The New York Observer ran a series of eight letters from October
11 until December 27, 1900 by a man named Augustus. He was
reporting on the Paris Exposition and part two (October 18)
includes a description of the "traveling sidewalk" in action.
From this part of the fair it is possible to proceed to a
distant exhibition which is placed in what is called the Champs
de-Mars, without going out of the gates, by means of a
travelling sidewalk or a train of electric cars. Thousands avail
themselves of these means of transportation. The former is a
novelty. It consists of three elevated platforms, the first
being stationary, the second moving at a moderate rate of speed,
and the third at the rate of about six miles an hour. The moving
sidewalks have upright posts with knobbed tops by which one can
steady himself in passing to or from the platforms. There are
occasional seats on these platforms, and the circuit of the
Exposition can be made with rapidity and ease by this
contrivance. It also affords a good deal of f