The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1903-08-14
"PURPLE DAY.
GRAND SUCCESS
Salt Lake Turns Out En- Masse
to Help EIks.
A RECORD BREAKING CROWD
EVERYBODY HAD A GOOD TIME
"AND THEN SOME"
A RECORD BREAKING CROWD

~ HE Elks of Utah. with a sprinkling
from Idaho ana Wyoming, had
the best time of tneir lives yester-
day afternoon and evening at the Salt
Palace. The occasion was the celebra-
ton Of Purple Day" by the members
Of the local lodge. 1t was given in
honor of the visiting Elks from
throughout the state, who had come to
Salt Lake City to attend the first an
nual state convention, which had been
held the day before in the lodge room
of the club building on South State
street.
The festivities began with a street
parade in the afternoon. The column
left the club building shortly before ?
O'Clock and traVersed the business sec
ton of the city en- route to Fifth South
on State street. where cars were taken
direct to the Salt Palace. And then
the fun began.
Elks Made a General Hit.
Matters dragged a little during the
afternoon because Il was too warm for
people to get out and enthuse. But
when evening came, and Elks and citi-
zens adjourned to the resort. matters
livened up. and continued to enliven at
night, At that hour the Salt Palace
grounds were thronged with men, wo-
men, children and Elxs. who were cele-
brating Purple Day" in a manner
which best became their conscience.
The Midway prepared by the EIks
drew large crowds all afternoon and
evening. In il was a Chinese tea gar
den. in which real Cinnamon and Chi
nese girls served tea and Flowery
Kingdom sweetmeats. Then there was
the art collection. 1t was like going
into the British museum without a
guide book. You could never tell what
was what and the why and foTness Of
affairs. But with the catalogue every
thing was made perfectly clear-as
clear as mud, as a school boy would
say. The names given the pictures was
the joke Of the collection. The laugh
ter elected was sufficient evidence to
prove that the art collection alone was
worth the price of admission.
Side Shows Were Patronized.
Then came the wild man Of BOrneo-
imported at great expense by the
Elks Hundreds parted with 10 cents
during the afternoon and evening to
see the dusky individual. That he
made hit was attested TO by the num-
Der Of people who went back a second
time TO see him. The whirling Dervish
v
so many times a minute early in the
evening that he lost his head and
slipped a cog and was left standing the
remainder of the evening to be adj
mired By the crowd
The art collection Of Artist A. L
LOvey. the cartoonist of The Herald.
was literally patronized People who
have laughed at his funny pictures in
the morning issues Of The Herald
awaited themselves of the opportunity
of seeing the drawings in the original.
As for the wheel of fortune-it was a
wonder. Every blank won a prize and
every prize was a winner. 1t was ono
Of tho~a affairs at which a person could
not lose if he tried. The people paid
their money, got a paddle and waited
until the wheel went around, and then
they walked up and selected a prize.
And the prize was worth walking up
for.
Record Breaking Crowd.
The crowd was the biggest that ever
congregated at the Salt Palace. It
came early in the afternoon to avoid
the crush and remained until the wee
sma' hours of the morning, when the
crush left. Manager Myers said he
never saw such a crowd down there
in his life. And as for spending
money, they took the first prize.
EVERY BODY had nttle or the long
green when they went down and parted
company with il ia easy stages
throughout the afternoon and evening
until there was "nothin' doin'" later
on, when the moon began to rise.
The Purple Day" was a success.
Those who didn't have a good time
were not looking for it. In the time Of
Nero every road led 20 Rome. Last
night every street car in the city ran
down TO the Salt Palace, and more than
1000 people contributed a nickel apiece
to get there" And once they arrived
upon the scene they were 10th to
leave.
Such a hit did the side shows Of the
Elks make that they will be continued
this evening and Saturday night. T.
was a day from beginning to end that
one will not soon forget, and
Then some"