The leader. [volume] (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1895-1905, 1904-08-17
Wien visiting the worlds Fair Ride
On DE FeEFIs MheeI.

l Tie W QIlH . NUtulAUtaH EtAk OcA
ltion at Chicago, in 1893.
Paris again held q great Expo
Isision Id 1900 but failed to pro
Iduce any feature to take the place
! Of the Eisfel Tower. lin America
lSt. Louis, III 1904, planned anc
produced the greatest Elk position
Ithe world has ever seen. Scores
lof attempts we're made to invent
something more wonderful anc
more attractive than the Ferris
Wheel, but as Paris failed to out
/ do her own Eitfel Tower, SO did
LIST. Louis fail TO equal the far.
famed Ferris Wheel of the Worlds
Columbian Exposition Of 1898.
Arrangements were accordingly
made to bring fhe Ferris Wheel
ito the Louisiana Purchase Expo
fsition, and it was given a location
near the geographical center ot
the grounds.
The problem of moving the
Ferris Wheel from Chicago to st.
Louis was stupendous 200 tons
of material. including the 70-ton
axle, besides engines, boilers and
derricks and falsework, had to be
transported. One hundred and
seventy five freight cars we're re-
quired to move this material.
Al biief resume Of the dimen-
sions and description Of the Fer
ris Wheel may be interesting.
The Wheel is built upon the bicy-
Gle principle, with immense ten
sion spokes, 2 1916 in. diam.
The wheel is $50 ft. in diameter
and stands 264 #. high. tn real.
'ity it is two wheels securely brac-
ed together. Between the outer
rims Of these wheels the eleven
ton cars are suspended on 81 in.
pins, 6 #. long: These cars are
13 #. wide, 26 #, long, 8 #. high
and will carry SO persons each.
There are SO Of them, SO the total
capacity of the wheel is Q, 100 per-
son. AT several times in its his
tory the Wheel has been filed to
its capacity. The axle of the
Wheel is q solid steel forging, 80
in. in diameter and As fl. long.
The solid bronze bearings upon
which it rests are each s #. long
and contain nearly two tons Of
metal. The weight of the wheel
is carried upon two four post tow
ers, 6 TT. square on top and 40x50
1T. at the base. These in turn rest
upon solid concrete and steel beam
pillars, which are carried down
to solid rock, 26 #. below the sur
face of the ground. The towers
are anchored to the bottom of this
mass of concrete by 2x6 ia. eye
bars, so that the Wheel is perfect
" safe even in the most VIOLENT
storms.
The side vibration of the Wheel
in an so mile an hour wind is less
than " inch. The Wheel is run
by a double reversing engine with
cylinders 30x4S In, capable Of
developing 1900 horse power.
The power is applied through a
series of cogs to a sprocket chain
which engages wide cogs on the
outside Of each rim.
Two revolutions are given each
passenger, and Che time required
is from 90 to 80 minutes. The
view during this half hour ride is
most interesting and instructive.
Gradually, as the majestic and
mighty wheel rolls one up high
er and higher, a grand panorama
.unfolds itself to view. A fifty
million dollar Exposition in all its
grandeur is before you. The To-
cation Of the Wheel In the center
Of the Fair Grounds gives one an
opportunity to thoroughly famil-
iarize themselves with the lay Of
the grounds and get a better gen
eraI idea of the Fair than they
could by days of tramping
The Cascades, the Plateau d
States, all the big buildings, the
Pike, Festival Hall, the Art Build
ing, Foreign Buildings, Philip
pine Reservation, the Air Ship
Enclosure, ID fact, every point 81
interest in the grounds can be
seen from the big Wheel 10 adj
dition, one gets q view of st,
Louis, The Mississippi River, and
/ the beautiful forests. hills and
Edales for fifty miles around. AL
might, the view of the illumination
of the buildings and grounds i
simply magnificent. Eye has not
seen nor ear heard Of d more strik
ling spectacle than the night view
of the great Exposition from TIKI
| top Of Che Ferris Wheel.
Hundreds Of thousands of in
candescent lights bring the out
lines Of all the building iii bole
relief. The Festival Hall and thu
Plateau of States are flooded il
turn with white, red and greer
flights, making startling AMI
livery beautiful effect. The bes
tpoint to view this grand illulnina
ltion is from the Ferris Wheel.