Mechanical Joys of Coney Island 



1J,\ SLeplicii \V. Si* nions 



HALF the people who go to Coney 

 Island and similar pleasure resorts, 

 have but one aim in view — to get 

 their fill of thrill. That being the case, 

 an art which may be called "thrill 

 engineering" hasbcendevelopcd. Strange 

 as it may seem, thrills, to be of any 

 commercial value, must not be really 

 dangerous, but must have a goodly 

 admixture of that popular element 

 "Safety First." 



Anybody could design and operate, 

 for a single pcrf;jrmance, a real smash- 

 up, but it takes a knowledge of engineer- 

 ing to produce a near smash-up that is 

 as safe as a cruise in your arm-chair. 



Three things are necessary to make a 

 commercially successful "Thriller." It 

 should have a genuine thrill or some 

 really interesting feature in it ; it should 

 be absolutely safe; and it should be 



sufficiently economical in operation to 

 make it possible to reduce the fee for 

 admission to a figure well within the 

 means of the average purse. Some of 

 the most successful devices are based on 

 the natural aptitude of many of our 

 supposedly sophisticated city folk to 

 look and act foolish. Others, designed 

 generally for the younger folk, give a 

 real physical thrill, a "shoot the chute" 

 or near smash-up. Still others are 

 designed to suit the more sober folk, and 

 though thrilling enough for colder tem- 

 peraments, do not contain that element 

 of apparent danger so delightful to the 

 younger generation. 



A good example of this particular 

 variety is pictured on the opposite page. 

 The scene depicts a quiet little seaport 

 in England. It is entitled "The Aerial 

 Night Attack," and represents most 



At Convy Islan 1 n Zeppelin Kaul H.is Hoen SlaRcd. General View of n Seaport Town 

 in Which the News of an ApproachiuR Zeppelin Has Been Received. Aircraft 

 Arc Dispatched to Meet the Invaders and They Mount in Great Spirals to the Sky 



39* 



