OCR Text |
Show When Young America iGoes to ' the Jfair jooes co w, urn By ELMO SCOTT WATSON W 1 ,J V f ftff f i fl JmMH I HDRSDAY of every week Is Young America's day at - " " Yt-VKx ! 1T the 1934 Century of Progress exposition in Chicago. IN H V, fe "C For that is the day when boys and girls under the i& ' Vf I'lVpiX' I X l age of twelve are admitted to the grounds for a T S"TT V F IaF W oW nickel and the concessionaires make a special price to VjS$r ' ' ' 1 -f-VVv fast" A L rwmiu. the youngsters. And does Young America take advan- V?""' 4 f V feijf 0& - Tl tage of the opportunity for seeing at this small cost ( ,A V ! j jrV4fw J SX vrfi.l the modern version of "the greatest show on earth"? A ? t iV f I 'C He (and she) does Indeed! , f $ , 7 tf 5 3 fL " k J They come by the scores, by the hundreds, by the thousands. 41. ' " -fV ? 1 ff ' ' I" A They pour through the various entrances and scatter to all parts of vV - if.' V f I the exposition grounds, there to see all the wonders of modern - JP-lL 'sd v "'v . tiwwt 1 "' ' science and industry and Invention which is spread before them tes f ? ,Tf IJ!" and to enjoy all the different forms of amusement indulged in when L . v Ss V m l t youth takes a holiday. This day the world is very much their 1 jXT yfTlTJl yi oyster, and they know it. c 1 S31 "'J Hi?; fS If you happen to visit the fair on a Thursday and, in the ( Jy J IGwtw, , I midst of these juvenile crowds, find yourself saying, "I didn't know ' Hl''4' -VN there were this many children in the world where do they all come from?" f-' ''$$ ' ponder for a moment upon this statement: The sight you may be seeing Is as a IjJ? $ " k J'tf?',f nothing, compared to the sight which you would have seen at the fair If you Si-A 2 "". K"1' &k 'W8W 4S. had been there on Thursday, May 31, 1934. Aye, that was a day! The like f&Jt3 ? s V i-X of it has probably never been seen before and may never be seen again. A m,-sn1 '1? 4c'. ""v1 It was the first "children's day" of the 1034 fair. The Chicago schools lpJkS V Tf had been closed for the occasion. To the youthful part of Chicago's three 7s v si5fjvl x 4 and a third millions were added several thousand more from the outlying S- f" C'PA TKJ " 'tl Cook county towns, from other counties near by and even from points in li? i , T' 3 Indiana, Wisconsin and Michigan. fe'l" V s "Ji'rji ' J; Wf"1. ' Over 500,000 boys an girls, over half a million pushing, shoving, wrig- " jfv? V J '"Aj.W gling, whooping, super-charged-with-energy units of young humanity descended ' W?i ' 'v "" s upon the fair. They broke last year's one-day attendance record of 367,004 fc)!"i?5 Jv ? f 4 'V5' VVS8 jT v made on September 4, 1933. They broke all one-day attendance records of rj ? J - v1 any fair anywhere, with the exception of the record of 761,942 on Chicago x ? Cl'vf ' bp' f day at the World's Columbian exposition of' 1S93. That wasn't the only thing V I tt si -tf they broke but that's another story ! ivS-.iA xf Early on the morning of that historic May 31 they began streaming toward k , - i f the fair grounds. Massed from rail to rail on ' fi ' " S 'Sr the painted bridges, they moved forward slowly F ' 1 - If t$ I j but unceasingly, toward the turnstiles. Half an the Hall of Science as far as the eye could see ' itJ j -spl ) hour before the time to open the gates they were these thousands of boys and girls were moving j Vp Dacked tight about the seven entrances. north and south so close together that the streets n i By ELMO SCOTT WATSON I 1 HDRSDAY of every week Is Young America's day at the 1934 Century of Progress exposition in Chicago. For that is the day when boys and girls under the age of twelve are admitted to the grounds for a nickel and the concessionaires make a special price to ywyyupy the youngsters. And does Young America take advan-'cis$ advan-'cis$ tase of the opportunity for seeing at this small cost feYYvga. the modern version of "the greatest show on earth"? He (and she) does Indeed! They come by the scores, by the hundreds, by the thousands. They pour through the various entrances and scatter to all parts of the exposition grounds, there to see all the wonders of modern science and industry and Invention which is spread before them and to enjoy all the different forms of amusement indulged in when youth takes a holiday. This day the world is very much their oyster, and they know it. If you happen to visit the fair on a Thursday and, in the midst of these juvenile crowds, find yourself saying, "I didn't know there were this many children in the world where do they all come from?" ponder for a moment upon this statement: The sight you may be seeing Is as nothing, compared to the sight which you would have seen at the fair If you had been there on Thursday, May 31, 1934. Aye, that was a day! The like of it has probably never been seen before and may never be seen again. It was the first "children's day" of the 1934 fair. The Chicago schools had been closed for the occasion. To the youthful part of Chicago's three and a third millions were added several thousand more from the outlying Cook county towns, from other counties near by and even from points in Indiana, Wisconsin and Michigan. Over 500,000 boys an4 girls, over half a million pushing, shoving, wriggling, wrig-gling, whooping, super-charged-with-energy units of young humanity descended upon the fair. They broke last year's one-day attendance record of 367,004 made on September 4, 1933. They broke all one-day attendance records of any fair anywhere, with the exception of the record of 761,942 on Chicago day at the World's Columbian exposition of 1S93. That wasn't the only thing they broke but that's another story ! Early on the morning of that historic May 31 they began streaming toward the fair grounds. Massed from rail to rail on, ' the painted bridges, they moved forward slowly but unceasingly, toward the turnstiles. Half an hour before the time to open the gates they were packed tight about the seven entrances. From outlying parts of the city came the news that street cars, "L" trains and busses were, jammed beyond capacity with youngsters bound for the fair. Immediately trders were sent out summoning all exposition policemen off duty to report at once. Five hundred exposition employees em-ployees were sworn in as special officers. Meanwhile Mean-while every passing moment saw the crowds outside the gates growing denser and denser. Up from the milling mob rose a strange variety vari-ety of cries "We want in! Let's go ! Hey, stop your shovin' ! Lay off, youse guys! Look out! Ya nearly jammed me in the eye with that lollipop ! Hey, that Ice cream bar Is meltin' and drippln' all down my back ! Oh, I've dropped the sack with my lunch In It! Stop pushin' ! Quit your crowdin'! Stop it, I tell you!" Bewildered gatemen tried in vain to hold them back. The turnstiles couldn't click fast enough to let them through. A hurry-up call was sent for 200 city policemen then for 200 more. In the administration building telephones were ringing wildly, incessantly. From box offices came word of exhausted ticket supplies, of turnstiles turn-stiles out of commission and of guards trying vainly to maintain an orderly flow of eager youngsters through the gates. Then came the news that the crowds were becoming absolutely unmanageable. They were forcing their way through the service entrances through which supplies are brought into the grounds. They 1 were beginning to scale the walls. They were dropping down inside by the hundreds and paralyzing para-lyzing the bus traffic which runs just inside the western walls. Officials of the fair realized that something must be done quickly in order to avoid Injury to the youngsters jammed outside the gates. "Let ' 'em all in free!" was the order flashed out. All gates, including the service entrances were thrown wide open. And then the deluge! , Attempts to coin appropriate similes for the sight which followed failed. One observer said "like a swarm of hungry locusts." Another compared com-pared It to the stampede of a vast herd of Texas Bteers. "The surge came up and across the causeways cause-ways in a spectacle seldom If ever seen before certainly never seen before in an American city," declared one eye-witness. Can you visualize a crowd of 500,000 people? Remember there are only 13 American cities which have more than a population of 500.000 and in the largest of these the density of population popu-lation is less than 5.000 to the square mile, or 640 acres. Now, the Century of Progress grounds comprise loss than 400 acres of available "walking "walk-ing space." Pour 500,000 people into that amount of space, and what do you get? A crowd, of course. Yes, the fair was "crowded" on May 31. It would have been crowded even If the horde of youngsters had been evenly distributed about the grounds, which they weren't. They streamed down the Avenue of Flags in an endless procession proces-sion of closely packed humanity to which only the milling crowds at Forty-second and Broadway Broad-way in New York and State and Madison in Chicago are comparable. From the terraces of the Hall of Science as far as the eye could see f:s these thousands of boys and girls were moving north and south so close together that the streets themselves seemed to be moving. So steady was the stream of young visitors across the bridges over the lagoon that solid lines of policemen were stretched across the approaches to prevent the weight of too many from endangering the structures. struc-tures. Over on the Enchanted Island, the part of the fair most popular with Young America, the congestion con-gestion became so great that it was necessary to establish and enforce a one-way traffic rule. The eager youngsters massed ten deep around some pf the amusement centers and from 25 to 50 deep around others. Some of them spent most of their day standing in line, waiting for a chance to ride on the ferris wheel, or roller-coaster roller-coaster or slide down a synthetic mountain. But if many of them were Intent upon such pleasures, there were thousands of others who jammed the exhibit buildings until every aisle was packed solidly with a slow-moving throng. It was In some of these buildings that other things besides records were broken. In justice to Young America, however, it must be stated that officials in charge of the Hall of Science, one of the principal points of attraction, say that the crowd there was mainly an orderly one and more easily handled than an adult crowd of the same size. But sightseeing wasn't their only activity. There was the matter of eating and drinking to be taken care of. Early In the day It was announced an-nounced that 125,000 bottles of milk would be distributed free. It was, and It vanished like a light summer shower on the face of the Sahara desert. In the struggles around the booths where It was distributed some of the bottles were broken brok-en and this caused the only serious injuries of the day a few minor cuts from the shattered bottles. So the milk disappeared (as did hundreds of thousands of hot dog and hamburger sandwiches, thousands of gallons of ice cream and of soft drinks, and hurry-up calls for fresh supplies were sent out throughout the day) and there was left behind all over the grounds a trail of discarded dis-carded milk bottles and pop bottles. A force of 200 extra workmen, called into service to gather up the abandoned glassware, the papers, the boxes and other trash, which was ankle deep In places, soon gave up hope of picking up all these things one at a time. So they brought shovels and scooped the debris into wheelbarrows. wheelbar-rows. And they were scooping far, far Into the night. By the middle of the afternoon the surging crowds through the entrances had died down to a thin trickle. All over the grounds tired youngsters, young-sters, heedless of "Keep Off the Grass" signs, were stretched out In every available spot of shade. The hot sun had wilted most of them and overcome some. These were rushed to the hospital hos-pital maintained by the fair, given a bath and made to rest for awhile. Lifeguards in canoes and motor boats were kept busy patrolling the lagoon to see to it that no venturesome youngster young-ster tumbled in, but they couldn't stop many of them from (!''ing shoes and stockings and splashing hot, tired feet in the cool water anj Above are pictures taken on May 31, which was the first "Children's day" at the 1934 Century Cen-tury of Progress exposition In Chicago, and which broke all attendance records for the Fair. 1. "What's your name, little girl, and where do you live?" A Travelers' Aid Society worker talking to one of the 1,400 children who were "lost" in the crowds. 2. This Is how the Avenue of Flags looked during most of the day when 500,000 children invaded the Fair grounds. 3. Guards and other employees of the Fair formed human chains In an effort to restrain the children awaiting their turn to get In. more than guards on shore could stop others from jumping into pools and fountains in various vari-ous stages of dress and undress. Refreshed by such interludes they were off again to join the mob still milling everywhere through the grounds as individuals, In couples, in groups chaperoned by harassed teachers trying try-ing In vain to keep track of their charges. One teacher solved the problem by using lengths of string to tie 16 of them together, wrist to wrist. As she led the way through the grounds, they trailed along behind her like the tail of a kite that is, until they attempted to spread out In the midst of the crowd. Then "tangle" Is a mild word to describe the resulting situation. She didn't lose any of her little flock, however, but there were plenty of "lost children" that day 1,400 of them to be exact, fourteen hundred who became separated from parents or teachers or companions. But thanks to a "clearing house" maintained by the Travelers' Aid society all of the lost were found eventually. Urged by the public address system to seek their stray charges at the society's headquarters, anxious parents and teachers stood in line for hours until policemen police-men or Fair attendants pushed their way through the crowd with their weeping charges. Older children who knew where they lived were given carfare and sent home. Younger ones were comforted com-forted by the young women In charge of the "clearing house" and an harassed staff of overworked over-worked volunteer assistants. By the time evening came and the thousands of twinkling lights which adorn the buildings of the fair were being reflected In the waters of the lagoon, an army of weary youngsters was trudging trudg-ing its way to the exit By 9 o'clock the shrill clamor which had echoed throughout the buildings build-ings all day was dying down to a murmur. There were still thousands of children in the grounds but after the spectacle of the day those grounds seemed strangely deserted. By midnight all of them had gone except for C5 unfortunate youngsters young-sters who were still "unclaimed" at the "clearing "clear-ing house." But by 1 :30 in the morning the very last of these had been returned safely home. And policemen. Fair attendants, concessionaires, street car conductors, exposition officials (yes, and teachers and parents, tool) heaved the biggest big-gest sigh of relief in their lives. The record-breaking record-breaking first "children's day" at the 1934 fair was over. by Western Newspaper Union. |