Magic, Stage Illusions and Scientific Diversions, Including Trick Photography

by Albert A. Hopkins

FIG. 1.—ELECTRIC RACE COURSE AT NICE.

Whatever may be the opinion that is held as to horse races and their moral influence, it is none the less certain that they offer an irresistible attraction to a large number of persons, and that this growing passion prevails equally in all degrees of the social scale. Bold innovators have seen a vein to be exploited in the racing mania, and the game of the miniature horse race, an always popular pastime at bathing resorts, is only one of the more happy forms given to true races with a view of prolonging the excitement of betting, of the unexpected, and of chance, at times when genuine racing could be done only with difficulty and would attract too small a number of persons. The electric race course that we are now going to present to our readers occupies a place just between genuine races and the miniature horse race. It is, in fact, a happy alliance of genuine races, the game just mentioned, hobby horses, and electricity. Taken as a whole, it consists of a certain number of hobby horses, half natural size, each moving over a circular track, under the influence of an individual motor, and receiving the current of a single generator, but in an independent manner; thus securing a perfect autonomy to each courser, qualified, moreover, by the surveillance of the electrician who acts as a sort of despotic monarch over them. The horses are ridden by children and even by grown persons, and it is in this that they resemble hobby horses, although the possibility of imparting different speeds to them permits of their being passed by competitors and of passing the latter in turn, thus increasing the excitement of the riders. Bets may be made, of which the chances are just as certain as those of the play of odd and even upon the numbers of the hacks traversing the boulevards of Paris.

FIG. 2.—MECHANICAL HORSE.

M. Salle’s race course constitutes an interesting application of the carriage and of the distribution of motive power by continuous currents. The installation erected in Nice (shown in [Fig. 1]) comprises a twelve-horse-power gas engine that actuates a Rechniewsky dynamo with double winding, which sends the current into six electric motors.

About the motor and dynamo there is nothing peculiar. An electric motor is arranged behind each horse ([Fig. 2]). When the circuit of the dynamo is closed, all the horses start at once and take on relative speeds that are so much the greater in proportion as the circle upon which they are placed has a greater radius. The speed of each horse, moreover, can be regulated at will by means of a rheostat interposed in its particular circuit. An interrupter permits of stopping any horse whatever without stopping the movement of all the others. All the motions are controlled from the post of the electrician, who, standing upon a lateral stage, overlooks the entire track, and can watch and regulate what takes place upon it, for upon a horizontally arranged board he has all the maneuvering pieces necessary for the play. These pieces are, in the first place, a main commutator that cuts the circuit from all the horses at once; then six individual commutators for each of the horses, six rheostats interposed in the respective circuits of the six motors and permitting of regulating the angular speeds of each horse, and finally an exciting rheostat of the dynamo machine that permits of varying the speeds of all the motors at once, in the same ratio.

It is therefore possible, by maneuvering these different pieces, to regulate the general or particular gait of each horse, and to stop any one of the horses almost instantly if an obstacle falls upon the track, or if one of the riders becomes suddenly indisposed.

The driving of the motive wheel by the motor is done by direct contact. To this effect the large wheel is provided with a rubber tire, against which the pulley of the motor bears. The friction thus obtained is sufficient to carry along the vehicle, which, with the rider, weighs a little less than six hundred and fifty pounds. The mean speed is thirteen feet per second, but the horses placed at the circumference can obtain a speed of sixteen or eighteen feet, a velocity that it is not prudent to exceed, or even reach, on account of the difficulty the rider would have in holding himself in equilibrium, and the feeling of dizziness that he might experience.

The vehicle upon which each horse is mounted merits special mention, because of the arrangements made to prevent upsetting. Each of the four wheels has a different diameter. Their two axles converge toward the center of the circular track upon which each horse moves, and the axis inclines toward the center.