The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1906-06-30
STORM MAKING DEVICES.
INGENIOUS SCHEMES USED AT
THE ILLUSION SHOWS.

The Newest Thunder Imitator a Car
With Corrugated Wheels Controlled
by Electricity-''WInd shriekers''
Run by Motor---"FIames" of Red SILK
Gauze.
When the snow went UP instead of
down in the inter scene of a Coney
island illusion show recently, owing to
the blunder Of an unskilled operator,
the audience laughed and the effect
was lost. Nevertheless, the latter day
Illusion show is convincing.
All this realism, however, has only
been brought about through the con
slant study OF those connected with
such enterprises, who are always on
the lookout for new effects or to per-
feet existent ones.
Where a couple of years ago twenty
five to thirty men were needed to
operate big Illusion, now half dozen
will suffice. Stationed in front of a
gigantic switchboard covered with hun
dreds Of levers, three of four men con-
troll the many contrivances. Nearly
every part of the complex scene is this
manipulated. Each ship, steamboat
&C., that moves across the scene. in
stead of being drawn by stagehand,
Is under the direct management of the
operator. These pieces are all set on
wheels and run along tiny rails. The
piece is equipped with an electric motor
Of small powerl, the current is COM
municated through the rails, and thus
the piece can be accurately guided to
the desired point,
The numberless parts Of scenery are
likewise governed from the operators
platform. The view of a devastated
city, which greets the eye of the spec
tator after the great catastrophe, show
ing huge masses Of tangled wreckage,
Is brought about by simple move
ment Of a lever by the operator, who
thus lowers from view the painted rep
restations Of the streets Of the city in
Its natural aspect, while with another
movement of different lever the piles
Of wrecpage are brought up in their
place.
New scheme are invented every year
to perfect the illusions. The Thunder
car" Is an example This is an entirely
new scheme for making a noise re-
senbling, Is good deal simpler to
operate than the old method, and far
more realistic. The car is a heavy
truck, weighing about $50 pounds,
equipped with four wheels, each Of
which is corrugated. This vehicle runs
in a trough of two inch planking,
which extends across the building a
distance of forty feet. At either end
Of the car is fastened cable, which
runs on set Of pulleys underneath
from one end Of the runway to the
other, and attached to a motor
AS the car runs back and forward
along this roadway of planklng the
corrugated wheels give forth runb-
ling noise somewhat similar to that of
vehicle crossing a bridge, but multi
piled hundred times in volume. The
car Is directed by the operate, who can
cause it to travel to and fro as rapidly
as he wishes. The sound created close
ly resembles thunder.
Thunder was made in former days by
hitting a huge skin similar to that
used in drums drawn tightly across a
square wooden frame. The stick was
like the ordinary drum stick, but larger
With this instrument a fairly good
imitation of the rumbling and boom
ing Of thunder could be made but with
nothing like the volume and realism Of
the modern thunder car"
Another great Improvement has been
made in tho device to initiate the
shrieking of the wind. The old contriv-
ance was d hollow wooden cylinder
about three feet in diameter, with nu-
merous stats running from end to end
three inches apart. over this cylinder
was stretched tightly shee Of heavy
canvas. Upon turning the handle Of
( the cylinder the Stats scraped against
the canvas and gave a good repoduc-
ton of the sound of shrieking wind.
The modern wind shrieker' consists
of huge galvanized iron funnel, at
the bottom which are fifty or more
small whistles of different shapes and
sound shapes and sounds. Underneath
these is the mouth of a pipe attached
to a powerful blower, run by motor
The air rushing into the mouth of the
funnel at first resembles the noise Of
a gale through areaways and around
corners or whisting through rigging
and trees.
With slight movement of the lever
controlling the blower the operator
can cause this device to whistle softly
gradually increasing in intensity until
a cyclone seems about to turn loose.
The terrific crashes which accompany
lightning are produced by streaming
nearly hundred one-pound iron balls
from a height Of ten feet upon a steel
plate.
The balls are drawn to the top of the
"crash" elevator, where they are sus-
pended in a pocket. With a touch of
a lever the operator releases the bo-
tom of this pocket and the mass of iron
globes fal uon the steel plate below
Then. having created the awful and
terrifying racket. the balls rush downa
steep trough of heavy planking, CIV
ing forth close Imitation of the rumb-
ling that often follows a lightning
crash. At the end of this trough there
is another pocket into which the balls
gather themselves, ready to drop an