The Waterbury Democrat., 1935-08-17
In New York
BY PAUL HARRISON

-N6Wfl VIM " AUS 49,
breathes no man with soul SO
atrophied that he doesn't get a
kick out Of Coney Island.
Your correspondent, for exam
pie, follows an ordinary daily rou-
tine Of roller-coasting on the ele-
waited trains, swooping through
subway tunnels, being hurled this
way and that in the back seats Of
taxicabs, diving in high-speed ele-
vators, being jostled by crowds
in the carnival of Broadway, and
listenin gto the clangor and bally-
hoo and roar of the voice OF the
city. G <f ..y.
Yet I always make an annual
pilgrimage to the Mecca of sucker
dom to do my share of jostling
and gawking and din-making. l
play games of skill" land happily
never win any prizes. go on the
new rides, paying for the fun Of
being whirled, hurled, lifted,
dropped, whanged, banged, deaf
ened and dizzied.
Unseen Gaicty
One OF the 5000 other Gus
toners the other evening was a
blind man. A barker, who often
sees the old fellow, told me about
him. He was moderately well-to-
do when he lost his sight Is, years
ago, SO he became a year-around
resident Of Coney Island, where
the sounds and smells keep him
in closer touch with life that's
all gayety. He feels 1t, too. Every
few weeks, guided by some whoop-
ing small boy, he goes, on roller
coasters and whips. and the loop
the-loop - everything that will
shake. swing, bump and thrill
him. ".
If that man suddenly should see
again, 1t would be interesting to
learn what changes in the worlds
largest playground would most
impress him. I doubt that he'd
be as shocked by bathing cost
tunes as by the conduct of the
bathers. Coney tries rather grim
ly to be modest . Men can't go
shirtless on the beach, nor women
skirtless on the boardwalk. Dane
ing gals on the outside platforms
of sideshows, however, can wear
next to nothing. And within are
all manner OF facts-of-life exhib-
its, together with some Of the
more revolving blunders Of nature.
Gambling Eliminated
Our blind man would find the
resort treating Its sucker trade
with new consideration. Outright
gambling games have been ousted.
Every machine Is licensed now,
and every proprietor and attend
ant photographed and finger
printed. Weight-guessers do moth
ing more than estimate the bulk
of each patron. Not SO many
years ago weight-guessing was
one Of the most lucrative pitches
at Coney Island because scale
men ran their hands over custom
ers, noted the locations. Of wallets
or rolls Of bills, then passed along
the information to pickpockets.
Machines to test blood pressure
are the newest think in pitches
Only a dime, ten cents, folks, to
tell whether your health is okay
... You can find out about your
chest expansion, too. And your
grip, and the number of foot
pounds of energy in a haymaker
slammed into a punching bag.
1t has been years, though, since
I've seen the old county-fair IA
vorite where you smack a stake
with a sledgehammer and zing a
weight, skyward toward a bell.
II his sight suddenly. were re-
stored, our blind man would get a
pretty fair resume of recent crime
history by visiting the wax mu-
seums. He'd learn about the ma
chine-gunning of Vincent Coll,
and the fate OF the Millen brothers
and Faber. He'd stare lat the elec-
trocution of y Eva Coo. and would
see just how it was that John Dill.
linger got his come-uppance al
the hands Of .G.men while the wo-
man In Red looked on--this one
with an expression of rather quiz.
zical amusement.
"Quinns' HeadIined
A particularly cory exhibit rep.
resents the beheading OF tbs
Baroness Won .Faikenhayn last
February in Berlin. The kidnap.
ing epidemic has only two exam,
ples-little June Robes conflled
in her desert dungeon, and . mar
who unmistakab1y Ia Bruno
Hauptman carrying child down
a ladder.
Popular as the. horror cases are
the likeneeses that set top biilinl
at both museums are the Dionn'
quintuplets. say ''likenesses'
inadvisedly. because the little wa,
figures look Hike nothing more
than dolls. The scene Mt the IA
NOUS old Eden Musee % supposet
Ito represent the quing firat birth
| day. and each child ia seated be