The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1904-05-29
Places of Amusement on the Pike
Are Described by Franklin Fyles
The Girls
Cairo Will Attract Attention. Hoochee Couchee Dancers
Again in Fights Advertised

J soothes the malcontents They think now
that they Will get nothing better than NOV
ing pictures and they wish they had some
bad eggs ready. But if they had they
wouldn't throw them, because what would
be the satisfaction in smashing them on
mere marionettes. Yes. this Is snow or
mechanical figures, yet so sk1llfully mace
and operated as 10 be a good entertainment
for half an hour. They are half the size or
life and quite as natural Each must re-
quire separate operator at the ends OF the
wires overhead. These wires are invisible
but they must be numerous, for they give
realistic action to the men and the beasts.
The first scene is outside the bullring. Per-
sons arrive afoot, on horseback and In car
riages They don't suggest Punch and Judy
and more lifelike than any dummies
have seen, even at the Merionette Theater
which presents plays in the Italian Theater
of New York. The second scene discloses
the arena, with tiers of seats filled by peo-
pie, some of the women tanning themselves.
some of the men gesticulatfng and all aStir
in naturalistic multitude. They make an
animated background for what ensues IN
the ring. Three mateadors walk In and
bow The toreador enters. takes off his cap
in salute and retires gracefully.
Then the bull is turned loose. Two mount
ed picadors come in TO torment him with
their darts while the mateadors goad him 10
fury with their red cloths. till he cores one
of the horses to death Then comes the
encounter between the toreador and the bull.
1t is an illusory imitation, with the spec
tators applauding and shouting, the noises
being made for them by the human OPP
orators and the orchestra providing suita-
BILE music. The end Is the death OF the
bull, of course, and his body is dragged out
the Spanish musicians play "A Hot Time in
Old Town Tonight to show that they
bear no i'll will for what we did in Cuba.
The Spanish big show here is Jai-Alai.
210 feet by i67 feet on the ground and 10
feet in height. That is to say, those are
the dimensions of the building, but two
| thirds of the space is given up TO seats for
10000 spectators. Only 247 saw the opening
public performance. was the very nrst OF
them to hand in dollar That was be-
| cause L got there an hour too early. The
treasurers office wasn't open yet, but the
| manager ordered him TO raise his window,
| and so l got the initial ticket from the
bunch for a reserved seat. The manager
! said, THANK you, sir" and maybe his graf
itude came of a foreknowledge that only
| a few dollars of the many invested in jail
| Alai would be returned that aa.ernoon. IL
| is one of the numerous very costly enter
| tainments at the fair that are uncertain
| as yet about profit or loss: When L en-
| tered, after a kill-time stroll, the manager
| bowed smilingly as though l were a mas
| cot, and the band struck up Yankee Doc
| die" 1 didn't see him signal to the leader,
| but one may as well be proud Wnen IL
| costs nothing extra, and nobody knows
about il. So / marched to my seat with
| head up as though that Spaniard and had
/ shaken hands across the bloody chaSm OF
| the Cuban war.
| Jai-Alai as practiced by the Spaniards in
| their own country is game 10 gamp.e
| with, and you may remember IL in connec-
| ton with an accusation against our Cen
| eral Wood that he improperly licensed IL
| TO a monopoly of capitalists in Havana
after our occupation Of that city. The same
| company has introduced ii here, and 1t Is
! said that they counted on pool selling for
profit in the venture. The game lends 1t
self quite as readily to that purpose as
/ horse racing, as each separate player has a
score OF his own in every inning, aside from
the success or defeat of his team. st.
| Louis has never dealt ha-shly with the doc
! tors of chance, from pool sellers to three
| card monte fiippers, but the authorities
| have decided that none of those tricky
| trades shall be piled near the fair And
| Jai-Alai is just over the fence from the
| grounds. So the Cubans cut off from
| expected revenue and must depend on a.
| possible popularity of the sport itself TO
save their money.
VIII Jai-Alai be payingly attractive with
out the betting adjunct? 1t is much like
| lawn tennis and handball, and little like
| baseball, but lacks the variety of our ma
/ tional game IL is exhibited on low plat
| form thirty-six feet wide and 200 feet long,
| against wall opposite the tiers of spec
/ tators' seats. The player has wicker ex-
| tension fastened firmly TO his right wrist
| and hand. The appliance suggests one of
| those baskets in which Spanish red wine
| is served in modish hotels, so that IL may
| not be shaken by setting up the bottles on
the table after it has been lying down in
| the bin. But it Is longer and shaped more
like narrow spoon. 1t is used like
elongated hand to throw the ball against
the wall at one end of the platform and to
catch 1t on the rebound. There are various
| rules and regulations. but the purpose is TO
keep the ball in motion Whenever a man
J let's 1t touch the ground for more than a
single bound il counts a point for the other
side.
| The swift. supple and usually graceful
activity of the Spaniards. as they catch
the ball in their castas, or basket-hands
like tennis players with rackets, and throw
IL back against the end wall like a base
ball pitcher with an arm five feet long
makes an animated show. The six who
| served in the game that l saw bore names
that looked In the programme like Eczema
Tonsiitis, Ataxia, Meningitis Hysteria and
| Delirium. But the men stood for robust
health. All were beefy, big fellows like
| bull lighters. and three were handsome
| enough for Adonises. Girls might dote on
| them without an effort. They ought to
| be snapshot for moving pictures. BY using
| the camera at the most violent portion of
the game and by turning the crank of the
| protective machine fast, Jai-Alai might be
expedited adyantageously.
| Are you in hurry TO be told about the
Cairo street. which. of course leads off
| from the Pike? Ii is the same that il was
in Chicago except that what is done in the
theater is different in the direction of
| decency. The Cairo girls are on the stage.
but only pair of them. and their dancing.
though wicked. is less so than il was in
| Chicago. The bosses of the fair have CEN
sored this show, but maybe they will get
| too busy with other affairs when the
crowds come. TO keep tab on this one And
the weather has been cool in May. The
temperature Will rise in June. The sirens
are ready and willing to so as far beyond
consciousness into salaciousness as the au-
thorities Will let them. II that happens
other and grosser members of the troupe
| will be introduced.
The two chosen to begin wear blue tunics
and loose. red trousers. in the harem fash
| Ion. Until their time comes they sit drows-
| lily in the row of eight native musicians.
| Suddenly the curiously suggestive tune of
| the Egyptian wiggle-waggle dancers starts
| up-that air with which some rearrange-
| ment and accumulation spread over the
country from the Chicago fair with a ditty