came up from London and went round on it themselves. I saw, however, that it was a dangerous practice, because if the wind was blowing at all, the apparatus would mount very much above the point of support while travelling against the wind, only to drop much below the point of support on the other side of the circle where it was travelling with the wind; in fact, on one occasion the apparatus shown (Fig. 39) mounted in a high wind fully 20 feet above the point of support and came down with such a crash on the other side that it broke the wire rope. In connection with this, it is interesting to note that when I erected the first so-called “captive flying machine” on my own grounds at Thurlow Park, I intended that instead of ordinary boats such as were ultimately employed, each particular boat should be fitted with an aeroplane, that the engine should be of 200 H.P., and that the passengers should actually be running on the air, each boat being provided with a powerful electric motor in addition to the motive power that drove the shaft. Had this been carried out as was originally designed, it would have removed the apparatus altogether from the category of vulgar merry-go-rounds, but such was not to be. Unforeseen circumstances were against me. I had some of these boats fitted up with aeroplanes and running on my grounds, and two of the engineers of the London County Council came out to see the apparatus before it was put up for public use. On that occasion the wind was blowing a perfect gale of 40 miles an hour, and as the boats travelled at the rate of 35 miles an hour, they, of course, encountered a wind of 75 miles an hour when passing against the wind, and a minus velocity of 5 miles an hour when travelling with the wind on the other side of the circle. The aeroplanes, although of considerable size, were small in relation to weight. I had neglected to put any weight in the boats, and when three of us were studying the eccentric path through which the boats were travelling, suddenly one of them in passing to the windward, raised very much above the point of support and plunged down with great force on the other side; in fact, the shock was so great that it made everything rattle, but nothing was broken. Nevertheless, the engineers said at once, it would not do to run the boats with those aeroplanes; it was too dangerous. This would not, however, have occurred if the boats had been loaded, or the velocity of the wind had been less. It, however, demonstrated what a tremendous lift may be obtained from a well-made aeroplane passing at a high velocity through the wind at a sharp angle. These aeroplanes were only about 12 feet long and 5 feet wide, having, therefore, 60 square feet of surface. They were, however, strong, well-made, and perfectly smooth, both top and bottom. I would say right here that I am not a success as a showman--previous long years of rubbing up against honest men have disqualified me altogether for such a profession.