CARROUSELS.
[Illustration]
The carrousel is a form of entertainment which has grown popular with a
certain class of people within recent years. The term may be a little
obscure to the uninitiated, but they will readily understand its
meaning when it is explained that the carrousel is nothing more or less
than the old-fashioned “merry-go-round” which we all easily remember
as a feature of fairs, circuses and other out-door entertainments.
There are at the present writing several carrousels in the city, but it
would be quite useless to specify their location, because they change
places so frequently that to do so would only be misleading. They are
here today, there tomorrow; but there never need be any difficulty in
finding them. An inquiry of the hotel clerks or any other well-posted
person will secure the desired information as to where the nearest
carrousel is to be found.
Various newspapers have from time to time waged war upon the caroussel
on the ground that it is prejudicial to the morals of young people who
patronize it. This work does not assume to criticize, but to state
facts. It is a fact that the carrousels are well patronized as a rule
and that the young people who do the patronizing appear to extract no
end of fun out of the whirligig process.
The caroussel or “merry-go-round” is generally situated in a flimsy
building on some convenient vacant lot, rented for the purpose at a
pinch, so to speak. The fiery wooden steeds that go whirling round and
round in a circle, to the spirited music of a brass band or snorting
orchestrion, bear on their backs sundry youths and maidens, with now
and then an old boy or girl thrown in as a leaven to offset the general
juvenility, who indulge in all manner of sportive remarks and jests as
they go on their circular journey. It must not be supposed that the
ride itself forms the chief part of the entertainment. By no means. A
very little of that goes a long way. The principle part of the fun is
derived from standing among the many rows of spectators and listening
to the witticisms that are indulged in at the expense of the riders.
These are often very pert, not to say cutting, and the lively repartee
(not always very refined) that is exchanged between equestrians and
spectators is always productive of infinite amusement to the chance
visitor. A too pointed remark not infrequently leads to a spirited
argument, which spirited argument not infrequently results in a row
in which the friends of the participants are as likely as not to take
part. In such an event that is the time when courtesy and all semblance
of it abruptly ends and simple muscle then comes into play. This is
good time for the outsider to withdraw to a safe distance, but though
the combat is never very deadly--no shooting scrape, according to the
writer’s recollection, ever having taken place in a carrousel--it is
just as well to avoid the risk of a black eye or a bloody nose that
may result from a chance whack from a too-enthusiastic pleasure-seeker
who has become embroiled in the fray with or without his consent. The
battle, inconsequential as it always is, invariably terminates before
it is found necessary to call in the police.
The ground upon which certain of the great editors of the city have
attacked the carrousel is that of the temptation to wrong-doing which
it presents to the young. Certain it is that wherever a carrousel is
located a large _clientele_ of girls of tender age seems to follow in
its wake. These girls are of the sort irreverently referred to by the
very tough young men of the period as “chippie.” They do not seem to be
burdened with a great supply of innocence, but it is beyond question
that the surroundings of the carrousel lead them to indulge in such
behavior as they would not be guilty of elsewhere. In this respect
the caroussel has in a measure taken the place of the skating-rink.
Roller-skating some years ago was a craze, and while the carrousel
craze has never assumed the dimensions of that popular “fad” its
associations are very similar. There is always a liberal supply of
alcoholic beverages to which the patrons of the carrousel, male and
female, have easy access. Indeed, in some cases, there is a saloon
directly attached. From this fact it may be easily imagined that this
is not the sort of place from which a girl of fifteen or thereabout can
be expected to derive any lasting benefit--and any number of such girls
will be found enjoying themselves at the various carrousel enclosures.
Whatever be its merits or demerits the carrousel constitutes one of
the features, good, bad or indifferent, of a great city. As such it is
mentioned here, and for no other reason whatsoever. It may interest you
to go and take a look at one.