already been formed, and as soon as
practicable work will DO begun to make
the scheme a reality.
The building proper will be about eight
stories high, built of marble, with facings
of stone not yet selected. There will be
one entrance on each of the four sides, I'M
der immense archways. In each of the
four corners, on the first and second floors,
or landings, will be restaurants. Offices
for the uso of the men and women requir-
ed to keep the place in order, reception
rooms and toilet rooms will take up the
The building will cover 400 square feet
of ground. From the ground to tho foot
of the central column it will measure 1876
feet. Rising from the roof will be a col.
umn, or tube, 500 feet high, or 700 feet
from the ground. This is the telescope
proper. 1t will measure 105 feet in diam.
eter Visitors will be carried to the roof
in an elevator made in the shape of bal.
loon, and as it will not be guided by the
iron girdcrs common in elevators the bas-
ket will of necessity swing little, thus
making the ascension more realistic.
This balloon will traverse the four Gle
mcnts-1lre, earth, water and air. Those
who wish to make the trip will enter the
basket at the level of the sea. Daylight
will fade, electric lights being so arranged
that upon the shutting off of the natural
light the interior of the tube will appear to
be flooded by moonlight. Slowly the bal
loon will arise and pass through clouds.
Above these the aerOnauts will pass tho
planets Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. At tho
top of the column the air, mechanically eX-
hausted, will give those in the balloon
some idea of what genuine aeronauts suffer
when they rise to high attitudes owing to
the absence of n breathable atmosphere
Cold will also be felt.
A stop of a few seconds will be made at
the top of the tube, and then the car will
drop to the surface of the sea little quick
er than it went up. At this point the de-
scent will become more gradual, for q
plunge beneath the sea is contemplated
An arrangement of aquariums which will
fill up nearly the whole space not needed
for the passage of the balloon will give the
travellers the impression that their dive is
a real one Live fishes from every sea will
be in these aquariums, and it is also de-
signed to have marine flora of every OBJ
tainable kind growing in them. The
wreck Of a ship covered with weeds will be
one of the curiosities at the bottom of this |
mimic ocean.
Down through the sea will go the bal |
loon. 1t will not stop when the bottom is |
reached, but will continue on through |
veritable hole in the ground. This portion |
of the tube will be so arranged as to illus |
trate the varied strata of the earth under |
Paris Mines will also be shown, the bal. |
loon passing galleries of coal mines appar-
entity in full operation.
When the balloon reaches the sea level, |
the moonlight effect will be discontinued |.
and an artificial sun turned on. This light |
will be made to fade gradually as the low
est depths of the sea will be reached The |
journey to the center of the earth will be |
made bright by means of bunch of elcc. |
trio incandesCent lights made fast to the |
car of the balloon. The air in this subter.
ranean journey will be made to feel as
heavy and oppressive as it is to be found |
in excavations Of the genuine kind. AS
the Car will reach the bottom of the shaft,
its occupants will become conscious of
great heat. This will be produced artifl.
cially, but look over the edge of the cal
will show what appears to be a lake of fire.
This fiery pit is supposed to exist at the
center of the earth. When the cars com.
pany have been impressed with the sight,
a return trip to the surface of the sea will
be made
In the main portion of the building two
separate and distinct panoramas will be
shown. One of these panoramas will con
sist of scenes in every country on the globe,
the other pictorial displays Of the inven.
tiOns of the century. The two canYascS
will extend from floor to roof, but the pic.
lures will be so arranged that they will
run in concentric circles from the bottom
landing where visitors will board species
of cable car to the roof. There will be an
inner and an outer panorama. The outer
will be that pOrtraying the nations of the
world.
Those who wish to make the two jour.
neys on foot will be enabled to do so, as q
wide footpath will be provided for that
purpose. Here and there large platforms
will be built for the sale of souvenirs
These bazaars will be in the care of people
of the nationality represented in the paint
ing opposite Fhe platform. Thus, when
the sightseers reach Turkey in the pilgrim
age they will be enabled to purchase Turk
ish goods from Turk at that platform,
and so on.-New York World
Wanted-A Walking Delegate.