OPEN-AIR ENTERTAINMENTS.
[Illustration]
Under this head come the open-air shows of different dimensions, one
or more of which are always running in Chicago during the summer
months. Last year Thearle & Cooper gave the public a treat with an
entertainment that they styled “A Night in Pekin.” The location was
the great vacant lot at the southern limit of Washington Park, across
the street from the race-track of that name. Tiers upon tiers of seats
accommodated thousands of spectators, who watched the drama, enacted
in pantomime, of the destruction of the city of Pekin by the British
naval forces. The work of desolation was preceded by games, slack-wire
walking and other interesting feats. The bombardment itself was a
magnificent spectacle. As the big buildings came toppling down in ruins
and the inhabitants rushed screaming about, showers upon showers of
fireworks were discharged and the roaring of the great guns kept up
until the work of demolition was over. It was conceded at the time
that the spectacle, from a pyrotechnical standpoint, was the finest
ever seen in Chicago, but from all accounts the shows to be given this
year and next will eclipse it. For the World’s Fair year the Kiralfys,
those consummate masters of the spectacular, have promised a production
on the same order as the “Night in Pekin” that shall totally eclipse
anything in the line of an open-air show ever before seen or heard of.
Its exact nature has not yet been outlined, but if all the promises are
kept it will be something very wonderful.
The attractions of this sort of an entertainment are manifold. Aside
from the show itself, which is always interesting, there is the
pleasant, happy-go-lucky spirit that always pervades great crowds
bent on an evening’s fun. The peanut and lemonade venders ply their
calling briskly, and come in for the usual share of “guying” that such
merchants always excite. In hot weather the out-door spectacles detract
from the attendance at the theatres, people preferring to secure their
entertainment in the open air if possible. Spectacles like “Pekin,”
it is perhaps unnecessary to say, cost many thousands of dollars to
produce.
Speaking of the peanut and lemonade men reminds one that the two great
circuses, Barnum & Bailey’s and Forepaugh’s, exhibit in Chicago every
summer. They generally appear for two weeks each, and of course parade
in due form, according to custom, through the streets of the city on
the opening day. Who shall picture the delights of the circus? Are
they not as old as the memory of man? Strange but true it is, that the
older we get the circus that we remember as the circus of our youth
strengthens its charm upon our memory and we would not miss a sight of
it if we could. We have the added pleasure of taking our little ones
to see the sights that so delighted us in our own childhood, and that
should be the keenest pleasure of all.
[Illustration]
A summer rarely passes without a succession of smaller shows in the
open air, such as balloon ascensions, bicycle races, cricket and
base-ball matches and so on. There is a resort known as Cheltenham
Beach, a strip of sand twelve miles from the City Hall, reached by
the Illinois Central railway and known as “The Coney Island of the
West,” although it has never touched the real Coney Island in point of
prosperity. At Cheltenham Beach there is always a show of some sort
going on. It may be athletics. It may be a broad-sword combat between
mounted gladiators. It may be an ascent by a parachute artist, a nervy
gentleman who soars a thousand feet in the air in a balloon and then
descends gracefully to the earth (at the imminent and exhilarating risk
of his neck) under a parachute to which he clings by a thin trapeze
bar. This is a hair-raising exhibition frequently seen and quite
often ending in the maiming for life of the hardy ærial navigator. At
Cheltenham Beach, however, everything “goes,” as it were, and nobody
ever complains unless it is on account of the small amount of beer
doled out for the conventional nickel. Occasionally they have barbecues
and clam-bakes at Cheltenham Beach, which, though at times enjoyable,
are not exactly the class of entertainment to which one would invite
the ladies of his family.
There are always vast crowds of people in Chicago athirst for
amusement. That is why amusement caterers grow so rich when they give
good shows. It has been the purpose of the present chapter to show that
there is plenty of amusement to be found out-of-doors.