IN A MILLION DOLLAR PARK.

Otago Witness, Issue 2695, 8 November 1905, Page 86

IN A MILLION DOLLAR PARK.

By Maokilahtda.

(For the Witness.)

Americans are loriveraaily credited with possessing "nerves," yet to every American town of any pretensions whatever there is sure to bo found an amusement "park," which is visited weekly by hundreds of thtusands, all of whom seem to revel in the opportunities offered them to break their limbs and necfo.

Parks in New Zealand and such sane places consist mainly of lawns and trees and flowers, together with a general air of space. They are glorified gardens, in fact, under the control of the city fathers, and thtse are well named "the lu.iigs of the city." But foeiyj, iv America, the term "park" means many things, perchance such parks as oim-s — only in the States they are unfeuced, and you ramble in and out at will, — but more probably they are amusement resorts.

As one typical of many I will describethe famous "million-dollar park," Chicago's pride, the "White City."

To reach it you travel on one of the glories of the States, the elevated railway, colloquially kn.vwn, as- the "L," .and whirl round dangerous curves, two trains abreast, or rush under the roofs of houses ami! shave oft" the corners of stores and saloons at a speed up to 40 miles an hour. As you approach the White City there comes from afar the hoarse shouting of the "barkers," who tout for the side shows, urcd the happy scream of the venturesome ones who are -enjoying the dangerous pastimes thi park affords tliam.

You enter by an archway — the arch is inevitable in them ail — and pass at once into an enchanted fairy -like city in which every spire and tower, every rope and Mire, is ablaze with electric" light. A crowd has assuredly gathered- to watch the "Bumps," for until recently the notorious Coney Island of New York possessed a monopoly of this particular sport. The "bumps" is a plan.% inclined at an angle of about 60deg. On this there are many and various projections, ranging in height ficm 6in to 18in, and in diameter anything up to a couple of yards. Daring spirits, men and women alike, seat themselves on a square foot of carpet and submil to being pushed over this edge, whereupon they career down, head first, heels first, sideways or backwards, descending ever or between the ''bumps," as Fato wills it, until, screaming and halless, they reaoii thft haven of the bottom plateau, round which stands a shouting, laughing, jeering crowd.

Further on, past the tepees of the inevitable redskin, one sees the almost ps inevitable "airship." This consists of a oot of cars suspended from a jx>te bj

ivire ropes — the whole so outlined with lights that it almost seems to ba built of light alone. These cars are whirled round and round the pole, going higher each turn, until they are flying almost horizontally some 30ft up in the air. And the gazing crowd cries excitedly — "It's only a question of time ; there'll be the d.evil of a smash some day, and they will be dashed into eternity !" Yet the whirling cars are always full.

Across" beyond the stand where the orchestra is playing, behind the spinning merry-go-round, a giant illuminated, ring},°ss wheel is turning. From the spokes boxes are suspended, and in these more people are seated viewing the wonders of nhe "White City" from every possible angle. Away to the left sounds the whir-r-r of an .automobile as it executes, carrying a freight of human beings of all ages, the twists of the figure eight. More than once already, while looping the "loop" or completing the circle, or numeral, these automobiles have been wrecked and the occupants killed or maimed. When these untoward .events happen the erection is shifted from tht parks on the south side to the" -parks oil the north. If another accident happens very shortly, and ' the' people of the district become too nervous to render the thing, a paying, institution, it is moved again, to east or west-. By the time it has gone the round of -the compass the first set are sufficiently reoovered from 'their fears to venture again, and the most "sjplendid .amusement going" is restored to its first home. The people of America have short memories.

The ''Scenic Bailway" is another wellpafcronised sport, and th© grinding rattle of it almost deadens the wild cries of those who have embarked upon it. It consists of many vehicles, each holding six or eight persons. These race along a narrow gauge between canvas mountains, by the ridge of precarious precipices, up and down almost impossible defiles while turning incredible- corners.

"I paid 15 cents to get on, but I'd pay 55d0! to get off!" is the conclusion of the majority of the passengers half way — but tho carriages are never empty. This too, has add«d its quota to the list of killed and injured, who go to the making of the list of human sacrifices annually offered up on the altar of the Gods of Pleasure.

The water chutes are certainly the least dangerous of the many ways in which, the American people amuse themselves. It is one of the things that are real ; most of the .pastimes offered give little save risk. There is the exhilaration of the wild rush down, tho bounding of the boat as it dashes along the waves it's, own rough passage has created and , there is> also" the fleeting panorama of the surroundings reveled in the turbulent' waters. Night isf tiimed into dayv in thas.e places. The sideshows open between 8 and 9, the.acro- ' batic performances begin, at 11, the.fireworks not till midnight. The small hours find the crowds yet greater, even- the restaurants and booths are better patronised. In the latter those who will may wander from; end to end of the universe, travel in rocking balloons and throbbing submarines without in reality leaving^ the building—^all is illusion. American must play by night if they would play at all. The days beiong to the dollar. Hence the worn faces and the. endless landscape of hoardings advertising cures for all the ills that flesh is -heir to th&b stretches from the billows of the Pacific to the -rollers of the Atlantic