Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1895-04-21
BIGGER THAN THE FERRIS WHEEL
A HUGE STEEL AND IRON FABRIC
NOW BEING FINISHED.
BUILT TO CARRY 1000 PAssEN-
GERS - THE WHEEL RISES 800
FBEr ABOVE THE GROUND AND
WILL HAVE FORTY CARRIAGES.

Some one gigantic feature seems to
siuon.
Thus the Eifrei tower was the sensa.
tional structure at Paris, in 1853, ana
the Ferris wheel at the Worlds Fair.
at Chicago, while the French Engineers
propose for the Paris exhibition now In
preparation deep hole to be dug,
and which II Is proposed to extend
until an unbearable heat Is met with
In the bowels OF the earth. There are,
however but limited number of sug-
gestions OF this kind available when
shah be at once striking and profitable
when carried out.
Both the Eiffel tower and the Ferrla
wheel were commercially successful
and earned learge dividends, hut manN
extraordinary constructions were sug-
gcsted for the Worlds Fair which
would have cost much money and been
not only absurd but Improbable. THIS
Is one reason why at the Empire Of In
dia exhibition now being arranged IN
London the English copied the Idea OF
the Ferris wheel rather than try tac
experiment OF something new which
might not pay back its cost to the
stockholders.
The wheel which they are erecting In
London will however, be much larger
than the Ferris wheel, and IL Is now
very near completion. The top OF the
Chicago wheel was 2hS feet above the
earth. The London wheel viii attain to
n height OF 800 feet. aud from its top
the passengers in the small carriages
which are to be carried around Its
periphery Will secure q magnificent
View Of London and It's environs
There will be forty Of these carriages
attached to the wheel. and among those
Will be five "cmoiing saloons" Ave
"non-smoking saloOns' and thirty or
diary cars. The smoking sn-
looms" Will correspond with the first.
class carriages found on English rail-
ways. and an extra price VIII he
charged for seat In one OF them 20
that the socially exclusive may not rub
elbows with the common herd. even
among the clouds.
Each one OF these carriages rs de-
signed to carry forty persons. ana The
wheel, when fully laden. viii carry 1000
passengers. The construction OF this
enormous wheel was commenced about
O year ago and the English engineers
have been working at 1t ever since
The Ferris wheel was completed In a
few months without m accident
inc English engineers however pre-
fcred to go slower, and thus lost the up-
portunity to make the wheel profitable
NJ inc tNIlblllNn Itll nj islFl n court
whore the fair grounds are situated
during last summer. The enormous
size OF the parts. however. afforded
one reason why the wheel should be
carefully and slowly put together.
I II is about two-thiris finished Mt tho
/ present time. The work on the wheel
has been going on all winter. and y NJ
100 tons Of iron per month have been
added to the structure, The total
weight OF steel In the wheel and lts
supporting columns at the present
time Is 1900 tons,
In addition TO this there Will be some
/ two hundred tons for the weight OF the
/ carriages Independently of the pngsen-
gers who VIII probably weigh 100 tons
more when the wheel l. fully loaded
I Before any one VIII be allowed to ride
| in the wheel double load OF ballast
VIII be placed in each car, making 200
tons OF rock and pig iron with this
load the wheel will be turned for two
[ days, 70 that the weak spots, ~ any
I exist, may be found before passen-
gers are allowed TO ride,
I The construction OF this immense
| fabric of steel and IRON has been
watched with interest by the English
/ people since the first foundation stones
l were laid, ana there have not been
lacking those who said II would provo
] a failure and could not be turned by
{ the engines. Nevertheless, the best en-
/ gineers believe 1t VIII be fully as sue
! cessrul as the Ferris WHEEL. after which
/ II was copied.
In It's structural features. however,
/ 1t shows many differences from the
Ferris wheel. which was the FIRST OF tho
/ kind ever erected and was largely ox-
perimentnl. Tho foundations Of the
I London wheel consist Of eight cubes
OF concrete 20 feet each way. In these
are embedded steel bolts attached TO
| the eight legs OF the wheel.
The axle weighs iifty-three tons and
[ Is forty feet long, and the task OF drop
/ ping 1t Into position on top of the col
I umns, 1870 feet above the ground. was II
dellcute one. This was the most inter
: eating scientific work about the new
{ whel. Two temporary wooden Orders,
each 40 foet long and IS feet high and
weighing seven tons. We're slid up the
sloping sides Of tho buttresses and
reared on top OF them.
over the summit OF. this wooden
fabric travelling crane was estab-
lished, and the ponderous "hub" below
l WIS slowly drawn up and It's anti
| their sockets.
! II only remained then to put In the
! spOkes and tit the structure together,
The first spokca were added under
meath the wheel. strong tackles were
fixed to an anchor In the ground under
,
spokes were hauled into place Az each
spoke was added the wheel was slight
~ turned. In this way one-quarter Of
I tho wheel was built
! With the aid Of u high scaffoldlng
erected on one side another quadrant
was added. These two quadrants bal
nnced each other Then the wheel was
hauled round as each additional Sec
tion was built into place. At the pres
ent time there are thlrty-three spokes
| completed out Of the forty, and the re-
mainder will soon be put into place.
Recreation towers are being erected
on the supports OF the wheel. A ball
room will crown each tower at the axis,
and there will be three restaurants
/ built ono above the other, where the
] English visitors. 50 fond Of eating and
| drinking. may enjoy Themselves and
watch the immense wheel so round.
4 Access 10 these restaurants VIII be
/ gained by tive "funicular" railways.
/ These will be really hydraulic elevo-
tors, and they viii slide up and down
the two legs OF the wheel-New York
Herald.
! .r,rr f.f,, ffIH,fyrsk II