Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1906-04-21
THE DIP OF DEATH.
TounE American orr Loop. 'hs GAP in

ounE American Girl Loops The Gap In
Racing Automobile.
Miss Isabelle Butler, who performs
the sensational "Dip OF Death" feat
with the Barnum & Bailey circus, was
recently asked to describe her impress
sions during her startling automobile
ride through space. Miss Butler, who
is pictured as very modest and charm
ing young American girl, said;
IL is disagreeahle the sensation,
mean. IL only lasts four seconds,
but experience painful sensation
the moment | am going over the curve,
upside down, just before the leap in
the air. l feel as IL | we're choking
and suffer quito severe pain in the
head which does not disappear entirely
during the evening. But / have no
fear. don't know what it means.
/ have great faith In the skill Of the
engineer who constructed the appar-
atus, and have the satisfaction Of
knowing that II the machine ever
does fall / shall not be mained OF dis
figured for life l shall simply be killed
outright, for no one could live after
that car fell. "
The dip Of Death" oocupies A
fraction less than four seconds for
its execution. In that time the auto
mobile dashes from point sixty feet
above the floor Of the arena down an
inclined plane set at an angle of forty
five degrees, which finishes abruptly.
/ turning in upon itself. Then there is
a gap of some forty feet, and second
| inclined plane, which the automobile
strikes with terrific force and down
which it runs 20 the ground. For this
startling tfeat the fair automobillist
is said to receive the tremendous sum
of 800, "a second.
Another Barnum 4 Bailey sensation
this season is the 1.-Two pwirls of
Terror. In this act, performed by
the French Boiler Bros, wheelman
makes a lightning like dash down an
incline, scars into the air, turns a
complete somersault, and landing upon
another runaway, speeds to the ground
In second daring exploit, the first
rider still mounted, drops from a lofty
pedestal TO the up-tilted end of a
teeter- board, strikes it with terrific
force and sends the second brother.
astride his bicycle, flying into the air
The latter also turns complete revo-
luton in the air before aliphting
This act is said TO have been one Of
the biggest features Of the last Paris
season.
Probably the most startling Of the
late thrillers, however, is the new
automobile somersault act, lie Tourhil.
lon de la Mort, known as The
Limit The chaufeuse in this feat
IS a young French woman. The ma
chine with its courageous occupant.
darts downs a steep incline, shoots into
the air, turns complete forward
somersault, and finally lands on A
cushioned runaway from which n
glides 20 the ground. Those who have
seen this act say it is the "limit''
IN every sense of the word.
These startling features evidently
DO not exhaust the entertaining char
acter'stics Of the Barnum a. Bailey
performances, which local people viii
have an opportunity to see on NAV 10Th
Among the especially interesting
features announced for the big show
ara new military spectacle. based
on the kusso-Japanese war, and en-
titled Peace all kinds of novel
trained animal displays. includinc
Ihompson's horses, three herds of eie,
plants and schools Of exceptionally
clever sea lions and sheep 800 perform
ers in all the latest successes in
acrobatic, aerial and eouestrian
endeavor; an augmented managerial
with four giraffes and many other raro
animals. and a revival of the old Ro-
MAN hippodrome on an elaborate so,,le
oi completeness and effectiveness.