Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-05-19

is no longer uncommon for Coney Island to
have 100000 visitors on a hot summer day.
In midsummer the great Boardwalk and the
mammoth beach of Atlantic City are
jammed the whole day through. The am
nual baby parade at Asbury Park always
brings out thousands of gayly bedecked
spectators.
Philadelphia is famous for its trolley line
companys amusement park crowds. Over a
tenth of the city's population has been
known to collect on a holiday at beautiful
Willow Grove Park. and many as 200
persons have squeezed into Woodside Park
on the Fourth.
All summer long great crowds flock to
Fairmont Park for fresh air. but that mu-
crowds are dissipated almost as soon as they
enter the gates.
Thirty-five thousand persons have congre-
gated In one place to witness game OF
foot ball. Indeed. a championship game of
foot bah Is sure to bring out a large crowd
of Americans young and old. a foot ball
game crowd is perhaps the best natured of
all this country's crowds. 1t is certainly the
most colorful. with the gay dresses of
thousands of women and the college eolors
IN evidence In the shape of flags, banners,
bunting and rosettes of ribbon. And what
American crowd can make more noise and
keep at 1t longer, seemingly without becom-
ing fatigued?
Somber Base Ball Gathering.
The somber appearance of our base ball
crowds is explained by the presence of very
few women. The base ball crowd Is about
the only one of our pleasure-seeking crowds
that Is not made up in good part of men,
bers of the colorful sex. It is a strictly
masculine crowd, with harsh masculine
way of expressing its pleasure or displeas-
ure The least thing sways it: it is just
the sort of crowd that slver-tongued ora
tor delights to seize with strong sentence
or two and carry with him to the end OF
his speech.
Though ha hall has hepO n0pnIoy
years longer than the great autumn game,
it is only within recent years that the rec
ord base ball crowds pressed the record
foot ball crowds close The biggest base
ball crowd ever assembled was that which
witnessed the final game in last years
world championship series. 1t numbered
about $4,000, and took complete possession
of the Polo grounds.
AS a general rule the American crowd Is
well behaved, giving little trouble to the
police and others advantageously placed
for emergency work. Foreign visitors have
remarked on the good nature of the crowds
gathered to watch the election returns;
they have been astonished at the way In
which supporters of victorious and defeat
ed candidate vie with each other in maxi
ing election night noises. The lack of sui
lenness ON the part of the defeated Is in
dicatiye of American character.
The crowd that daily surges from Man
haitian to Brooklyn over the Brooklyn
bridge Is the most notorious of all our per-
ennial crowds. Its behavior Is scandalous,
it's good nature nil. In the struggle for car
space the finer instincts are forgotten. and
the crowd is british in the extreme from
the time the rush llomeward begins until
1t dies out two hours later. Probably more
persons have been injured on or near the
Brooklyn bridge since Its dedication than
in any other spot in the world, barring bat
ties between armies, OF course.
Death-Dealing Powers.
One of the greatest crowds of modern