Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 36, Number 108, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 September 1904 — LOOPING THE GAP WITH A TOP. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

LOOPING THE GAP WITH A TOP.

To those who have seen the latest circus novelty—“ Looping the Gap,” where a daring cyclist spins down an incline, leaps, still on his wheel, across an opening tai the track, and lands safely upon a platform beyond, the remarkable feature of this exhibition will cause no end of marvel. This same trick can be accomplished with a top. For the energetic lad who wants to set up a penny circus in his own back yard the experiment will afford much pleasant amusement. The incline can be made of any light wood or it can be made of cardboard, cut off to fit the slope of the track. As there need be no positive rule regulating the dips and curves, the operation of fitting the sticks will not prove a trying one. They should be driven into the ground, the longest sticks on a level with a porch or any raised platform. When the wooden structure has been completed, following the lines set down in the diagram, the track can be made of cardboard. The longer the strips are (be better, and if joints are made, the lapping over should be done after the fashion of shlng'les and smoothed down by scraping with a penknife. Flanges, to keep the top from leaping over the track, can be made by simply folding up a quarter of an inch on either side of the board. The width of the leap should not be more than Inches, although this can be regulated after you have made several trials -with your top. Give the top a smart spin on the platform and push upon the downward track. It will hold its equilibrium and make the jump across the break with surprising grace.