Delaware gazette and state journal., 1902-12-18
FREAK TOYS OF XMASTIDE.

neou OI leCHulCal SCHOOLS ana behclefS
Of mechanical science il the present
craze for mechanical toys keeps grow:
ing. Our children will have natural
philosophy at their fingers ends, with
toy to illustrate each principle.
Anyone who has visited an up.to-
date toy emporium will be rather in
clined to agree with these conclusions,
for this is certainly the day of mo-
chanical toys
In kind they range all the way from
the miniature automobile that would
hardly ill an average boys pocket, run
by clockwork, To the complete and
fully equipped railway system whose
motive power is furnished by steam,
electricity, clockwurk or a simple but
ingenious application of friction: and
in price they are quoted all the way
from cents to e15, SO that not only
all tastes, but all pocketbooks as we'll,
may be suited in every particular.
In fact the shops, great and small,
have invaded the domain of the street
fakir and are conducting his erstwhile
business on scale that is far more
generous in extent than any Napoleon
of the sidewalks ever dreamed to be
possible.
A novelty is an acrobatic woman who
nnOh AlOs4A a uluH
double trapeze, at the other end of
which is another figure; these two
then revol7e, through the force fur
nished by tho impact Of the propelled
figure, in very professionl manner.
This little toy is sold by the originator,
South Baltimore toy dealer, at %
cents.
Among the toys run by the time
honored clock and top works are many
new as we'll as all of the old ideas.
There is the schoolmaster ohastising q
refractory pupil for discovering that
plus equals b orange women bearing
the stamp of the Campsgna upon their
faces and industriously vending their
wares; stroet-sweeping wagons that
would do credit to the local force q
complete zoo of aniamls and birds that
walk, run, jump, dance and cry; others
that go through antics which would
not shame Hagenbeck's Is collection itself,
while companions furnish music; auto
mobile hacks, coupes, harouches, dog.
carts and others ad infinitum; wood
sawyers, scissors grinders hlacksmiths
who make all sorts Of useful articles
lin dumb show: new kind of
Punchinello; trapeze performers, whose
stunts are done to the accompani-
ment of a musio-box attachment, and
merry-go- round is supplied with the
proverbial hurdy -gurdy.
There are, too, airships galore. Ono
crosses the room on q cord; another,
Z, initiating Santos Dumont's example,
! encircles a miniature EiBel tower, and
| still another modestly flies around "a
| tin stick that might stand for troll
| ley pole. There are Ferris wheels of
| all sizes and prices--one so like the
real article in appearance, with its
| tiny power house conealing the me-
| chani5m, that one is tempted to be-
! lieve q Liliiputian Columbian Expo
| sition is in progress while Watching its
| revolutions For the benefit of mis-
chievouS small boys with nervous
maiden aunts it may be stated that
diligent searching will uncover the
existence of mouse so like the real
article, with real fur and a very
realistic glide, that it would deceive
| the most experienced mouser, feline
or canine, that ever pricked up its ears
| at the mention Of mice.
Then, too, the girls may be inter
ested in learning that there Is a doll
that walks in the most approved Leslie
CRrter-Du Barry style, meanwhile gaz-
ing about her with the comprehensive
frigid stare of q rsal society dame, and
another that waltzes in a fashion
which can only be described in the
term Of the gushing young woman
"divinew
Boats swell, say pas Chimmie
FadGen would put H. they's boats
80 boin'' They run on land As though
sailing on "a rolling sea, OF they cleave
the water of bathtub like cruisers of,
70 quote tho song in fHinafore," :" the
;Iueen's Navee." There are tug boats,
\ hrruiser,, gunb5ats. 6attleships, torpedo
sliestToyers and. most wonderful! of all,
a real submarine boat, built, to out
ward seeming, Just like Uncle Sam s
new Hollands, diving Is inches under
water, remaining there for few sec
onds, then rising and repeating the
performance at intervals during the
tive minutes which elapse before the
clockwork runs down. Even the toy
man cannot tell Just what mysterious
power controls the strange behavior of
these terrors Of the mock deep, content
ing himself with general assertion that
''it is tho air. +"
And speaking of air. some genius Of
labor Saving propensites has invented
"a toy hot-air engine which is said to
generate power sufficient to operate
simultaneously 25 toys of the sort that
use applied power, or even to run a
small sewing machine in pinch.
This, We fear, is APT to breed internal
dissensiun in the nursery; for Tommy
would doubtless insist upon experiment
ing win Mariory's toy machine, and
Mariory, deeming any but the proper
means of operation desecration of her
cherished stitcher, would naturally
rebel against such an invasion OF her
vested rightg.
Tho toy electric railway has come to
stay. 1t is q very complete affair,
with intricate tracking and switches,
stations, tunnels, wrought-iron trestles
and full equipment of rolling stock.
There are several kinds, the difference
lying mainly in the means of applying
the power employed. An instructive
and interesting example comes from
Germany and uses the third rail
principle. One can have as extensive a
system as desired, extra tracking being
purchasable in any quantity. Dry hat
teries, furnished with each set, supply
tho power. These railways may he
bought as eheaply as 3d. 80, which in
ciudes tbe third-rail system mentioned
above.
The latest form Of motor toy, how.
| ever, uses friction and a system OF
i weights running on ball bearings. This
/ form is so very durable that nothing
short of the boys natural desire tc
| ''see what's insiden will suffice to nut
, it out of order. An engine shown al
, South broadway store went 35 feet
] up an inclined plane at an excellent
speed. and tho weights were so nioel,
! balanced that the cars came down the
/ slope as gently as though running or
an uninclined surface. 1t is said that
EhaEA foyG -