THE DUPUYER ACANTHA — APRIL 27, 1899
GREAT ICE WONDER ♢ Contrivance for Skimming Over Frozen Water—
A New York Inventor Is Responsible for It.
This winter is not to he allowed to pass without the usual addition to the collection of wonderful machines that are intended to make use of the slippery surface of a frozen lake or river in order to enable a rider to attain railroad speed in locomotion, writes Arthur Leslie in New York Press. The only difference between this machine and those that inventive brains have produced in previous winters, is that nothing quite so ambitious and wonderful has ever been attempted.
Briefly, the invention is an eight-seated machine to travel on ice. The mechanical genius who is at present engaged in constructing it is Harry Lenz, of 113 West 124th street, New York city. How the machine will look when finished is shown in the accompanying illustration, which is drawn by our artist from a pencil diagram submitted by Mr. Lenz.
The sketch shows the machine as it will be seen on Central Park lake, New York, where Mr. Lenz will give a trial exhibition of the working of the invention as soon as it is completed. The new contrivance is built almost on the lines of an ordinary sextette. The difference, of course, is seen in the runners, which are three in number, two in the rear and one in the front. The leading runner is intended to be used by the steersman. Seated at the front of the machine the head rider will turn the wheel by simply twisting the pointed steel prow to the right or the left, in precisely the
