This mechanical toy is comparatively simple in its construction, and will serve as the foundation for one of the many Saturday shows, which are so dearly prized by most of the bright, active boys in our land.
A good-sized soap-box serves as a table on which the toy is to rest. The back is removed, and a hole cut in the top admits the passage of the crank. It is perhaps unnecessary to add that the exposed surface of this box should be papered, or covered with a cloth curtain, in such a manner as to give it a decorative effect.
The attraction of a magnet or iron is the principle on which the “circus” is made to work.
Procure or make from thin wood a box about a foot square, and five or five and a half inches deep. Cut a hole through the central point of the bottom, to allow of the passage of the crank.
Now from a board cut a round disk which shall revolve easily inside the box, and pass through its center an axle which shall be long enough to form a support for the ring-master on the top or stage, and extend down through the top of the soap-box, where it ends in a crank by which the whole machinery is worked. On the top of this disk, and a short distance from the edge, fasten a common horseshoe magnet, which should be about four inches long, and can be bought at almost any toy store for ten cents. This must be fastened in an upright position by means of staples, as seen in the illustration.
After the magnet is arranged so that it will revolve easily, fit the top of the box with a stiff pasteboard cover, which shall just clear the magnet; and mark upon this a circle which is to represent the ring of the circus.
Out of stiff pasteboard cut the ring-master, and with a small nail or strong pin fix him in place. Now from four thicknesses of pasteboard cut out a horse and rider, something like that represented in Fig. 3, and insert between the layers which form each forefoot, a nail, the head of which extends slightly below the pasteboard. File these nail-heads so that they shall be smooth and rounded. Glue the two layers together to form the legs of the animal, and spread them slightly apart, as seen in Fig. 4 (which gives an end view of the object), having already glued all four layers to form the body of horse and rider.
