The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-08-17
UNION HILLS Big VOLKSFEST.
WHERE ALL rs PLATTDEUTSCHE
YET A SECOND CONEY.


with Framkfurters and Sidoshows ana
Oceans OF Beer-ft Continues for
Most or the Week Tor the Benefit Of
Charity and Everybody Enjoys II.
Schuetzen Park, Union Hill, N. j., and
all tho neighborhood round about looked
yesterday afternoon asthough section OF
Coney Island had swarmed like hive OF
bees and settled down on the Palisades
heights. The difference was that Coney
Island is cosmopolitan. You hear all
languages spoken there, even English now
and then; but Union Hill was all Platt-
deutsche.
II you were not Plattdeutsche you were
alone, a wanderer among strange people
1t is that way every third Sunday in August
in Union Hill, for then occurs the annual
festival, the grand Volksfest OF the Piatt-
deutsche Verein, an organization made
up OF many hundreds Of branches and
having something like 10000 names on its
roll Of membership. For twenty-nine
years, including the one now in progress,
these yearly festivals have been held and
looked forward to with much eager an
ticipation by most OF the Plattdeutsches
Of fifty miles about the metropolis.
1t always begins on Sunday this volks-
fest, and ends on Sunday. This year IL
will go on every day up to and including
Wednesday Of this week. Then it skips
over until next Sunday, when comes the
grand wind-up. On the opening Sunday q
few years ago, there were 10000 people in
the Schuetzen Park grounds during the
afternoon and evening, but yesterday.
owing to the lowering weather and the dis
tinct threat Of rain that was in the air,
only about 80 900 were present.
A general admission fee Of rs cents Ii
charged and, once within the grounds.
the entire show is open to you. Every
cent Of the money goes to charity The
Peter Reuter- Old Peoples Home Alien
Heim'-a non-sect arian institution, where
helpless old men and women are cared for
and made comfortable, is In the park and
the park belongs to the Plattdeutscher
Association. THIS charity ID maintained
by the association and, besides that, when
the accounts OF the annual volksfest are
balanced, there always remain a few thou
sand dollars TO be distributed among such
hospitals of New York, Jersey City and
Brooklyn as are purely non-sectarian.
Neither in their associations nor in their
charities will the Plattdeutscher have
aught to do with creeds or politics Po-
liticsl discussion is strictly barred in the
association. II a hospital wants to know
any more about man than that he is sick
or wounded before admitting him for
treatment, then that hospital gets none
Of the Plattdeutscher money.
In this respect OF its charity feature the
annual Union Hill LoGey Island differs
again from Coney Island. for It is not the
popular impression that Coney Island by
the sea il run on an eleernosynary basis.
But in other and outward appearances
the Union Hill Sunday, during Platt-
deutsche week, ia section of Coney Island
removed bodily and dropped down Ill tina.
peaceful neighborhood. 1t overflows away
beyond the borders Of the park itself
You come across it's flags by day ard it's
Chinese lanterns by night, its frankfurters
and gingerbread and milk shakes. blocks
away from the main entrance.
And as for beer-well, you might swim
blissfully In lakes Of it for a quarter OF q
mile before you get into ths great beer Sea
which is, OF course, the Schuetzen Park
itself
And yet. with all the beer and with all
the thousands vi persons who we're on the
grounds drinking beer yesterday not q
single drunken person was seen--just an
orderly 5000 or 80 900 crowd Of people, all
immensely happy and all bent on seeing
everything there WAS to see.
And there was good deal 10 see. Your
twenty-flve-cent admission gives you a
good show. The programme yesterday
was long and varied one There was hi,
tight-rope walker. who made use Of a small
range, carried on his back. and cooked
tiapjacks up in the air and who, after
eating his dinner, undressed and went
comfortably to bed on his rope, pulling the
sheets and spread over him and having a
deuce OF time fighting mosquitoes. Then
there was the balloon ascension by a dis
tinguished professor from King Edwards
dominions to the north Of us; the marvel
lous acrobats and tumblers in the evening
the side splitting pantomime entitled THE
Tailor in Difficulty" a grand ballet, the
cinematograph pictures and fine band
concert.
All this you got for your rs cents, but
If you really wanted TO do the thing up
brown why Coney Island in all It's glory
could hardly produce a greater variety
of side shows or larger and fuller frank
furters or more OF EN-. to say nothing of
dancing pavilions and the merry 20 rounds
with their soothing music. When the
Plattdeutschers set out to have good
time they have it and what LIS more they
know how to have it.
There was one feature Of the fest In
former years which this year was omitted
There was no Magistrates court in session
in the grounds yesterday for the accom-
mediation OF the hayward. Former tests
have been g-aced by the visible presence
OF the majesty Of the law as represented
by a learned Police Court Justice Last
year all was 10 peaceful, with not thing
reported as finding it's way to the nirnbls
fingers OF pickpockets, that this year the
police court attraction was omitted from
the programme.