Ferris Wheel

a device for pleasure seekers. It may be described as a merry-go-round on edge. The cars are swung between the circumferences of two large wheels. The axis of the wheels or wheel is turned by power. As the wheel turns, the cars are carried up and down, describing the circumference of a circle. The cars are swung in such a way that they retain an upright position. Ferris wheels are a popular feature of fair grounds and summer resorts. The original Ferris wheel was built on the grounds of the Columbian Exposition at Chicago in 1893. The inventor was Mr. G. W. G. Ferris, of Pittsburg. The wheel, the largest wheel ever built, was 250 feet in diameter, and swung fourteen feet in the clear. The upper part of the circumference was thus 264 feet above the ground. This wheel carried 36 cars. Each car had seats for 40 passengers. This wheel weighed 2,200,000 pounds, 1,100 tons, and cost $300,000. After the close of the Chicago fair the wheel was operated for a time on North Clark street, and later it was set up in St. Louis. Finally, being too large to pay for removal from place to place, it was sold for old iron; but it has been succeeded by many imitations.