| Show When hen Youn America Goes to J z F Fc c b bt t H a ae e yr y e ea X wt 1 a A t 4 By Sy ELMO SCOTT WATSON V 3 of er e every week Is loun loung Americas America s dapat day dap p at at the 1034 Century Centura of Progress exposition inq In q Chicago For that Is the day da when ben boys anti ana 1 girls under the age of twelve are admitted tos toi to s i the grounds for a and the concessionaires make a special price to the youngsters And does b Young America take tale advantage ad of the for seeing at this small cot cost cos t the lie modern of the greatest show on earthy earth He lIe and she docs does Indeed I i They come by the scores by bv the hundreds by the thousands thour thousands thou r r sands They pour through the various entrances and scatter K to to all parts of the exposition grounds there to see all the 4 wonders of modern science and Industry and In Invention which p Is spread before them and to enjoy all the different forms of amusement Indulged In when youth tahe takes a holiday This day the world Is very much their oyster and they know It It s If It you happen to visit the fair on a Thursday and In the midst of these juvenile crowds cro ds find Ond yourself sa saving In I didn t know there sere ere this many children In the world where world where do they all come from c ponder for a moment upon this statement The sight you may be seeing Is as nothing nothing- compared to the sight which ou s ou would ha have c seen at the theair fair air It if ou had been heen there on Thursday Mav In 31 1934 you ye Aye that was as a aday adap day dap I The like Ilke of It has probably never neer ne er been Leen seen before and may any never ne be seen again It was as the first children s day of the 1934 t fair The Chicago schools had bad been closed for the occasion To the youthful part of Chicago S three and a third millions were added several se thousand more from the outing lug Cool Cook county towns from other counties near b bi and even from points In Indiana and Michigan Over GOO boys and girls 0 user over er half a million pushing sho shoving whooping super charged ll with energy unit of young humanity descended upon the fIr fair They broke last i 3 ears ear's one day attendance record ot of O H made on September 1 1933 1033 They broke all one day one one-da attendance records of any fair anywhere with the exception except of the record of 12 on Chicago day at the orld s Columbian exposition e of 1 That wasn t the only thing they the but broke broke but that s another 1 I Parly on the morning of oC that hl historic May My hy 31 they began streaming toward to the fair grounds Massed from rom rail to rail on the painted bridges es esthey they mo moved mosed ed for forward ard slowly ly but unceasingly toward the turnstiles unit Halt Haltan an hour before the time to open the gates they were ere pad pact ed tight about the seven sc entrances torn rom outlying Ing parts of the Ule city came the news t f that street cars U L L trains and busses sere ere Jammed be beyond ond capacity with Ith youngsters bound fet ter BT the fair Immediately orders were ere sent out summonIng all exposition policemen oil ofT duty to report at once Five rive hundred expo exposition lUon em were ere sworn In as Mean 1 while every ery passing mom moment nt saw law aw the crowds ds outside ut the Ule rowing brO Ing denser and denser Up from the milling mob rose a strange ety of cries cries- cries e e w want ant nt In I Let Letsgo s go Hey stop your sho I lay ay off you youse e gu gui 1 l Look out out outi la nearly jammed rue nhe In the ce eye eJ e 0 with Ith that lollipop 1 I He that Ice cream bar Is and drippin all nIl down my back Oh Ive Ise I e dropped the sack with ray my lunch In It l I Stop I Quit your crow cross din I Stop It I tell soul voul ou I Bewildered g temen tried In vain aln to hold them hack back The turnstiles couldn t click fast enough to let theta them through A hurry up call was sent for city then policemen policemen then for tor more In Inthe C the administration building telephones were ere ringing wildly I Idly Incessantly Prom From box offices came ame word cord ord of exhausted ticket supplies of ot turn RUles Mlles out of commission an ani I of guards trying vainly to maintain an orderly flow How of eager youngsters through the gates Then came the dews cc s that the crowds were ere becoming unmanageable They hey were forcing their way ay trough through the service entrances through h which are brought Into the grounds rb The ore beginning to scale the walls calls ails The were ere down Inside by the hundreds hundred and para parn the bus Lus traffic which run runs just Inside the western estern walls walla Officials of the fair ed that something must be done quickly In order to a avoid Injury to 1 the youngsters jammed outside the tiro gates Let Let 4 gym Ul aU all In tree free I was the order flashed out A All II Including the service entrances were ere o thrown n wide open And Aud then then the tha deluge deluges I Attempts to coin appropriate similes for tor the 1 thes s which followed failed One observer Lr said huld like a swarm of hungry locusts Another corn com eared red It to the Ule va stampede of ot a vast herd henl of Texas steers The TLe surge came camo and up across t the e cause rouse causeways wa s In la a spectacle ways seldom It ever eHr seen before certainly never seen before In an nn American city declared one eye witness Can Cnn you visualize a cro crowd d of people leople there are only 13 American cults whIch have bave more than a population of ot JOO onu And nd the of these the density of Is less than C 5 to the square mile mUe or u acres Now the Century of Progress grounds less than acres of available u walk I tag log space Pour lour WO people le Into that amount ot of space and do you get A cro crowd d of If course Yes the fair wa way was crowded on May 31 It would have been crowded even en It If the horde of I youngsters had been Leen evenly enly distributed about the Care rounds Grounds which tl U py seren eren t They Tb y 1 a ar r N k yA Gk a a r lr y I Id Ia d a a a r rM rn w e I M n a at Fr t t t t Q r t Y 4 A A t x xa xa a a is su i t 4 R s down the Avenue of Flags In n an endless proves slon of ot closely pad pact ed humanity to which only the milling cro crowds ds at Forty Fort rort second and Broad Broadway Broadway way In lew ew lork lorl and State and Madison In iii Chicago are comparable I rom the terraces terrace of the Hall hail of Science as ns far tar as the eve e could see these thousands of boys bos bo a and gills were moving north and south so close together that the streets themselves es seemed to be moving mo So steady was as the stream of young visitors across the bridges 0 over er the lagoon that solid lines of policemen sere ere stretched across the approaches to prevent present pre ent the thew w eIght of too many from endangering the structures structures tures Over Oser 0 er on the Enchanted Island the put pert of the faIr most popular 0 with Ith loung America the con congestIon became so great that It was necessary to establish and enforce a one one way traffic rule The rhe eager youngsters massed ten ten deep eel around some of the amusement centers and from 25 5 to toGO 50 0 deep around others Some of them spent most of their day standing In line 0 wailing sailing mUn for n a chance to ride on the terris wheel heel or roller coaster or slide do down don n a synthetic mountain But Dut It if many of them were Intent upon such pleasures there were thousands of others who ho jammed the exhibit buildings until every aIsle was as packed solidly with Ith a 10 slow mo moving Ing thron throng It was In some of ot these buildings tint other thIngs besides records were broken brohen In justice to loun Young loung America however ho It must be stated that In n charge of the Hall HaIl of ot ScIence one of the principal points of attraction sa say v that the crowd there was mainly an orderly one aid aad more easily handled bandied than an adult crowd crossd cro d of the same size But sightseeing wasn t their only Ity There was as the matter of ot eating and ind thinking di Inking to toI tobe tobe I be e taken care of ot Laxly In the day It was an announced announced announced that bottles of ot mill milk would be distributed free It was and It vanished like a alight alight alight light summer Bummer shower mower on the face of the Sahara desert In the struggles around the booths where here hereIt It was as s as distributed some of the bottles were ere I brok broken broken rol en and this caused the only serious Injuries or of orthe the day day-a day a few minor cuts from the shattered So the mIll milk disappeared as did dill hundreds of thousands of hot bot dog and hamburger thousands of ot gallons of Ice cream and of soft drinks and hurry up calls for fresh supplies cert erL sent bent out throughout the day dil dl and there was left lert behind all over 0 er the grounds a n trail of dis discarded discarded carded cardell milk bottles and pop bottles A force of OO extras extra worl orl men called Into sen service Ice to gather up the abandoned blas Glassware ware the papers the boats and other trash which was ankle deep In places soon gave gate Ul up hope of picking up all tl ese ee things one ut a time So they brought I shovels sho and scooped the debris Into ro rows rocs s And they were Lre scooping for far nr tar far Into the night By lly the middio of the afternoon the sur surging ln ero crowds ds through the entrances had hall died dO down dOn n to toa Q a thin trickle All over o the grounds tired youn heedless of ot Keep heep Off Oft the Grub Grass signs were stretched out In every available n al spot or of shade The hot sun cun had wilted most of them nd Ind overcome some sODie these were ere ru rushed hed to the ho how vital maintained by the fair glen given a n bath and m Ide to rest for tor or awhile Lifeguards In lu canoes au and motor tor tor boats were kept busy patrolling the s s sa a 1 your name little girl and where do you live A Travelers Aid Society worker tall talking to one of the 1400 children who were lost in the crowds 2 This Is how the Avenue of Flags looked during most of the day when 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 A lagoon to see sec to It that no venturesome young youngster oung ster tumbled In but they couldn t stop man mani of them from doffing shoes and stockings and splashing hot tired feet In the cool a water cater ter any anymore anymore anymore more thin than guards on shore could stop others from Jumping Into pools and fountains In sari arl sarious arlous ous stages of dress and undress 1 I by such Interludes they were ere oil off again to join the Ule mob still milling e cry here through the grounds as Individuals In couples In groups chaperoned I by y harassed h teachers try tryIng In lag In vain aln to keep track of their charges One teacher sol solved cd the problem by using Jis lS of string to tie He 10 of them together wrist to A AS she led lell the way slay ny through the grounds they trailed along behind her like the tall of a Il 1 1 I Ite- Ite Ite that Is until they attempted to spread out In n the midst of the crowd Then tangle Is b a mild word ord to de describe the resulting situation She he didn t lose nn any ani of her little hock how ho hoever but ever I but there were plenty of lost lost children that day 1400 1 1 of them to be eC exact et fourteen hundred who became Lec-ame separated from parents or teachers or companions But thanks to a clearing house maintained maintained by the the- Tra Travelers Aid society all nil of the lost were found eventually Urged by Ly the public address addi ess s system stem to seek their stray charges nt at the society s 5 headquarters anxious parents and teachers stood In line for hours until police police- policemen policemen policemen men or Fair attendants push pushed ell their way through the cro crowd d with Ith their weeping charges Older children who ho knew where there they lived were gh en carfare and sent home lounger ones were corn forted by the young oung women In charge of the tho clearing house and an harns harassed e staff taff of 0 oser overworked er worked volunteer assistants assIstant By lly the time lime evening e came and the thousands of t h twinkling lights which adorn tho the buildings ot of the fair were sere ere being reflected In tho the waters of the lagoon an army of weary youngsters was trudgIng trudging trudgIng Ing Its way to the exit By 9 0 o 0 clock the shrill clamor which hid echoed throughout the build buildIngs buildings buildIngs I Ings all day was as d Ing do down don n to a murmur There sere ere still till thousands of children In the grounds but after the ot of the tho those rounds seemed strangely deserted By ny midnight all n of t them them had h gone except gone except for 05 unfortunate young youngsters youngsters who ho were still unclaimed at the clear clearIng 10 lag houf house e But hut by 1 30 In lu the morning the very la last veryla t of ot these had been returned safely homo home And policemen 1 air attendants attendant concessionaires street treet cur car conductors po c-po exposition officials yes yea and teachers teacher and parents parent too tool I heaved hea tho the big gist sigh of relief relict In III their lives Ilves The Tho record breaking first children a s day da at the 1034 talC fair was as over oser 0 Jy by Newspaper |
