A Favorite Fire Brigade of Circus Fans Everywhere: the Midget Engines and Their Crew: Baker, the Inventor, Is the First Standing Figure at the Left
According to psychologists, Baker's explanation is a logical one. It is human nature to laugh at the other fellow, they say. We chuckle because we're glad we are not in his position. Laughter of this sort is a kind of self-congratulation. We don't stop to make the analysis at the time; laughter just happens naturally, as does all the other emotional and nervous processes that are still mysterious to us. Surprise, suspense, incongruity and various other elements are mixed up in the complex cause of a chuckle, and Baker's trick automobiles are such successful laugh getters, because they furnish all these requirements with a good measure of mystery on the side.
One of the most amazing of his cars this season was a tiny racer, "Sarasota." carrying "Tip," a small monkey, in the driver's seat. It tore around the arena at high speed, mystifying everyone because monkeys have not yet been trained to manage gear-shift cars, but this one has all the attachments and speeds of a full-size racer. Some persons say that a human driver is concealed in the car. But it is little more than six feet long and has been driven within five feet of the front rows, yet no one has been able to see a hidden pilot, if he is there. Mechanics told Baker that he couldn't build such a car. He did it, and the secret of its operation is known only to a few.
Months of planning and experimenting were devoted to the construction of the chief auto trickster, the old paint car that breaks in two, chases a man and rears on its hind wheels. The balking is accomplished by a feat of balancing. Three 300-pound weights, disguised as paint pails, are hung on the rear of the body. To make the front wheels leave the ground, the occupants of the car have but to tip back slightly. An amazing thing about the car is that it will rear up even if a heavy man stands on the front axle, and Baker says that his weight apparently has no effect on the tipping. Getting the car on its rear wheels was not so difficult, but Baker found that he had a number of unexpected problems to solve after he had done so. For instance. the gasoline wouldn't run into the carburetor at such a steep angle. He had to install an aaxiliary tank under the hood back of the radiator and also control the oil so that it wouldn't run out of the engine. Then, the two rear tires had to be inflated at the same pressure or the machine would start going in circles and possibly run into a ring or the grandstand.
Another difficulty appeared. When the front wheels are in the air, Baker is unable
