Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1893-10-17

| head across the strrei, then a. far b tn
opposite direction. lie then travels TN
| length Of tho street witl, gait bcsi q
which the pit ching Of . hat 10 heavy
pea u stnoothness itself. Back TO she
starting place, where he IL made n 70
verse the gettlng.up pro. css, drawing
new shrieks Of tsrrihed laughter FROM
the riders, and new jeers from the look
ers-on.
I had read that soin.wh-rH M the
Midway were dsuces ~ immoral that
the board Of lady managers had to 90
down there and SEQ them, so they could
know whether they were nc 70 DO alloa-
ed. or course I wanted au oppol tunity
to Judge for myself. It wasn't hard 70
find, for placxrls on tho trout OF the
theatre announced that tho dance hid
been condemned by the PAPERS. IL Was
q great advertising card. Tie place
Was oiled at every performances. The
dance 10 defended by many who assert
that ID the genuine aud ordinary stsge
dance Of those Oriental countries; but
then, some Of those countries are no
great shakes on morals any way. ]
shall venture no opinion a. 70 the dance,
except that Il shows great skill and
dexterity; but do not think there IL
any likelihood OF its becoming . popular
feature Of church or Sunday School en-
tertainments In this country.
Besides the foreign villages on the
Midway are q number OF shows OF O
different character: A beauty show,
'.forty ladies representing forty nation
allties"-and will wager that all but
three of them were born In America !;
Two glass manufacturing plants; Q real
Ice railway; Hagenbeck's trained AMI
mails, "the only trained animals in
America" &C. The trained animals are
wonderful. After some preliminary
performance by less interesting animals,
q lion rides horseback aud does some
leapiug acts. Then the attendants fatten
bracket shelves to the bars OF the cage
which forms the arena, and the whole
troupe of animals come In and take their
places on the shelves. The troupe con-
sists Of one polar bear, two black bears,
six lions, two tigers, two panthers, and
four boarhoundS. Lions and tigers ride
velocipedes, bears walk q rail- and roll on
q ball on their hind feet, and 20 on.
suppose II 10 foolish, but did not
more than half enjoy this performance,
because Of the sympathy had for the
poor wild beasts. II knew must end
my days inside little cage, l should
thank some one to shoot me; and when
the lion nearest me, the king Of beasts,
born to roam untrsmmeled, got down
from his shelf and wesrily went to take
his part In some trick, anil then came
back, climbed upon his little shelf and
bowed his kingly head against the bars,
II seemed to me that he was realizing
and grievlng over the Intense humllla.
ton to which he was subjected. The
king OF beasts, Gagged and made 10 call
out the laughter and applause OF feeble
man.
The one pre-emlnent attraction OF the
Midway, a conspicuous Object for miles
around, by day or by night, IL the Ferris
wheel. Ii Is $50 feet In diameter, and
the highest point Of II stands 2G5 feet
above the ground. The thlrty-slx cars
which swing between its rims will seat
over 400 people at one time, and Ii run
night and day. One OF the things that
lmpresses Yankee most about II Il the
way II IL making money. II began turn
Ing the 10th of June, had paid for Itself
about the first of September, aud sine
that time the fair managers and the
owner of the wheel have each been
up about $1,000 per day from II
A trip twice around the wheel costs atty
cents, occupies about fifteen minutes,
and IL well worth the time and money.
The motion of the car IL hardly per-
except by watching the frame
Of the wheel. The scene gradually UNI
folds NJ you rise, until Mt the top, II 1t j.
4 clear day, you can see, on the east, inc
apparently bOundless waters OF Lake
on the north and west, %
cloud of black smoke which indicates
the location OF Chicago; under you the
White City and the. Midway. II Is With
4 feeling of regret that you realize you
are descending, to come to halt at the
bottom and be turned out ut the other
end of the car.
Notwithstanding all the benefits OF the
Midway, from an educational or an
amusement point Of view, the money
making spirit Is rampant In 1t. The ma.
tives OF most OF the countries represent.
cd here are by no means slow about
making n dollar; nevertheless, many OF
the attractions are evidently run by
Americans-sharp Yankees, whose
money-maklng disposition sticks right
out of their faces, and tends to give the
Midway almost the cheap character OF
the takers row at u country fair. This
fact Il especially noticeable 10 contrast
with the fair proper, where 50 many NIL
lions have been put In with no ex-
pectatlon OF direct return. ALECK.