The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-09-24
THE MIDWAY SKETCHED.
THE PLACE WHERE IT TAKES
MONEY TO SEE THE SIGHTS,

Gather in the Dimes and Quarters.
Atlanta. Ca. Sept. 23.-When John Jacob
Astor the young millionaire Of New York,
was here with the other gorgeous colonels
Of Governor Morton's military staff last
week he took in the Midway. Colonel
John Jacob with his patrician blood and
all his millions. in common with the COM
mon herd Of mankind. was not proof
against the fascination Of the amusement
feature of the great show. He and the 9TH
er New York colonels who are all reputed
to be millionaires, of course, have the
sights of the great metropolis al
ways within easy reach from
grand opera at the Metropolitan
to the bowery and fakirs paradise
at Coney Island, but there Is something
about exposition "Midways'' that makes
1t 'go" every time on even the most
satiated devotee Of the gaieties of life.
After Col. Astor had done the amusement
street Of the Atlanta show, as probably
all Of the great governors. who were here
on the same occasion did on the sly he
promptly confessed that ne had had sew
eral new experiences. II Il is not exagger-
ating the picture to say that every
body else who takes in the Midway viii
make the same confession, for there was
In all known probability never anything
just Ike 1t under the sun. While 1t Is mod
elled after famous congregation of curl
Gus things at Chicago, Atlanta has a good
many things that knock the great original
clear out. though on a whole the array
Is not quite as expensive.
The Midway does not get it's name on
account of its location, but because no
other suitable title cou'd be found to
designate the faklr paradise. 1t is sftu-
ated on a high terrace at the extreme
southern limit of the grounds, possibly
put there so as to give the crowd a chance
to see the exposition before falling VIC
Tins to the inevitable, for once fairly in
the meshes Of that unspeakable place there
is little hope Of escape until the end of
either OF the pocketbooks or of the street
Is reached. II. the latter IL Is anywhere
from days to a weeks trip, according
To see all the sights OF the Md
way, not taking the multitude
bill into fragments so small that the
owner would hardly recognize the re-
mainder. While IL cannot be said that
the charges are unreasonable, as MID
cunningly devised by brains from every
quarter OF the globe In collaboration, that
~ is marvellous how the dollar can be
charmed away. As the man in jail wrote
home TO his wife. his job was not harG,
but so powerful regular. That Is the de-
scriptlon OF the Midway Ii Is not costly
at hrst sight, but II Is so regular, You
pay dime or a quarter to get into one or
the shows or villages, and then you pay
possibly a half dozen dimes before you
get out again, If you are bent upon see-
ing the whole elephant,
For instance, you start in at one end or
the Midway by paying a quarter to shoot
the "chutes' and see other shoot them.
once you have made the startling trip
you are more than likely TO take at least
one more shoot, which costs another dime.
Shooting the chutes is one of the new
amusements It consists OF dashIng down
a long, steep incline In a fat-bottomed
boat to a small lake below. When the
boat strikes the water II makes a series
of dashes into the air that are startling
10 the nerves. but, like olives, the taste
grows stronger at every successive In
dulgence.
girls are the star attractions In the Streets
Of Cairo. Here, too, you pay so much to
get inside the streets. and then so much
to see the show. II 1t Is the dancing girls
you must be careful to observe your best
manners and most courteous bearing. Al
last nights exhibition an unfortunate in
mate Of the Chinese village lost control
Of his good manners, shouting that ne
had such an accomplishment originally
and the result was that "Fatina," az
dancers is named, taking onense
al the luckless Celestial, stopped abruptly
in her performance and proceeded to
thrash him within an inch Of his life. The
police had to be called in TO restore quiet,
but as a lenient policy Is to be pursued in
dealing with the Heterogeneous Inhabitants
of the Midway no police court cases were
made.
The Dahomey village is the latest acqui-
sitiOn to the shows where the national
dance as interpreted by the women. the
motion is the great feature. The Dahomey-
ans are advertised as cannibals, but as yet
they have not devOured anything more
human than large collection Of Ameri-
can dollars.
free show is a rare thing on the Mid
way, therefore the German village de-
serves a souvenir button. Since the open
ing day It has cost nothing to get inside
though the possibility OF expenditure be-
fore you get out Is practically unlimited.
The village is designed primarily for the
cultivation ana lndulgences OF the beer
habit Great pains and expense have been
lavished upon the place with this end in
view, and the result obtained is so admi-
rable that II would be brave man in
deed who should go In and come out again
without investing part of his wad in the
national beverage. 1t was the original in
tention to charge admission to the VII
lage, where a fine band with a. company
of tuneful warblers furnish music to the
clinking glasses, but the first crowds
failed to appreciate the place, and the ad-
There are other beer gardens on the Mid
way, without warblers 1t is true, that ex-
tend a free welcome to all cOmers and this
may result in permanent gratuitous ad-
mission to the German village.
As to the beauty show. a man might
leave his whole estate there If he chooses
There are only 10 beauties, with a Trilby
thrown in for good measure, and all Of
them are out for votes at so much per
vote TO prove which is the handsomest As
they are all prize beauties OF
the $4,000 kind known in the
palmy days Of p. T. Barnum, the
really conscientious visitor cannot get
his consent to do anything less than vote
for all Of them Sometimes, If IL Is a very
enthusiastic member Of the human family
that has fallen into the enchanted circle
of the beauty show, he VIII undertake to
stuff all the ballot boxes This has not
been attempted yet, however, but the
MANAGEMENT is afraid that II viii at most
any time Policemen are quite numerous
at the beauty show during performances.
Whether this is due TO the anxiety of the
management or to the charms Of the
beauties, coupled with the free admis-
sion that accompanies bluecoat and
a billy has not yet been made clear to
show Is a rare sight to see as all the
beauties were imported from New York
where, as everybody knows, beauties al
So per week are as numerous as men
who want TO be President.
II one is not satisfied with the regular
beauty show he can step next door and
see the Chinese beauty show, which Is Z
one OF the two special features of the
Celestial village The other special feat
ure IS the Chinese royal theafer which |
was opened IN in full blast to-dav Vha |