The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1930-05-19
CONEY ISLANDS
: SUNDAY OPENING
T COMPLETE FLOP
Many New Attractions Idle
as Chilly Day Keeps
Gotham at Home.
BY PAUL w. WHITE
United Press STAFF Correspondent

NEW YORK, May 19.-It was a
chill gray day carrying the threat
of a downpour and as a result the
Coney Island concessionaires, their
carousels, rides and even their hot
dogs shined up for the first Sunday
of the summer season, were left
sadly cycling empty cash registers
today.
Nor did the ocean cooperate any
petter than the sun. Only swim
mers with more respect for news-
paper photographers than for COM
fort, dared the surf. Altogether,
the casts best known pleasure re-
sort. one which during the hot
months will entertain 100000
visitors, opened with a thud. Tr'In.
. Saturdays crowd reached 300, },
but it was Sunday when New York
ers get their day of, that big bust
ness was expected.
Many New Attractions
Nevertheless, a journey to the
sRo-and-a-half square miles which
during blistering Sundays to come,
viii provide relief from the heat and
from drabness showed that "Coney"
Is replete with fresh attractions.
Take, for instance, Luna park.
Among the new exhibits in its gaudy
acreage in a mammoth cyclorama
painting repicting Little America"
fear Admiral Bryd's base, and the
vicinity of the Antarctic. This ar
tistic gesture on which fifty paint
ers exercised their skill, cost some
SIS, 900.
The eSthetic impulse is observ-
able. also at SteeplechaSe. Luna's
rival, with its thirty-five rides and
101 other attractions. There Willy
Pobany, noted scenic artist and
magazine illustrator, was commits
stoned to supply modern colorings
and designs to the gay buildings.
Not for Finer Things
: But it is not exactly for the finest
things of life that the throngs pack
Coney Island. No, it is for the
SLindy Loop" "Leaping Lena" and
the Cyclone" the "Thunderbolt, "
SRed Bug" and 1.-THE Shooter
roller coasters with their 110-foot
drops, the wheels that put one
little nearer the sky and the crazy
houses where you pay for insults to
your intelligence.
Or perhaps it is for Monkey
Island" or a ride on "Topsy," the
7,00o-pound elephant. or for dane
ing, or swimming pools, or side
shows, or the infant incubator ex-
hibit which as every one should
know by now is educational, in
structive, scientific and divert
A-n-g, LADIES' and gennulmun."
1t may be, though, that you care
not to watch, but to show your own
skill. So you gather at the shoot
ing galleries, the games in which
you try to roll a ball into bucket,
the weight-lifting counter, the hoop
tossing concession, or any of a
thousand and-one other competi-
tons in which all you can lose is a
few cents and your dignity, and all
you can win is a doll and self
esteem.
No Limit to Food
And should it be food rather
than foolishnesS that brings you,
there is no limit. Along the three
mile boardwalk are scores of stands
equipped to satisfy QegaD thirst and
hunger. Then, too, if you be not
satisfied with such delicacies as salt
water taffy, frankfurters, orange
juice, buttermilk and ice cream
WaffleS you can adjourn to any one
of a hundred restaurants where
are served "shore-dinnerS." CLANS,
Holsters, sole-everything your APP
petite for marine congestibles can
encompass provided.
AS for the beach itself, few re-
strictions will be put on the bath
ers this year. Captain James
Gillen of the Coney Island police
precinct said that leniency would
be the rule in the matter of bath
ing costumes, but that no change
from street attire to bathing suits
would be permitted in automobiles.
Furthermore, he said, petting on the
beach. boardwalk and other places
would be banned. But the rides
through park tunnels and the fer
ris wheel9 that rise out Of the glare
into the inky night-they will be