Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-01-16
RIDES THROUGH SPACE
Daring Feat of a Bicyclist in
Paris.
LOOPING THE LOOP
BUT A SECTION OF THE TRACK
HAS BEEN REMOVED.
And the Merry Performer Leaps
Across While Riding Head
Downward.
Written for The Evening Star.

Written for The Evening Star.
Looping dams lie vide is the la test diver
| sion of the sensation-loving French, and the
| most hair-rasing feat that ever dare
| devil American performed to defy nature.
Every one has seen a fly walking on the
| ceiling, and thought nothing of it. and, as
| a parallel case. the bicycler who rides
| around inside a huge circle. head down
| But no one has ever seen fly walking on
| air upside down. Yet that is practically
| what this dauntless American does, and
| for affording the ennuied world such a SEN
sation he draws a yearly salary double
| that of President Roosevelt.
The young man is w. III. Barber of Roch-
ester. N. Y. and what he does is almost
| incredible. The loop as it has been looped
is familiar to every one, but never has
| cycler tried. much less accomplished, what
Barber is doing.
The construction Of this loop is the same
| as of old, but about five yards of the top of
| the loop has been removed, and the cyclist
| jumps through space, head downward to
land on the loop again, and shoot out at
the end in the usual way.
1t was an accident that gave the Ameri-
| can cyclist the idea for his perilOus aerial
flight.
He was in Mines. France, looping the
loop in the ordinary way, when an accident
befell him that nearly proved his undoing
and was the means of bringing him wide
spread renown.
The apparatus was in bull ring in the
open air and had been arranged accord
ing to the measurements which Barber had
been accustomed to having in the theater.
How It Came About
When the time came for him to loop the
loop the wind was blowing a gale. and there
was no way to protect himself or overcome
its resistance. Instead of going into the
loop at the regular speed of forty miles an
hour, he could not, riding against the wind,
have been travelling at more than twenty
five miles.
He brought all his strength to bear to
overcome the force of the wind, but it was
unavailing, and, as he said afterward, II
said little prayer for myself, for ! was
sure had not speed enough to carry me
around the loop, and-well, even a novice
would know what the result of such cir
cumStanceS would be-
But the same Providence who had fire.
quently helped him out of smaller scrapes
and saved his life number of times when
he was boy, came to his aid again, and
to that he says that he owes the fact that
he is still amusing people by his scorn of
danger. and is famed the world over
He never reached the ceiling of the loop.
but, to his establishment, made jump OF
| about six feet, impelled by the wind and the
momentum and, landing securely on the
back wall continued his ride though he
had touched all the way round.
number of the spectators had seen the
terrific midair leap, and had not recovered
their breath before Barber stood on terra
firma, bowling and smiling in response to
the applause, and carefully hiding the feel
ing of horror which swept over him after
he had landed and had time to realize his
past danger
After the first impression left by his &C
cident had vanished, the novelty of the
break grew upon him. and he decided that
if he could do it once he could repeat it.
Accordingly, he constructed a model with
which he experimental, and from which he
got the dimensions for his present loop.
Form Of the Loop.
The start is made from a platform thirty
eight feet high the cyclist riding down a