The Observation Wheel

Perhaps the best start that the Exposition sightseer could make was the trip in the great wheel which first appeared at the Columbian Exposition as the Ferris Wheel. It was located near the center of the grounds and was easily found, though it was much less conspicious than it was at Chicago. It looked immense at Chicago; in St. Louis it merely looked large. Yet it caried the visitor steadily and safely to a height of about 250 feet and gave them a constantly shifting view of everything, great and small, within the Eposition grounds, not to mention the leagues of town and country added to the prospect. When one had had this bird's-eye view, he could go about the grounds with a sense of familiarity with his surroundings that no map could give. The construcion of the wheel presented great engineering difficulties. It contained 4,200 tons of metal, the axle alone weighed 70 tons, and this mass was formed into what may be called a bicycle wheel with tension spokes. It bore thirty-six cars, each in charge of an attendant. It was not uncommon to see the wheel carry 1,500 or 2,000 persons, making four revolutions in an hour. The ride was comfortable and morever safe. More than 3,000,000 people were carried without injury, and those who have been in the cars in violent starms said that there was no discomfort.




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