Show When Youn America Goes to o a 4 g the Ae air air r t k r f f fr fAe fi 1 Y QZ Y i k g F Y 1 r 3 a a q i ig t t t b d dr r 1 k r ras as asp r p c cY A t f fP fG c Y r r rt G k P t r a v r Re Q Qt lit lita 4 g gy y By ELMO SCOTT WATSON a l of CHry week y eI Is Young Americas AmerIca s 11 atthe at atthe the Century o of Progress e In Chicago o T or that is b the day when ho boys s and gIrls under the wk t Ige gge of e Ire admitted to the grounds for t 1 nickel md and the concessionaires concessIonaire make mahe a specIal price to Q 3 s the youngsters And does loung AmerIca take tape e of the opportunity for seeing nt at this smell cost a the modern erlon of the greatest sho show on earth S Se ne al e and she does docs Indeed I come by the scores cores by the hundreds by b y the thousands a The Thet pour through the entrances and scatter to all parts of t the th e exposition grounds there to see all the wonders of modern a F yr science and industry in and In which Is spread before them i t at L Ly y and to enjoy ill 11 the forms fortis of amusement Indulged In when hen youth tal es n a holiday This day the world orId Is Isef s ef much theIr 0 oyster ster and they the know It it If you happen to toI I 1 t the faIr on a Thursday and In the they he y midst of these juvenile ju crowds find yourself 51 I didn't know there were ere this many children In the world where orld here do they all come from Crom for Cor n I moment upon this statement The sight you may be seems c eln Is as l t a nothing compared to the sIght which you would seen at the faIr If you i Y c cy y had bad been there on May 31 1034 Aye that was as a dl I 1 The like w wi r rY i J r of It has probably neter neer been seen before and may neer ne'er be seen agaIn N s It was the first childrens children's day of the 1034 fair The Chicago schools r hid be been n closed for or the occasion To the youthful rut tr t of s three l and a third mIllions were ere added se se thousand more from the In Q n 1 ook county towns from other counties near by and et e een en from points in a an i g Indiana and Michigan 0 va wY a Oter Oer boys and gIrls oter mer half a mIllion pushIng whooping hooping super charged with energy unIts of young oung humanity descended d 14 y q qA A upon the fair They broke list veirs veir's one diy atten record of 00 1 r Q made on September 4 19 3 They broke broJe nIl all one day attendance records of tr f rk k tic any fair an anywhere here with the exception of oC the record of on Chicago o w day dav nt at the World s ColumbIan of 1593 w t the only thing 5 they ey but broke that's another story y Early on the morning of that historic May lay 31 they began streaming toward to ard t the faIr grounds M from rail to raIl on A the painted bridges they mo mooed ed forward h but unceasingly to toward the turnstiles an hour before the time to open the gates they w ue tse packed tight about the seven entrances From outlyIng pints of the city came the ne news s that street cars L L trams trains and nd busses were jammed beyond with Ith youngsters bound for the fair immediately orders were sent out summoning nil all e e po polIcemen off duty to report at once I he hundred e exposition em em- em were ere e sworn orn In as special Mean Meanwhile while every passing m moment saw the crowds outside the growIng denser and denser e 0 Up from the milling mob rose a strange art tari- ety of cries cries- crI We Ce s ant In I I go I Hey stop your our clio ho ln I ay off youse ou gUS I ook out out la nearly jammed me In the eye with that lollipop I lIe that Ice cream bar Is and drippin all do down don domy n my back Oh Iye Ive dropped the sick wIth my mj lunch In It l I Stop 1 QuIt your our cro din Stop It It I tell you ne Bewildered trIed In aln to hold them Ulem back bacle l The e turnstiles couldn t click fast enough to let Jet them through A hurry up svgs sent for OO city then for tor OO more In Inthe Inthe the admInIstratIon telephones were ere rIngIng wIldly incessantly I rom box ollices came word of ticket supplies of turn turn- turnstiles stiles out of commis lon and of guards tr trying Ing vainly to In an orderly flow of eager youngsters through the gates I Shen hen came the news nes that the cro cros s were becomIng absolutely unmanageable They were ere forcing their way through the sen lee entrances through h which supplies are arc brought Into the grounds rounds They were ere beginning to scale the walls wails 1 hey were dropping do down don n InsIde by the hundreds and part part- h zing the bus traffic which run runs just Inside the e tern a walls lis Officials or of the fair realised that something must be done quickly In n order to Injury to the youngsters oun jammed outside the gates Let Let em all in free ree t was the order out AU All gates IncludIng the entrances were thrown wide Ide open And then the deluge Attempts to coin approprIate similes for the ISI sight ht which folioed ed failed One observer said like Uke a swarm or of hungry locusts Another corn com pared It to thE of a ast herd of Texas Tuns steers The surge came caine up and across the cause cause- causeways ways ays ina spectacle seldom If eser seen een before before- certainly ne er seen before In nn an American city declared one e e wItness Can you a crowd of people Remember there are only n 13 American cities cities's hleb s 's hick have e more than a population of and In the largest of these the density of lotion k Iq less than to the square mile or 10 0 acres Now th the Century of Progress grounds comprise le less than acres of available walk alk lag ing space f pace Pour WO people Into that amount of space and what do you get A crowd of course Yes the fair nIr was vas crowded on May 31 tt it would JUI lure JUIe e been crowded even It If the hor horde of had been evenly li about the grounds whIch they weren't crent They streamed down the Avenue A of lings t lags In nn an endless sion procession lon of closely packed humanIty to which only the milling crowds at Forty second and Broad Broad- Broadway way ay In l ew York and State and JadI Madison on in Chicago are comparable From the terraces of at x the hall of Science as tar far as the e eye e could see seef seethe f these the e thousands of bo boas s and girls were mo moping Ing north and Ind south so close together that the streets es seemed to be monn moving So stead steady wis the stream of young across the brIdges 0 er the lagoon that solid lines of n were stretched across the approaches to present pre ent the weight eight or of too mint from rom endangering the structures tu tures es 0 er on the Island 1 the part of the fair most popular with Ith 1 oung America the congestion con congestIon became so great that It was as to and enforce a one way rule the he eager missed ten deep around some of the amusement centers and from 25 to toGO GO 50 deep around others Some of them spent most or of their In line sifting litIn for a chance to ride rille on the ferris wheel or roller coaster or slide do down n a synthetic mountain But if man ruan of oC them were Intent upon such pleasures there were ere thousands of others who ho jammed 1 the e buildings s untIl every aisle was as picked solidly with ith a slow throng It wis In some of these buildings s that other things s besides records were ere broken In justice to loung America It must be stated that In char charge e or of the Hall or of SCience one of the principal points of attraction say SIY that the tle crowd cro d there wis mainly v n in orderly one and more easIly handled thin an adult a cro crowd d of the same But sightseeing sn t their it There v was as the matter of citing and drinking to tobe tobe be taken care of early In the d ty IY It was wasn n that 1 bottles bottle of milk would be distributed 1 free It was and It like e a alight light summer t t hower on the face Cace of the Sahara desert In the struggles the around the booths where It wis distributed some of the bottles were ere brol brok- brok broken en and thI this caused the only serious Injuries or of orthe the day day-a a aa a few mInor cuts from the shattered bottles So 0 the milL milk disappeared as dl did hundreds of thousands of hot dog and hamburger Iches thousands of of Ice cream and of soft drinks s and burn up calls for fresh supplies er were sent bent out throughout the day and there as left behind all 0 o er the grounds n a traIl of dis discarded carded mIll milk bottles and pop bottles A force of extra etra is called Into sect er erIce Ice to gather up the abandoned glassn Ire the papers the tho Joes bexes and other trash which was as ankle deep in places soon ga gage gae e up hope of picking up all these ese ono at a time So they brought shovels and scooped the debrIs Into wheelbarrows rows roq And they the were ere scoopIng far fIr far Into the night By the mIddle of oC the afternoon the surging cro crowds ds through the entrances had died down toa to ton n a thin trickle All AIl over the grounds ground tIred young young- heedless of Keep Oft Off the Grass signs were stretched out In ery e available avaIl ble spot of shade rite hot sun had bad wilted most mo t of them and overcome some These were ere rushed to the hos hos- pItal maintained by the faIr en a bath and anel made to rest re t for awhile abIle Lifeguards In canoes and motor bolts were kept busy patrolling the tho lagoon laboon to see to It that no venturesome young young- youngster ster tumbled In but they couldn't stop many ot of them from lilting shoes and stockings and splashing hot tired feet teet In the cool water ater any Lf 3 Above are pictures taken on May 31 which was the first Childrens Children's day at the 1934 Cen Cen- Century tury of Progress exposition In Chicago and which broke all attendance records for the Fair 1 and where What's your name little girl do you live A Travelers Aid Society worker talking to one of the 1400 children who were lost 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 inc c more than guards on shore could stop others from Crom jumping Into pools and fountains In aarl- aarl ari ou ous stages ot of dress and undress b bt such c interludes Interlude they were ere oil oft l again aIn to join the mob still mIlling c er here through the grounds as In couples In groups chaperoned b by teachers tr try try- trying Ing In gain aln to keep leep track of their charges One teacher soh soloed cd the problem by using lengths of string trIng to tl tie lOot 16 of them together wrist to wrist As A she led tits way through the grounds they trailed along behind her like the till ot of a kite kite- thit th Is until they attempted to sere pre Id out In the midst of the crowd cro 11 Then tangle Is f a mIl mild 1 word to the resulting situation She didn't lose any noy of her little flock however Ito ever but thel these e were ere plenty of or lost children that da 1400 ot of them to be c east act fourteen hundred who ho became separated from flOm parents or teachers or companions nut But thanks to a house maintained 1 by the Travelers Aid socIety nil all ot of the lost were ere foun found 1 e Urged Urge 1 by the public n address system to seek their stray charges at the tho s 's headquarters anxious parents and teachers stood tood In line for hours until polIce polIce- polIcemen policemen I men or FaIr attendants pushed their way a through h the cro crowd d with theIr weeping charges Older I children who ho knew where here they 11 lined cd were ere given Iven I carfare and sent ent home lounger ones were ere corn com comforted forted by the youn young women omen In char charge e of the clearIng house rouse and an harassed stall stal of 0 offer er worked By the time c evening came and the thousands of t twinkling lights which adorn the buildings of the were being reflected In the waters aters or of the lagoon nn an army of c retry try was as lag Ing Its way to the exit By 0 o'clock the shrill clamor damor which had echoed throughout the build lags all day was as d dying Ing down to a murmur hero were ere still thousands of chIldren In the grounds but after the spectacle of the day those grounds seemed strangely deset desei ted By midnight aU all of them had gone except for Oi G unfortunate young young- youngsters ho were ere still sUll unclaImed nt at the clear clear- Ing clearing house nut But b by 1 30 In the morning the cry ll cryll last t of the these e had been returned safely home And policemen FaIr attendants concessionaIres I car conductors exposition yes es and an teachers and parents too tool I hea hewed cd the tho bIg fest J t sIgh of relief In theIr lies es Iho record lire first Childrens Children's da day at the tho 1034 faIr was as 0 oter cr m e by br Western Union |