The Saint Paul globe., 1900-06-22
OBSERVED ON THE MIDWAY.

It is amusing to watch the crowd ap-
proach the entrance TO the midway. There
are some who approach 1t fearsOmelY,
with an anxious sizing UP of fellow pill
grims others walk UP boldly, with u
there's something to-be-seen-and-T M
going-to-see-it" air; others enter care
Iessly, in a matter of course manner. But,
after ALL it doesn't matter how they go
in, for the fact remains that their num-
Der corresponds pretty well with the num-
Der that walk up carnival street. Right
at the very end of the midway is the an
tmal show, and it is always crowded. 4
great hulking bear, in tawdry garb, dane
ing uncouthly and unhappily, calls attea-
zion to the show. AS a part of this show
there is enacted every afternoon and even
ing little farce that is attractive be-
cause, like all other farces, it has it's sug
gestion of the tragic. Wallace, the Nubian
lion, shares honors in the farce with his
trainer SO far the trainer has played q
star part 1t is not outside the range of
possibilities that Wallace may one day
have q dramatic inning. At any rate,
what the trainer does gives the crowd sat-
isfying thrills for the space. of three min
utes. The trainer, a tall, SoldierlY look
ing man, whose name seems not inapprO-
priate but whose bemedaled coat suggests
the man Of the circus not the trapper,
makes his angular bow to the crowd and
SeC4N6S his lIlt-6 piece. II : dDOul framing
lions in African jungles, and fits in neatly
with his after act, which IS to enter the
cage and demonstrate for three brief
minutes the supremacy of mind over mat
ter. Yesterday afternoon Wallace was in
a temper and clawed at the bars Of his
cage, showing pleasing desire to get at
the keeper. When the latter entered the
crowd that watched the taWny beast was
awed and silent
'Iyddy, 1 for one amt a-goin' to stay
and see that unfortunit man chawed
alive" broke on the silence a shrill fem
mime voice, and there was a relieved stir
in tie crowd as two middle aged women
edged away.
1t is the picturesqueness of the motley
that is fascinating about this midway, as
about all midways. There is riotous ex-
hibitiOn of colors, there IS every conceiv-
able noise that q neutrality-suspicious.
crowd will allow under the category Of
music, and there Is a background for It
all in the shifting panorama of human
life. Yesterday as one glanced down the
midway he might see a bit of Egypt pick
ing it's way carefully through the crowd
bearing on its bumped back a small but
delighted representative of tAe United
States. For one of the great attractions
for children on the streets of Cairo IS the
fact that for the expenditure of a small
coin dusky attendant will seat you
carefully on a camel's back, and you can
enjoy the awesome delight Of, to quote
a small boy, riding on an earthquake
If one cares more for comfort than for
picturesqueness and novelty, he can have
a donkey ride, and there were many of
those stupid looking little beasts out yes
terday afternoon bearing delighted chill
dren on tour Of the midway.
the foot of the staging where the diving
elks perform and accosted an animal
tender:
Els this where the little boy got hit on
the head with the crowbar?" she asked.
'Yes'm," responded the hired man, with
an apologetic shuttle.
do such accidents often occur?" she
| asked.
That animal tender was somewhat of
a josher so he replied:
VERY often, ma am. About once every
half hour, I should guess
awful" exclaimed the old lady. with a
Mortified expression. And then she went
away about forty feet and stayed posted
up against a telegraph pole for an hour,
waiting for the next crowbar to drop.
But the little boy-crowbar accident IS
not regular attraction.
A business man of this city who is
ordinarily the pink Of sobriety went into
the German village last night to wait
for a friend. Something in the air was
conducive of thirst, and as the interval
| grew more and more extended he resorted
TO that noble beverage. ''Elks' milk to
QueH his rising apprehensions About
| 10 o'clock the music and the lights and
the handsome ladies who congregate
there had worked upon his feelings to
| such an extent that he became mildly
| enthusiastic. In the midst of a riotous