Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1893-06-21
CATCHES CROWDS.
The Midway Plaisance at the
Big Worlds Fair.

Big Worlds Fair.
Torrent Of Humanity Pours Through
the Avenue Of CosmopoIitans.
Ihs Irish village, oiasasy Castle, ssest
Stew asd 0thss Aitsaetisas.
WORLDS FAIR, June 10 - Especial ] -
OF course the Midway plaisance catches
.he crowds. This Is not to be wondered
1T. 1t Is . wonderful place. Imagine .
strip Of territory . mile long and as wide
| ss = couple Of city blocks in which the
smartest showmen Of the world have
:nassed their attractions. Imagine thor
oughfare in which the representatives Of
| all nations, their customs and costumes,
heir music and their means Of trsnspor-
tation, and many Of their industries and
processes Of manufacture are to be seen or
heard In the center Of this, nightly
| ayershadowing it all, place one Of the
greatest Of all engineering marvels, the
the cosmopolitans, this paradise Of show
men, this apotheosis Of all that is queer
and spectacular, pour every hour Of the
day q torrent Of humanity-humanity
travelling afoot and on the backs of DON
keys, horses, dromedaries and occasion
ally an elephant; humanity riding in wheel
chairs Of the western world and sedan
chairs Of the orient; humanity from every
cline, in all sorts Of uniforms and an i'm
mense variety Of headgear. And this
strange mixture, this condensation Of =
world Of civilization and savagery into one
street, is the Midway plaisance, the side
show feature Of the Worlds Columbian
exposition.
There is no need Of my giving you
catalogue Of the strange things that are to
be seen here. The list is too long. Twill
only mention some Of them in passing.
Among the first things to attract your at
tention will be the Irish Village, where
Blarney Castle has been cleverly repro
duced, and where the bonnie Irish lasses
make lace, butter and cheese, and Irish
lads sell you trinkets fashioned out of bog
oak. and genuine blackthorn walking
sticks. But there are two Irish villages
here, and both are managed by women.
Lady Aberdeen is the mistress of one and
Mrs. Hart of the other. Both are doing
good business, and their profits are to be
devoted to the support Of Irish industrial
schools
Across the way is the Beauty Show, a
large building in which twenty or thirty
comely young women, gaily attired in the
costumes of the countries whence they
came, sit on elevated benches and try to
look pleasant while crowds of visitors
stand and look at them and pass criticisms
upon their faces and figures, for which
privilege the visitors have paid the sum Of
Is cents each. | am not surprised that
this is about the only one of the sideshows
that made money during the month Of
May This concern paid 10 per cent.
dividend June /, and at that rate will en-
rich its owners before November. The
chief trouble the managers have is in
keeping their girls. Even now they are
advertising for more beauties to take the
place of those who have deserted. One is
not surprised to learn that the girls quick
ly become tired Of the life. 1t must be
very, very trying upon the nerves to sit
there under the electric lights all day long,
painted and powdered and dressed in
sinery, with shoals of men and women
staring them in the face. A girl without
any fine sensibilities might endure il, but
one with pride and sef-esteem would go
| insane in u month.
One beautiful, vivacious American girl
was offered fine salary to pose here as
the representative of her country, and ac-
cepted. In three days she resigned, and
said she would not sit there month for q
million dollars. The next girl stayed only
one day. In six weeks at least a dozen
American girls lave tried this way Of
earning living, and given it up In dis
gust. The saddest, most forlorn creature
have seen in the whole fair is the little
mite of a Chinese woman whoposes on the
stage as the representative of the Celestial
kingdom. She never smiles, and appar-
emily does not know by experience what
| it is to laugh. All day she appears to be
thinking Of her home on the other side of
| the world. She reminds one of some gen.
| tie animal shut up in a cage and pining
| for liberty. So far she has not talked of
| throwing up her contract, for in month
here she earns more money than she
| Ind her father and mother and brothers
and sisters together could earn in Il year
| in China. Besides, she Is treated very
| well by the managers of the show, as all
| the girls are. But some day, no doubt,
khe will run away and marry rich Chi
hese laundrymen or tea merchant. Several
1 of the foreign girls who came over to pose
| as representative beauties have already
| found husbands-and let us hope good
| ones-in free America.
How oLe's sympathies do go out to the
poor sedan-chair men from Turkey. There
are at least thirty of the poor fellows here,
and some OF them are old, gray haired
men 1t is hard work, this sedan-chair
| carrying. The chair itself must weigh
seventy-five pounds. Put within it 200
| pound American man or woman-the
women appear to be particularly fond of
this method of transportation-and it is a
pretty heavy burden for two men to carry
at the rate of three miles an hour under
broiling sun. Each Turk puts a strap
over his shoulder and grasps the handles
of the eontrivari ice. Then they start off at
u pretty good pace, and with a gait that is
| all their own. 1t is a sort Of cross between
a waddle and a totter. The older men
tretnble as they walk, as if theirlegs were
| giving way. Ferspiration rolls from their
brows as theit sandals slap, slap along
over the shining road ways Of gravel or
asphalt. Now and then they pause to
| wipe their faces on dirty Old handker-
chiefs, to chatter and to light cigarettes.
1t may not be as hard work as 1t looks, but
can't see how humane men or women
can derive pleasure from such journey.
| The owners of the chairs get 50 cents an
hour from passengers, 20 cents for half an
hour, or % cents for "a little ride" 1t
| would be interesting to know how much
the carriers get for their services, but
probably not more than so a month and
their board
Compared with the American wheel
chairs the sedan chairs look like cruelty to
animals. A slender young coilcgian viii
take 30 pound passenger and roll him
from one end of the grounds to the other
without much effort. These chairs have
rubber tires, like a bicycle, and roll very
lightly. Comparing the sedan chairs Of
the Orient with the wheeled chairs Of the
Occident on the basis Of amount OF power
employed, and the ratio Is about ten to
one. But the wheel chairs probably
wouldn't do at all over the sandy roGds oi
the lands whence the sedan chairs come.
So, after all, it is every country and every
people to those means Of transportation
best suited to their requirements.
The Wills ffom Java, from Dahomey
from Germany and the street in Cairo are
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