The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1896-09-04
In EIGHTY MINUTES.
A Trip Round the World in That
Brief Space.
Novel scheme Of q Frenchmsn for the
Paris Exposition.

The Herald has published recently sew
oral articles showing what speed may be
expected In the near future from railroads
and steamboats,, and today it shows that,
vast as hos been tho progress in this direc-
ton, the speed TO be attained Is, from one
point OF view, trifling compared with that
which will be attained by the wonderful
mechanism which has just been invented
by NJ Borgel- Court, skilled French
mechanician, and which will be one of the
principal objects of interest at the Paris
exposition Of 1900
This Frenchman's conception Is at once
bold and original His aim is 20 present
miniature Of the entire world and 10 fash
ION 10 In such manner that oil mundane
sights worth seeing can be seen in so min
utes In other words, no offers 10 take
travellers round the world in hour and 20
minutes. Jules Verne's famous story Of a
trip round the world In so days will not
seem quite so wonderful To those who four
years hence make a trip round "a miniature
world In 80 minutes.
NJ Borgel- Courts mechanism consists
of n metallic sphere, which measures $50
meters in diameter and rises TO the height
of 245 meters. At the summit, and domi-
mating the nations OF the world stands
statue of the French republic. The exterior
Of the sphere presents an exact geogrHph-
zeal conilguration of the Garth and the in
terror Is an animated reproduction of the
different countrics This is tho crowning
characteristic OF the project.
A somewhat similar sphere was planned
by Il. Roclus, the distinguished geogra-
pher and sayant, but IL has not half the
interest or educational value that this
one has Moreover, an expenditure Of
90, 900, 600 francs would be necessary in
order 20 construct Reclus' sphere, and it is
not likely that his enormous sum will be
raised. Scholars and scientists may be sor-
~, but 10 is probable that the general pub
lie will be we'll satisfied with M. Borgel's
sphere.
The Journey which we are TO take on
this sphere is real and not fictitious. BY
an ingenious combination OF elevators and
electric railroads Nj. Borgel carries us at
our pleasure 20 any country in the world,
or, il we prefer, ho will take us in so min
utes over the five continents and will show
us as we pass through each the various
stages Of civilization the fashions, the
customs, tho fora, the fauna--in word,
all the distinctive attributes that separate
one continent from another. AS the whole
sphere Is a miniature Of the entire world,
so the sections or subdivisions Of the
sphere arc exact miniatures Of the various
countries. So, for example, person pass
ing through Persia will actually think
himself in Persia, for ho will see nothing
around him elat is not Persian TO tho
core The ground, tho buildings, the
men, the women, the costumes, the very
atmosphere win bc oriental. And so witE
every other country.
The wonderful electric train starts on
its trip round the world from Paris, going
first TO Geneva and thence by n tunnel TO
all the capitals of Europe. These will be
carefully examined, and then the travel
ers will be borne 10 China, Japan and all
the other far distant countries of the globe.
Steamboats, they will no: need, and seasick-
ness they need not dread. After the fash
ion of Jules Verne, NJ. Borgel considerate-
ly takes us arross the most turbulent seas
and oceans by means of submarine rail-
roads and submarine tunnels. In this way
we cross the Atlantic, the Pacific and SO
gain San Francisco, New York, Austria
liza, Africa, and In this picturesque fashion
continue our journey to the end.
The Eiffel tower made much talk In its
day, but it is generally believed that this
novel scheme OF NJ Borgel's will prove
ton The preliminary plans of the work
are now finished, and they were not easy
to construct Several skilled engineers
have been employed on it and have made
rigorous calculations as TO the exact size
and shape of this monster metallic sphere.
A blunder in construction of this kind
might prove a serious matter, and there
fore the utmost pains have been taken 20
see that every inch of space mapped out Is
mathematically. and geographically cor
rect. The construction of the electric rail-
road, too, has proved no easy task, but
happily all the difficulties In the way have
been surmounted.
The French public are delighted with
the project. They seem to think, and
probably rightly, that it is the duty Of the
French governments to provide some un-
paralleled amusement for the visitors to
the much talked of exposition, and many
among them are confident that nothing
will amuse and interest the thousands of
foreigners moro than trip round the
world in so minutes.
But M. Borgel's sphere will, in the
opinion of many, do far more than merely
amuse visitors TO the exposition. They
claim that 10 will also instruct them, and
that from this point of view 1t has per-
manent value and should be preserved
long after the other objects of interest at
the exposition have passed away. Thou
sands, it is claimed, who cannot spend the
necessary time and money in making n
real trip around the real world, will year
after year be glad To make an so minutes
trip round this miniature world, and
while they may not receive quite as much
instruction and amusement as they would
after months OF travel they will almost
certainly learn n great deal about tho
world that they could not possibly other
wise have learned.
Books Of travel are good but travel IL.
self is better. What we see with our eyes
impresses US far moro forcibly than what
we read or hear NJ. DorFols sphere, IL 1t
proves a success and not deluson and
a snare, will be the best possible Illus
tration Of this truth Indeed, as an edu-
cational factor " ought TO prove Of meal
culablo value. During n trip round tho
world Of this kind, even though II only
lasts for so minutes, an intelligent child