Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-06-17

to get a ticket before he would bulge.
He stuck it out in good shape, too, but
in the meantime there were possibly
who were pushing and edging their
way to the entrance.
The patrolman vas helpless every
time the crowd surged toward the
gates. He merely had the chance to
throw up his hands and urge the crowd
to take it easy" He was as help
less as Joe Borrell in the fifth round
of his battle with Irish Patsy Cline. But
there was no referee to stop the battle
at the gates and the patrolman in
side merely--well, he just stood his
ground.
Several women in the crowd were
crushed. 1t might have been worse
had the crowd started any rough house.
But everybody seemed good natured
and, while the fans rallied at the abso-
lutte lack of any executive ability in
crowd handling, they did their -durn-
dest to make the best of the situation.
Detectives on Hand
The same situation was staged at the
several other entrances to the park.
Detectives were scattered through the
crowds to keep their eyes open for pick
pockets, but there was a lack of pa
trolmen to handle the crush. The
streets were jammed by automobiles of
every description. Crowds lined both
sides of Huntingdon and Fifteenth
streets, and Broad street was thronged
clear into the center of the thorough
fare.
Many of the fans who hadn't pur-
chased tickets in advance were up
against a wait of several hours before
they could get near enough to the
ticket windows to plank down their
money for the cardboards. Those with
tickets, jammed in with the prospective
purchasers. Many got into the wrong
entrances, but by the time the patrol
man on the inside had warned them
to ''go round to the other gate," il
was virtually impossible for them to
move one way or the other.
No Ushers In Sight
Once on the inside the fans faced a
situation that was even more chaotic.
No ushers in sight and thousands look
ing helplessly about the grandstands foI
their seats. Many of them found the
section and the row in which they had
been placed, but they were up against
the proposition of taking what seats
they could land.
Usually the fans found their reserved
seats occupied by other fans. There wa
no use of any arguments. The fight
had started on time aud those fortu
nate enough to get on the inside earl.
in the evening were bowling to the, ,un
avoidsbly detained late corners to Isl
down." But most of them found no plac
to sit.
The marines were down on the bal
park turf. There wasn't any person i
sight who looked like an usher and
was a case of grab what they could &c
and be grateful that they had got insid
the turnstiles.
Crowds three and four deep lined tn
aisles and cross entrances to the reserv
2 ed seat sections. They pushed and edge
. their way along with the fans in fron
, Of them. And il they were lucky to fin
S an unoccupied chair they just droppe
e into il or climbed sover an aisle or tw
of chairs and made the best of things.
e Fans with reserved seat tickets |
b their hands crowded the stairways an
e sat on the pavilion girders. They line
e the aisles to the rear of the pavilion
and hung on as best they could. All I'll
0 while they rallied and howled Mt ii
management and denounced the failui
/, Of the fight promoters properly to hand
I the situation,