The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1893-10-11

CHICAGO. Oct "A perfect autumn
day and the largest crowd that ever
congregated at a like gathering in the
worlds history. These are two OF the
elements that helped to make Chicago
day at the worlds fair an unprecedented
success: that went to make it the biggest
day of the fair; that made the heart Of
every Chicagoan swell with pride and
filled the souls of all nlinoisans and all
Americans with joy. Everything that
was on the program went off with per-
feet success and a great deal that was
not thereon. Everyone at the fair did
all in their power to show to all comers
true hospitality, and their success is
evidenced by the outspOken delight Of
the thousands and hundreds of thousands
who We're present
The crowd was bigger than that which
assembled at the Paris exposition on the
banner day of that fair. The crush
throughout the grounds was simply in
describable. Around the Administration
building, on the grand plaza, the people
were simply packed together in one i'm
movable mass. In other portions of the
grounds it was the same story. The
Midway Plaisance presented a scene Of
animation unusual even for that attrac-
tive feature of the fair. 1t was crowd
covering 1000 acres of ground as COM
pactly almost as if it had been nodded.
Paris on its banner day passed through
the gates of its exposition 397, $50 people,
and the crowd at the fair today was
double that number without a doubt.
AS is usual on such occasions rumors
were circulated of alarming riots and
serious accidents during the day, but
happily, in spite of the awful jam and
terrific strain put upon railroads and
street cars. there were but few serious
accidents. The crowd today was a holi-
day crowd. The thousands of Chicago
people who made this a vacation were
reinforced by train-load after train
load of farmers. who came from every
point of the compass. The program was
carried out without a hitch. The gates
were opened to the public at $50 O'Clock
this morning and a half hour earlier
than usual When the gatemen took
their places a big crowd had already
assembled to get in. These were mostly
country people. The city people came
later. Every other person carried a
lunch basket, and those who did so were
fortunate. as the many restaurants and
lunch rooms on the grounds were wholly
unable to accommodate the hungry who
lined up and waited their turn.
Attendance at the worlds fair today:
Paid admissions, 1854; passes, 1880;
total. 751.O26.
A General Holiday.
Never before has a holiday been so
generally observed in Chicago. Every
business house OF any consequence was
closed and small stores of all descriptions
followed suit. In all sections of the city
today a card bearing the inscription:
I'VE close. Chicago day." was to be
seen in windows of nearly every store.
Even the thousands Of milkmen caught
the fever, notified their patrons long ago
that they would make but one trip to-
day. Many large firms, in addition TO
closing their places, furnished their en-
ployes with tickets of admission to the
fair. With all these people turned loose
and added to by the tremendous influx
of outsiders during the past forty-eight
hours, it is not to be wondered at that
such a crowd was never seen before.
Among the notable features Of the day
were the memorial editions issued by the
Inter-Ocean. Record and Times news
papers of this city. These papers, which
were profusely illustrated, contained re-
views of Chicago and especially descrip-
tions of the great fire. So unprecedented
was the demand for these papers that
from an early hour they sold on the
streets at premium and by afternoon
people were paying as high at 80 cents
a copy for them.
At the downtown terminals the crush
all morning was appalling. At the
steamboat landing, the Illinois Central
and the elevated stations there was a
jam the like of which has never before
been seen here, while along the line of
the cable cars the people were packed in
black mass for blocks. At the grounds
the steady stream seemed to increase
rather than diminish toward dark, as
thousands of people who had not thought
of going out during the day were hasten
ing to the grounds to see the night dis
play.
Accidents Happen.
Never in the history Of Chicago was
there such a demand on its transporta-
ton facilities today. The crowd was
handled and handled well, but no human
means, no system of transportation
however vast, was capable of handling
the vast crowd without difficulty. The
accidents were few and only small
proportion of them fatal. The majority
of the crowd came from points outside
of Chicago, and as people from outside
points were not as cautious as the resi-
dents Of the city the bulk OF the acci-
dents were among them. Following is
list of the dead and injured while going
and coming from the fair:
CHARLES A. CLARK, Buffalo, N. Y,
struck by a grip car. died two hours
later
JAMES MALCOLM, residence un-