LUNA PARK OPENED.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19503, 6 December 1926, Page 14

LUNA PARK OPENED.

LARGE CROWDS ATTEND. > THRILLS OF THE SWITCHBACK. Somebody—it may have been Jorrocks —once said that hunting had all the- excitements of war with only one per cent, of the risk. The 10,000? and moro people who rode on the switchback railway and other devices at Auckland's new amusement park on Saturday will agree that there one may have all the thrills of a railway collision, an aeroplane accident, or a parachute descent with no risk whatever. Luna Park, in Quay Street East, near the power station, opened itself without any ceremony in the early afternoon, when young and old besieged the turnstiles in crowds. It was not loiig before delighted shrieks and shouts of laughter showed that the railway, the "whip," the "merry mix-up" and other mechanical contrivances were in full operation. Altogether more than 10,000 people passed the gates in the afternoon and isvening. The switchback, with its high trestle track running right round the park, is easily the best thrill-producer in fc'he collection. It was kept running at full speed all the afternoon and again in the evening and carried over 6000 passengers. The trains, made up of three ears with a brakeman seated at the rear end, are hoisted up an incline to the trestletop by an endless wire rope, and gravity does the rest. A small initial dip is but a poor preparation for the first big drop of 6Clft. or so, which leaves the novice feeling that most of his vital organs have somehow been left far behind, follows an equally sudden rise, another drop, and a series of decreasing undulations which take the car a second time round the course at a lower level. It is ajll most exhilarating. The track is provided with an electric signalling system, which prevents cars from running except lit safe intervals. At night the whole track is lighted by rows of lamps, and remains sis conspicuous an object on the waterfront as it is in the daytime. Another machine which proved most popular on Saturday was the "whip," in which small cars are drawn in an elliptical course over an iron floor at. the end of long rods. They move sedately enough along the sides of the ellipse, but at the ends are whirled round at a surprising speed. The "dodge *em," which came to fame at the Duncdin Exhibition, provides; some of the sensations of motoring. This participants sit in small round cars driven by electric motors, which get their current tramcar-fashion from a ceiling of electrified wire netting, contact being made by wire loops at the top of tall standards. The cars can be steered, but their speed is not under control. Consequently there are many collisions. The "caterpillar" and the "merry mixup" are novel variants of the mer;ry-go-round. In the "fun factory" are yards of dark i passages in which strange things happen to the explorer, also a gallery of distorting mirrors and a couple of toboggan slides "by which a sudden exit may be made for the sum of a penny." Two bands played at the park on Saturday. Various smaller side-shows are still nnder y construction. There is a large tearoom overlooking the harbour, and a cabaret will shortly be opened. Meedless to say, stalls for the. sale of icecream, sweets and cigarettes ply a busy trade. The City Council runs buses, between the foot of Queen Street and the park, making the latter quite easy of access. Auckland has not possessed a similar playground since the Industrial Exhibition of 1913. As the children of that day atre now staid grown-ups, there is a large new public which knows not these things. E"ven if adults are left out of the count, Luna Park should have many patrons. However, the experience of Saturday afternoon and. evening shows that even middle-age can scares forbear to switchback when opportunity offers.