Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1906-08-23
REFORMED C0NEY ISLAND WIDELY COPIED.
Change That Has Forced the Popcorn Man to Refresh His Stock Every
Day-"GYe a Man Five Times His Moneys Worth and
He Will Come Ten Times"


A.NeeeeeeeeeESeeeseeeeGeGs
bright and funny. To my mind It's
just another proof of the fact that
nine people out of ten would rather
be good than bad"
A little looking about the place
seemed to bear out this last state
ment.
why" declared big policeman,
1--WE served pretty nearly everywhere
in the city, and Coney's about the
best place I've struck. It's a regular
Sunday-school picnic here most Of
the time"
But it used to have bad reputa.
tion?"
Bad, we'll, I guess yes, but that
was before l came. Why, I've heard
some of the old fellows say that"
The same story was told at the sta
tion house; the arrests for disorderly
conduct have fallen off almost fifty
per cent in the last five years, de.
spite the growth of the place.
Down on the Bowery, a dance-hall
keeper corroborated the police testi.
mony. Five years ago." said he,
1--WE kept six 'bouncers busy here
every night. Now the floor superin-
tendent does the whole business.
The city authorities have recog-
nized the change and have aided in
it, Water supply and drainage, clean
streets and efficient police protection
have followed. And all this has
brought also a change in the charac.
ter of the patrons. With the bad
shows eliminated and the strong
hand of the police to be relied on,
this change in the class of patrons
followed naturally. And with every
thing to gain by the keeping of good
order the amusement people them
selves have naturally been the strong
est upholders of the law and order
regime.
Chances For Actors of Merit.
Another important result of the
new methods Is noticed in the
changed character of the shOWmen
and their employees. Time was when
Coney Island and similar resorts were
hotbeds of crooks and panhandlers of
the worst description. To-day they
afford an excellent opportunity for
actors and actresses to continue their
work and for young college students
to obtain employment that will help
pay their next years schooling.
There are as many as thirty or forty
of these employed at the baths and
in other capacities. The big produc-
tions such as Fighting the Flames"
and the Great Train Robbery" en-
ploy many trained actors, the last
named going to the extent of employ
ing an actual member of the famous
Dalton gang in their effort to provide
q true-to-life production that will be
In every respect worth the admis-
sion fee.
From Coney Island the new idea
Ill SululueI dHiuSciHthlS opiciu IL
might be imagined that the old style
show, being driven from that place.
would find a lodgment somewhere
else. But that is not the case. APP
parently the showmen came to the
conclusion that the appeal of the old
fake show was too limited a patron
age to be worth while. The two re-
sorts that come nearer to the old sort
are North Beach and South Beach,
but except in their cheapness they
have very little similarity to the old
Coney Island. They, too, are devel-
oping along the lines of their most
famous prototype. order is rigidly
preserved, and with very few eXcep-
tions the amusements are of a clean.
legitimate character. Two other
nearby resorts Glen Island and
Fort George-are now being rebuilt
and developed on an elaborate scale
along somewhat different lines from
Coney Island, to be sure, but with
the same recognition of the sort of
amusement that the people care most
for
At Coney Island it was noticed
that when great amounts of money
were invested in amusement places
the city at once came forward and
performed it's duty as to civic iT-
provements. The same thing has
been true throughout the country.
AS soon as the resorts cease to be
menaces to public morals and become
places of really innocent amusement,
the municipal authorities are glad to
recognize them and give them the op-
portunity to become even more sta
BILE and permanent. Such an attitude
on the part of city authorities is un'
imaginable in connection with the
old-style resort. Perhaps a majority
of such suburban resorts were orig
inally built up by transportation COM
panies, largely by street railway COM
panies. Sometimes it was to these
promoters interests to establish a
really high-class resort, as in the
case of Norumbega Park, near Bos-
ton, but more often 1t was decidedly
to their interest to make it as cheap
and popular as possible. AS long as
the only sort Of resort known was
the fake variety, the street railway
resorts were almost entirely of this
sort. But now these have also felt
the effects of the change of the last
few years, and many of them have
benefited by it to such an extent that
they have either been taken into the
city park system or connected with it
by means of parkways or boulevards.
Indeed, no phase of the lighter side
of American life has been so utterly
hanged-lfted from the gutter, as
it were, and clothed with respecta-
bi1;ty ctamned with the aDDrOyal of