The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1893-10-10
A INDUSTRIOUS THRONG.
Remarkable Gathering on Chicago
Day at the Big Fair.
FULLY SEVEN HUNDRED THOUSAND

PRssed Through the Gates and the Car
rinseways-Tho Record OF tho Paris Ex-
position EciIpsed by Hundreds OF Thous-
ands-such Crowd Never Seen Before.
CHICAGO, Oct 10.-Seven hundred thou-
sand people-doubtless the greatest crowd
that ever congregated-vsitedt the Worlds
fair yesterday, breaking the greatest one
day record at Paris by nm overwhelming
majority, completely smothering the big
day" figures of any other exposition ever
held, and establishing mark which, it is
safe to predict, the present generation will
never see attained.
When the morning sun, looking through
a light mist, peeped over the white per-
istyle at 5 o'clock many people were near
ing the different entrances to the grounds,
and by the time the gates opened $50
fully l,oOo people beseiged each passage,
eager for admission. From that hour un.
til late in the afternoon there was a con-
stant jam at every gate. The department
Of admission had an extra force on duty,
and every turnstile was kept registering
at its highest speed. Yet these facilities
were inadequate, and at o'clock Superin-
tendent Tucker ordered every wagon gate
opened, and stationed corps of men at
each to take tickets, relieving the pressure
from without to n marked degree.
About o'clock, when it was seen that
the crowds had diminished sufficiently to
permit of their successful handling by the
regular entrances, the wagon gates were
closed after 800, ,0o0 people had been admit
ted To this vast army 1s1 900 were added
in the next three hours. The glorious Oc-
tober weather and the grandness of Chi
cago day at the fair kept the crowds COM
tVtr oil ,ft n,1I A
ative estimate places the attendance for
the day and night at 100000 The official
figures will not be given out before this
afternoon, AS the great mass Of tickets has
nearly swamped the department of admis-
sions.
Previous to this ever memorable day the
palm for large attendance rested with In
dependence day, July 4, when the attend
ance was 2s8,273. Other days notable for
great crowds are: Illinois day, 243, ,951:
Transportation day, 231, ,522; Polish day
Qast Saturday,, 900, l76; knights of Honor
day, 215,843 Pennsylvania day, 203, 400;
Railroad day, 202,376. The total number
of paid admissions since the opening of
the fairi 16,492,07 The greatest day at
Paris was 397, 150, and at Philadelphia
2l7,526.
During the afternoon there was a re-
union of states, in which thousands Of
boys and girls took part but the crowning
glory of Anniversary Day was the pro-
cession of floats which entered the grounds
at dark. The first one represented Chi
cago receiving all the nations of the earth.
Then came the genius of music, followed
by Chicago and its typical motto 81 will"
guided by Liberty. The most magnificent
float In the entire procession was illustra-
tive Of Columbus at the court OF Isabella.
The characters of the float were assumed
by the members of the Columbian club of
Chicago. The last float in the procession
was Electra, the genius of electricity"
drawn by eight horses 1t was repre-
sented by enormous dragons, changing
color from green to red, and lighted by
1900 electric lights.
The display of fireworks on the lake
front, adjoining the peristyle, exceeded in
magnigcence any heretofore given in the
United States, IL not in the world The
special pieces were illustrative Of old Fort
Dearborn, the old city hall, Chicago well
coming the world, "Old Glory" carried by
Baldwin, the aeronaut, into the Heavens.
A remarkable feature in connection with
the celebration was the comparative small
number of accidents and emergency hos
pital cases. Not more than $50 people had
been taken to the hospital before the null
titude started surging homeward. Nearly
all Of those who were received ut the hos.
pital needed only temporary treatment.
The precautions taken to resist the human
tidal wave which swept toward the street
and the stairway leading to the elevated
railroad were inefficient, and many men
and women were injured in the crash. It
was nearly morning when the grounds
were cleared of the crowd