Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1906-05-05
A GREAI AUTO ZEAL.


Young Woman in the Isarnum q Bailey
Circus Turns Somersault la an auto
mobile.
Impossible" you say, when you frat
see the apparatus for lauto-bolide-' ''it
can't be done-its suicide You see the
handsome young American girl. who is
to make the daring attempt to loop the
gap in an automobile ascend to the
elevated platform. and your heart goes
out in sympathy for her There are a
few moments Of intense silence while the
automobilist takes her position in the car
Inc director, standing on the ground, says
Are you ready ~ and down from the
dome comes the response: "All ready,
sir" 80 far as you can detect there is no
quiver IN the musical voice. Suddenly
you are conscious that the car is moving.
You want to turn your head away but a
fascination, stronger than your will, holds
your eyes rooted upon the automobile
and its dainty occupant. As the car
deseends the incline, it gathers velocity.
You are dimly conscious that its speed
is so terrific as to be beyond comparison
with anything you have ever seen. An
express train is seemingly slow beside il.
You think Of a pistol shot-a speeding
arrow--a meteor. II is all three in one.
Before you can realize it, the car has de-
scended the incline I urned upside down.
and, still inverted, has shot into space.
Thirty feet away, across a veritable chasm
OF death is a moon-shaped incline. Your
breath comes fast-you gasp your heart
seems 70 stop pulsating. Will the auto
strike the incline Will it be upright
Mill the daring occupant come through
the dip Of death unscathed
These and a thousand other thoughts
rush through your brain in SO brief a
time as TO defy computation The next
| instant the auto has landed fairly on the
incline rapidly rights itself and has
speeded gracefully to the ground. I'm
injured, graceful, smiling the fair rider
| springs from the auto and receives the
applause Of the crowd. That applause
stirges around her in waves OF thunder
Under the influence Of the reaction, men
women and children become deliriously
enthusiastic. You want to spring to yoiu
feet and throw your hat in the air, anc
cheer. And why shouldn't you The
daring automobilist has achieved the
seemingly impossible at the risk Of hei
lite she has given you an experience yot
have never had before She has accom-
plished the limit Of modern arenic sensa
tions.
This IL the graphic, enthusiastic de
sorption OF newspaper writer who saw
lauto-bolide, when it was originally pro
duced in Paris. He did not exaggerat,
this thrilling act. Even the novelty
loving people Of the Arench metropolis
a city IN which every new sensation i
accepted as a matter Of course, and wheu
an act must be extraordinary in orde
to attract attention-crow il TIL
! greatest thriller Of the century. TIN
daily press and the scientific newspaper
used pages to describe it, and to exploi
the daring young woman who manipu
lated the machine. The act ran for al
entire season in Paris and there wa
never performance when seats wer
not at premium. Even after the ac
had been sent on tour of the principa
cities of Europe it continued to be
constant source Of comment and marve
on the boulevards and IN the cafes Of tn
worlds metropolis. It's success in Americ
has been equally pronounced.
What is lauto-bolide Literally trans
lated the name means the "auto-meteor.
1t is well named-in its wild flight it sun
gests nothing so much as a shooting stal
Without depreciating the cleverness an
thrilling character of the marvellous aeria
bicycle sensations that the Barnum I
Bailey management has introduced l.