Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1901-10-10
Our Des Moines Correspondent
Submits His Views Of the
Carnival Idea.
Degeneration Of Once Clean and
Clever Entertainments Into
Immoral Babble.
What Is and What Might Have
Been at Des Moines..-The
Horse Show.

Special 10 llIIlGS. I1eDuDlICdus
Des Moines, Oct. 1o.-The street car
nival fad Is becoming frayed at the
edges. 1t has had ito Gay. 1t will be-
come less and less numerous in the fu-
ture, and finally fade away into some
thing which may be better and can not
be much worse. Des Moines Is having
a spell with the street carnival foolish
ness this week. Des Moines usually
catches on to these things soon after the
fashion has been well set. The carnival
as 1t is given to credulous public in
this year of grace 1901 Is not the carni-
val of five years ago. 1t was the fash
ion, when carnivals first became fash
ionable, to make them attractive and
appealing to the sense of beauty. For
instance the central thought of the car
nival idea was that of a fine parade in
the streets. First there would be a
parade of wheelmen, and the men and
women would appear in the gayest of
costumes, in all colors, In all shapes
and fanciful in the extreme, and such a
parade, properly conducted. is worth
going miles to see. Then there might
be other parades. but always the equip
age parade, or that of decorated vehi-
cles, and with outfits literally covered
with flowers and bright with ribbons
and rich costumes. parade of that
kind can be made fine show. Now the
carnival idea runs in another direction,
and the so-called midway" is central.
and the chief purpose Of the street car
.nival is to afford an opportunity for
persons to do things that on ordinary
occasions would be considered very rude
or positively vulgar. But whatever 1t
may be, or whatever form 1t may have
taken, the carnival idea has possession
of the capital city of Iowa this week,
and as the capital city OF Iowa stands
as model and an exampler for all the
cities of the Hawkeye state, and what
ever is right and proper here is taken to
be right and proper in other communi-
ties, the Des Moines carnival is worthy
of detailed description.
A street parade may be thing OF
beauty or 1T may be dull and monoto-
nous. There is nothing attractive about
a large body of men marching in disor-
der thru the streets following band
One parade was made in Des Moines
this week, that Of Monday evening, and
1T was by the Woodmen. They gave a
creditable exhibition, for they had q
number of well drilled marching compa-
MES in uniform, and they were attrac-
tive. There have been no parades since,
unless the appearance of band with
some of the sideshow freaks could be
called parade. "A man with few
trained pigs appears on an elevated
platform in the streets and shows a
few tricks; four negroes with banjoes
give songs and dances at another stand;
a man and woman walk across rope
tightly stretched across Walnut street
and thousands stand open-mouthed and
watch them in GREATNESS silence. Be
fore three or four of the stores there
have bene erected lights that go round
In whirling motion, and red light is
burned at stations along the way. This
is the sum total Of the free street show
of the carnival. One looks in vain for
some Of the features pictured so grand
ly on the half-sheet poscters that were
posted conspicuously in the state.
There is a good show, however, that
the carnival visitors may see IL they arr
looking for excitement and something
that will stir their blood. A half hours
ride on the street cars takes one TO the
state fair grounds, three miles east, a
quarter admits the visitor and another
quarter gives him the right TO sit in the
grand stand. A dozen or so handbook
ing men are riding ,bronchos and swing
ing lassos. "A steer imported from come
western ranch, an animal not worth
keeping for sale as a "canner," is turned
loose, and the men give chase. The
steer Is quickly roped and fastened.
Occasionally horn is broken off or a
leg fractured, and the animal bawls in
pain The accident may be more seri-
GUS, for yesterday two of the animals
that furnish the army with its sinew on
long marches, We're thrown violently to
the ground in such a manner that their
necks were broken and they were dead
when the brutal men jumped upon them
to hold them down. However, this re-
ceiyed the applause Of the crowds. and
the finest crowds of the week have been
in attendance at these unequal daily
contests and have apparently enjoyed
them. The show Is indeed out of the
ordinary. A real bull fight could not be
much different.
But the thing looked upon today as
typical of the street carnival idea is the
midway" enclosure. The city of Des
Moines generously closed the principal
street and permitted this feature to
possess the river front, surround the
city library and occupy a large part of
Walnut street. And the midway that is
there is the real thing. One pays an adj
mission fee to get inside the enclosure
and has the right to choose which par
ticular fake shall get his money. He
may choose an electrical theater, a
street of India, a German village, the
fat man, the snake eater, the diving
family, the gypsy fortune teller, the In
dian dances. or any other of the many
special features. Great crowds OF city
folk go up and down the midway. There
are men and women, girls and boys, and
whole families. The barkers do their
best. or worst. A being who calls thru
a big horn comes out to make the an
nouncements. He gives orders to a row
of three or four powered and painted
females who affect TO lure the evil
minded by wrapping themselves in
|highly-colored bath robes. They may
even do dance trick or sing song in
a cracked voice. The cracked voices are
used again, vaudeville acts are done in
lamateurish manner, the lights flash and
tinsel glitters; but the bad things are
too good, and the good things are all
too bad. One may easily believe that
some of the creatures paraded before
respectable people for their amusement
might have done a clever turn at some