Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1893-05-02

sxelled the ihrong that had gathered frou
the streets and highways of the Gardel
City. and joined in the opening Of the bi,
show.
Ii was great day for the rising gener
alton. 1, seemed almost incredible that .,
many children could be got together evel
in Chicago, and the independent spirit O
Young America Was manifested in the fac
that most of the youngsters seemed to b,
unaccompanied by their paren.s or oidel
persons. They swarmed through the BIZ
buildings, got themselves tangled up in al
sorts of unexpected places and made th,
lives of the Columbian guards misersbl,
from daylight to dark They took the BIZ
battle ship by storm; they sacked the con
vent La Rabida; and they invaded tn,
sacred precincts of the Mohammedsn mos
que. They were everywhere at once. and MT
doubt saw twice as much of the interesting
features of the exposition as any mature
person did.
All the arrangements 70, handling the
crowds were excellent. The gates were a,
no time choked and the throng passed into
the grounds with less trouble than is otter
experienced at theatre or other place Of
entertainment. Throughout the ground:
were distributed the Worlds Fair police, o,
Columbian Guards AS they are called They
were of value in directing the movements
of the people when a blockade was threat
ened, and their services were occasionally
called into reqaistion TO clear the way for
a passing vehicle connected with the police
department, or the sanitary department OF
the exposition. Considering the throng,
there were surprisingly few accidents of a
serious character, however, and the ambu-
lances were seldom called iuto requisition.
The transportation facilities, while not
vet completed 10 their highest capacity
we're fairly adequate. The people, too,
made the task of the railroads easy by
starting early. Even in the early morn
ing the down town streets were filled with
people headed for Jackson Park These
were easily taken care of. As the fore
noon wore on the crowd swelled, and by
ten O'Clock the human current was at the
flood. The crowds did not depend upon
the public transportation lines, however.
They came in every conceivable fashion
on foot, on bicycles, in carts, carriages,
bandwagons, street ears, railroads ard
steamboats,. Anything on wheels if on
land. or anything that would float, if on the
water, was utilized.
There were some queerly assorted groups.
On one of the early Illinois Central trains,
in the same coach, were merchant from
Bagdad with his two turbaned attendants, a
group of Prussian metal workers, a squad
of English soldiers, three Armenian gym
nasts from the Midway Plsisance, several
and chattering Cingalese, and
the Hon. William +. Cody, better known
as Buffalo Bill" who, by the way, attrac-
ted as much attention today as any Pasha
with three tails, or ether foreign notable on
the grounds.
Another car held party of Arab donkey
drivers, who divided the honors with three
lIindoo snake charmers from upper India.
in the eyes of family from Missouri, cou-
sisting of father, mother and five children.
The elevated road carried similar incongru-
Gus groups. md the cable cars r. sounded
all day with the tongues of all nations.
Inside the grounds the facilities for get
ting around were varied. Most of the peo-
pie, of course, walked; but for those who
preferred to utilize other modes of locomo-
ton there were the wheeled chairs, which
conveyed the sight-seer by land, or the
electric launches and other craft. which
cruised through the lagoons and canals,
passing on the route all the principal build
ings and points of attraction. OF course,
such multitude was hungry and thirsty.
and the thoussnd-and-one restaurants and
bars scattered through the
grounds did thriving business.
Outside the walls of the fair proper. too,
there was the same shifting, ever-changing
crowd of curiosity seekers. In the Midway
Plaisance, the various villages were crowded
all day, and the booths and shows on the
fringe of the fair we're never empty. The
-lunged side-show "hlower' was in
his glory, and all the familiar old at.rac-
tons of the circus and Coney island were
To be seen on every siIe, not whit abashed
by their close proximity to the most stupen-
dous show the world has ever seen.
All day long the crowds ebbed and flowed
in and about the big structures. With
most people the great difficulty was to de-
termine where to commence, and once
fairly started on the tour of sightseeing
there came feeling of belplessness and
despair of ever accomplishing the task of
inspecting the whole exposition. Many
set ont in the morning boasting that
they would cover all the buildings before
night found themselves at evening still
wandering through the aisles of the first
building they bad entered. The seasoned
goers who had visited PARIS,
Philadelphia and Vienna mapped out their
plan of campaign like veterans. and cata-
logue in hand set bravely at work on some
Dne department with the intention of taking
all the others up in turn and doing each
thoroughly. There were few of these how
ever. and most of todays visitors regarded
the first day as merely an opening skirmlsb.
There was sort of grand tour of inspec-
ton without pausing to examine details, but
rather to take in the general effect of the
exposition. As the finishing touches are
put to the buildings, and as the exhibits are
fully in place, the systematic sightseeing
will begin in earnest and there will be less
of the hssty rush through the grounds, ex-
cept by those whose time is limited to day
or two.
1t was late before the crowd which came
early began to thin ont They dropped off
quietly at first in little groups, and those
V no left thus early avoided the crush which
began when the mass of visitors began to
move toward the gates. The transportation
were called upon to handle the
crowds more en- mTSse than was the case in
the forenoon, aud as a result there was
more or less c,ow,ling and confusion. After
some delav however, the heavily baden cars
carried off load after load of hnmsn freight .
the steamboats, drew off from tic wharves +:
carriages rolled toward the city in long
lines; wheel men and pedestrians took up
the line of march homevari. and as dark
ness fell the great White City wss left un-
tenanted save by the guards and watchmen.
MIDWAY PlMSANCE.
A Cosmopolitan Playground Upon Which