New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1905-03-05
LOOPS GAP WITH AUTO.
IA Circus Feat That Looks Like
Counting Sure Death.

IN q wild, mad. desperate. monstrous. stupen-
dous, indescrbable, incomprehensible evolution an
intrepid French woman will ride an automobile
through space, head downward executing a weird
sneteoric flight wide, yawnng abyss"
In such language the bllboaTds will announce
in q few DAYS that the big circus is again coming
10 town. and that it again will bring with it the
--latest marvel of the century" Each spring,
Barnum & Bailey invite the public to behold some
sensation. and each time the big act'' is
planned TO outrivaI all such performances OF the
past. Each time the leading actor "deeies death
with q still more appalling audacity." Some years
ago. for example, the chief thriller was riding a
bicycle around a circular. almost perpendicular
wall 1t was called the cycle wlrl." and was be-
lieved by the mutitudes that saw it to be the
acme OF sensationalism." Then came looping
the loop and when a mere somersault ride around
big hoop began to pail, the performer took
sill further chance at self-destruction by cutting
out the top Of the hoop. Instead of looping the
loop he TOPPED the gap"
Looping the gap' the chief thriller OF Bar
mum * Baieys last year, and so. OF course. this
year it had TO be surpassed Accordingly the big
oct OF 1906" the gap is to be looped by an auto
mobile instead OF bicycle: a woman is TO per-
form the feat instead OF man, and instead OF
ordinary, circular somersault which would break
ordinary neck this actress is to describe zig
gag flight much like d huge lettes IS"
The modern circus sensations which thus be-
coming more ana more spectacular are indeed truly
Characteristic Of the age. They feats more Of
only from intimate knowledge OF mechanics and
the sciences. The bareback rider who astonshed
the multitude a generation ago had to undergo
long physical training give his muscles the right
strength and elasticity. On the other hand, the
loop the loop" any Of the other big acts Of to-
day. only materialized ideas. Each is the re-
suit OF long study and experiment. Each was care
fully thought out and put into form by the aid of
the most advanced branches Of mathematics and
dynanaics. AS a matter OF fact, the performer in
many OF these feats IS only part of the ma
Chiner and only needs to obey certain instructions
just the bicycle or car in which he rides obeys
the laws Of grayitation and momentum.
Looping the gap in automobile which Will
soon be introduced TO New-York IS practically all
e mental feat Whether or not the performer
reaches the ground IN safety or is crushed TO earth
depends wholly upon the minds OF the men who
adjust the various parts OF the great apparatus.
All the actress needs TO do is to dare She must
simply sit stu in her car and let it carry her
where it viii.
To the spectator who beholds the ''meteorlc auto
mobile" for the first time, the woman who is It's
only MESSENGER seems doomed to certain destruction
She enters a placed on a platform as high from
the ground the top window OF four story
house She is the top of what resembles the
81 MP Of a mammoth camel. Before her there
descends q track sleeper than any tobogganst
would dare slide down. and halfway to the ground
this track bends around under like a great hook
Beyond there is great void measuring ABOUT
- feet across, and on the other side, almost be-
meath the platform from which she is begin her
headlong ride, IS a wooden pathway Of the shape
OF q crescent that has been stood on end.
But before beholder realize what the woman
IN the automobile is expected to do. she has done
It. In the space of four seconds her has rushed
down the precipitous track, swung around under
meath SO that she rides upside down, leaped the
gulf with such Ightness that one might imagine
the machine weighed ounce instead Of ton,
struck the curving top Of the V-shaped track be-
yond and swept down TO the ground as II hung on
the end Of a huge pendulum. With such impetus
does the heavy descend that it travels 200 feet
from the foot of the great IS" before it can be
stopped. One almost expects that the woman who
has made this ride has died from sheer nervous
shock. and Yet she steps out smiling from the
carriage II il easy chair.
II Is in the adjustment Of such an apparatus
that the chief danger to the performer lies. II the
should start a little too high or the descent
be steep. the automobile and its rider will Fly
over the gulf too high and crash into the top OF
the lower runway. # the car starts q little too
low the descent be not steep enough, the auto
mobile and its rider viii not leap the gulf, but
tumble headlong TO the ground. A variation OF
an inch may thus cause death Just as the mind
by correct judgment can carry a human life
through such ordeal safely. SO IL by slight
mistake DOOM IL to death
The apparatus for this act arrived yesterday.
Mile Mauricia de Tiers the aerial chauffeur" as
she IS sometimes called. is expected here next Sat
Grday- She calls the machine in which she rides
the ''autoboIide' ''auto-Ineteor."