UMBRELLA ROUNDABOUTS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 8004, 6 May 1904, Page 2

UMBRELLA ROUNDABOUTS.

• — ■« . I SIR HIRAM MAXIM'S CAPTIVE FLYING MACHINE. THE "WHALE" WHIRLIGIG. The whole^truthisout at last respecting ".the mysterious invention" of Sir Hiram Maxim, which for seveji'inonthe has afforded food' for speculation in military and scientific circles. "It will be of nee in peace first and perhaps in war afterwards," was the only hint which Sir. Hiram would give in September last, adding that it was "going to be an eye-opener." - The eagerly-awaited machine now nearing completion certadnly answers the latter description, but how.it can be utilised in warfare will probably -tax even Sir .Hiram Maxim's ingenuity. For it is nothing more nor lees than a, "roundabout" — not the kind of "round-" about" that adds to the gaiety of Hampstead' Heath on a bank holiday, but a weird and wonderful contrivance, which is ultimately destined to 'introduce a muchneeded note of novelty in country fairs and the like. Sir Hiram Maxim's " captive flying ma» chine," as it is called, now rears its gaunt bead above the roof of the inventors house at Tulse Hill. It resembles nothing so much as an inverted' umbrella, large enough to shelter a battalion of soldiers. The huge ribs are ten in number, and at the end of each/ swinging in space, is a wooden 2 fishshaped car,, eighteen feet long. In these whale-like structures the modern Jonahs, totalling eighty on a |ourney.j will perform their dizzy flights. TEST FOR NERVES, t Admission to the interior of each revolving "whale" is obtained by a slit in- ata side. On the other, or starboard, side is a- series of loopholes, which will afford the passengers a view of as much terra firma as in the circumstances they may wish to see. A mechanical expert who allowed himself to be whizzed round at forty-fivb miles an hour, explained! . that at full speed the "whales swing outward, at such an angle that the side where the passengers enter becomes the bottom, and what glimpse can be obtained of things terrestrial. seems to the bewildered observer as if they are "trying to stand on their head®."' " I cannot describe the other mental sensations I experienced,",, the expert added. "My command of language is not adequate. But there is no danger of passengers falling out, for the centrifugal force pins them to the seats. Sir Hiram's invention will certainly demonstrate whether the present generation is as neurotic as it is alleged to be:'' .. : . ••■' , .. '■ What would happen to one of the ." whales " if , in its wild career, the wire rope by which it is suspended chanced to snap, can only be vaguely Imagined; but I that it would develop for a time into a real flying machine appears certain. SUMMER EXCITEMENT. Every precaution, however, has been taken. .The structure rests upon a foundation of i2O tone of cement. From this rises a tower 42ft high, and through the i oentre projects a steel shaft 62ft in height. j To tie upper end of this shaft are secured ' the arms or ribs, and depending therefrom are the "whales" -or cars. A 34 horsepower gas engine drives the shaft round at a rate of ten revolutions a minute. This in turn imparts to "the gyrating aerial cars the speed of an express train. . - One of Sir Hiram's scientific "merry-go-rounds" will be erected at Earl's Court Exhibition and another at the; Crystal Palace, the latter large enough to accommodate a nunjber of shops under the plat- | form Both will enter upon their Avmj ! careers, next summer. /;