The comet. (Johnson City, Tenn.) 1884-1916, 1904-04-14
AS THE PIKE "OPENS.
a Gay and Picturesque Procession
Of People of Many Nations.
A Mile and "a Half Parade of the Great
est COnglOmerotiOn of AmuSe-
ments Ever Gathered
Together.

On the afternoon of the thirtieth day
of April next there will be a spectacle
On certain mile and a half strip of
Lround in the western edge of st. Louis
s1eh as the world never saw before.
The Pike will celebrate its opening
t"at ai,ernoon. The rest of the great
Worlds Fair will have had It's open
inG ceremonies in the morning, and
0-cr aacheon The Pike will be the
center ul attraction
Director Of Concessions Norris b.
Gregg and the members of the Conces-
sionalsea Association are now arrang-
ing programme for that event. They
are no. G.yuiging the details, but it is
understood that a grand parade Of all
Pie tea,2ie5 that live and move will
lie the piece de resistance of the Gel
cbration. There are parades and pa
rados, bat this one will be different.
There WI be camels in it-oh, yes!
and elephants; but the human element
will be the really interesting thing.
Occ!Gent and Orient will be represent
Cd, and tho isles of the seas. In the
long procession that will swing up
and doGa the great street of conces-
sions there will be Turks, Egyptians,
Arabs, Persians Hindoos, Filipinos,
Africans, Spauiards Siamese, Core
ans, Japanese Chinese, and representa-
tives OF other races too numerous to
menton-2l in their picturesque ma
tive costumes.
Queer musical instruments will fur
nish marching melodies. Some of the
Orientals Will dance along in their
peculiar styles. The bowling Dervish
will howl, the whirling Dervish will
whirl, and altogether it will be a howl
ing and whirling affair.
There will be in line Jews, Gentiles
and Moslems from Jerusalem-hun-
dreds and hundreds of them. Dancing
girls from the variety theaters of
gay Seyille-yes, and from the hilari-
GUS halls of gayer Paris-will be there.
Beauties - stunning beauties - from
many European and Oriental nations
will lend the charm of their faces and
figures and their picturesque costumes
to the aggregation. Arab horses, Bar
barry steeds, sacred COWS, tailless cats
and hairless dogs will figure in the
parade.
And all along the way the thousands
of spectators will enter into the spirit
of international gayety, humming and
singing such familiar ballads as "She
Never Saw the Streets Of Cairo"
"There'll Be Hot Time in the Old
Town Tonight" and the like. For
the opening of The Pike-the worlds
greatest amusement boulevard-will
inaugurate season Of conglomerated
gayeties such as the sons and daugh-
tiers of mirth never knew before this
eyentful year Of 1904
No doubt that old gag, "It's the
warmest show that ever came down
the pike will take on a new and
more intimate meaning. There are
already built and in course of con-
struction on The Pike thirty-five i'm
portant concession enterprises, begin
ming with the Tyrolean Alps and a
village of the Tyrol at one end and
leading to an eleven-acre reproduction
OF the city of Jerusalem at the other
end, which is nearly mile and half
away. The Pike is in the shape of the
capital letter 81" the vertical stroke
being mile long. The angle of the
a. accommodates the Naval Exhibit,
the Galveston Flood and Hale's Fire
Fighters. Jerusalem is at the farther
end of the horizontal part of the 81"
All along this thoroughfare, on both
sides, are the immense buildings, Of
picturesque and odd construction, that
house the concession shows. On the
opening day The Pike will be gay
with flags and bunting, and for just
seven months thereafter it promise
to be the most interesting amusement
DISTRICT ever created.