The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1911-05-24
TRICKY WEIGHTS TO
PLEASE FAIR SEX
Machines Five Pounds Short
Were Big Attraction for
Luna Park.

N0W IOIks May SS.-It simply SpOiI'
ed one young woman's Afternoon and
evening-and she was far from fat at
that-when commissioner John l..
Walsh of the Bureau OF Weights and
Measures and some OF his assistants
went into Luna Park at Coney Island
and found that the Luna penny In the
slot machines do not come within five
pounds of registering your exact
weight.
The young woman had just cried JOY
ously that she weighed only 142
pounds when one of the commissioners
assistants approached the machine
with Fred Thompson and observed
with finality:
"And here's another machine that's
five ponds off. Gotta cart IL away and
have II corrected"
"What II II Is five pounds Off" ask
ed Mr.. Thompson. "If those scales
were being used befo' the wah to sell
slaves by weight. yes. But they're
made purposely to underweigh at
least five pounds"
do you mean to say" gasped the
weight and measure purist, that the
makers OF these machines deliberatel-
ly--"
"Sure." the Coney Snowman answer
ed unabashed. Everything on this
island is built to make folks forget It.
Women use the slot scales ten times
as much as men. Women, now that
styles OF clothes are running as they
are, don't want to be fat. Makes 'em
happier to learn that they're at least
few pounds lighter than they really
are. Get me?"
The commissioner and his men got
the scales temporarily instead. They
had driven to the island armed with
tested weights and tried them on the
machines. The slot machines were
carted away to be corrected and the
142 pound girl who had overheard
walked away slowly trying to drag
along her five additional pounds of
grief.
Daredevil Harry Curran, who sprang
into eternal fame and reached place
among Americas foremost men by
first looping the loop on bicycle and
who now has built an automobile
track In an eighty-five foot wide build.
Ing In Luna came to grief twice lester
day when speeding around the twenty
foot deep saucer track. The track Is
too steep-it Is circular and built at
and angle OF siXty-five degrees, too
steep for a man to cling to the sau.
Ger rim without the aid of a rope-that
hA mi M. ~
speed to keep from turning over.
Daredevil started out blithely at 2
o'clock yesterday afternoon with gas
oline flame banging from the side Of
the hood. He had climbed almost to
the top of the saucer at his third whiz
around the little track when a nail or
something ripped n rear tire and left
Il flat. The machine threw fits with
itself and while everybody held their
breath the drive took a foolish path to
the bottom OF the saucer and tried to
climb the DEPOSITS IS degrees.
Daredevil was flung out of the car
and scrambled up bleeding as the ac-
robatic machine fooled around the bot
tom OF the saucer cavorting on the
ground He grabbed things and stop
ped the cars career. Then DR.. John
w. Pierce OF Coney Island patched up
some scalp wounds not OF a serious ma.
ture and several cuts on the right arm
and left hand.
BY night time Daredevil was ready
to try II again. Just about 10 o'clock
he was slamming around the track
when the car jumped through the air
toward the bottom Of the saucer again.
This time Daredevil was cut a bit
deeper on the arms and legs and gen.
orally shaken up. DIR. Pierce took