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In April of
1898, the United States of America declared war on
Spain over Cuba. The war lasted 112 days.
2,400 young men from the Greater Kansas City area who
were members of the 3rd and 5th Regiments had been
mobilized to a place called Camp Mead. Along
with the men went the band which had played at
Fairmount Park for years.
A new open air band
stand had been built for the Third Regiment's
band. It was very impressive. The
stage was 60' long and shaped like an egg cut in
half. The acoustics were so perfect that the
softest notes could be heard at the Dance Pavilion a
quarter mile away. It's location was 500 feet
east of the auditorium, just north of the intersection
of Lexington and Hedges Streets. It was closed
in back and the front was in the shape of an arch
facing south. It worked like a giant
speaker. The cost was over $1,000 and had bench
seating for 2,000 people.
By May 15th, the new
Fairmount Park Military Band had been organized.
Under the baton of J. P. Zimmerschied, 30 musicians
would occupy the new band stand.
Not just world events
worked against Fairmount Park this year. The
weather was bad. A wet, cool spring delayed the
bathing beach from opening until late May. The
30th annual Memorial day weekend, however, began sunny
and warm, though not yet warm enough for swimming, so
boating and fishing became the most popular water
sports. Because of the war, the fleet of boats
had been repainted various colors. All but one
had been named after American heroes or boats, the
Admiral Dewey (named after the hero of Manilla Bay)
being most popular. A yellow and red boat named
Admiral Cevera (someone's idea of a joke?) was
peppered with rocks by small boys all day. The
banks of the lake were lined with fisherman and kids,
beckoning several large crappie from the comfort of
their home in the lake.
Close to the
merry-go-round, where now Ohio Street meets Northern
was the deer corral. Twelve May births increased
the herd to 41. Grass cut by park maintenance
mixed with corn was their diet. The animals were
not only a big draw for the children, they were also
for profit. Next year several would be sold as
venison. One of the local dogs that tried to
take off with some baby deer steak got his head
shot off by park security.
This year's 4th of
July celebration brought forth fireworks and a
patriotic explosion. Even Washington Park came
alive. It was still open, but doing a little
feebly. Fireworks were dropped from a balloon
twice a day. A goose was also thrown from the
balloon at 5,000 feet, with a reward of $10 for the
finder. Only 3,000 people were in
attendance.
If it was baseball
that you wanted, Exposition Park featured a double
hitter between the first place Kansas City Blues and
Omaha, the first game at 10:00 A.M. and the second
game at 3:00.
One thousand dollars
in fireworks, Lenge's Military Band and many more
attractions drew 20,000 to Troost Park. Troost's
location was its greatest asset, being only a few
minutes from downtown, with the city rapidly growing
in that direction.
Fairmount Park
featured a "grand patriotic celebration" in
honor of Dewey's great victory at Manila Bay and the
fall of Santiago. One thousand five hundred
dollars is the amount management claimed to have spent
on fireworks. The latest in pyrotechnics was the
Bombshell Batteries: several mortars firing
projectiles into the night, exploding several times in
the air, throwing out Roman Candles which exploded
again in red, white, and blue, lighting up the
sky. Napoleon Repeating Bombshells showed as
many as six different designs. The Japanese type
exploded into moons, dragons, chrysanthemum and
mushroom clouds. Some of the fireworks exploded
into pieces showing pictures of Dewey, Sampson, Miles,
& President McKinley. The heroes of the war
were used magically. The auditorium was filled
to capacity. "The Chimes of Normandy"
was given by the Bennett and Olmi opera company.
Two city records were
set; 100,000 transfers were issued, meaning that over
half of the population of the city had used the trolley
that day. Because of the dry weather 24 fires
were attended to, breaking the record set on July 4,
1892 of 11. All were caused by fireworks, most
of them from boys throwing small bombs on wood roofs
that had not seen rain for several weeks.
After the Fourth, the
Salvation Army ran into money problems. Last
year's Open Air camp for the poor mothers of Kansas
City was a great success with 140 mothers being
helped. Because of the war this year there was
an even greater need. Many soldiers had left,
leaving mothers and children in financial
jeopardy. This year, instead of everyone coming
to camp "Brigadier Harry Stillwell" all at
once, 25 women and their children would attend per
week, followed by another 25 the following week.
One of the
attractions they would have seen, reflecting the militaristic mood, was the Knaben-Kapelle, or Royal
Hungarian Boys Military Band of Budapest.
Billed as the "Kaiser's Own", 33 young
musicians, ages 8 to 13, played music such as Sousa's
marches, Strauss's waltzes, Wagners massiveness, etc.,
stirring and moving music to people who know how to
march. Their discipline was amazing. very
early in the morning they would fall out for roll call
and march to breakfast. They were quartered at
the Fairmount Hotel, sleeping 4 to a room. The
only fun they were allowed to have was every other day
they got to take a 30 minute dip in the lake.
Talk about contrasts; 1,000 youths from the Kansas
City area spent a day at the park courtesy of the good
people at the Kansas City Star. Their job was to
cheer the boys and maybe to get one to defect...
In September our
soldiers were finally on their way home.
Finding them a place to stay while they were mustering
out was a problem for the military. Both Burge
Park and Fairmount Park offered to accommodate.
Burge proposed to give the entire 80 acre park, blue
grass sod, drill ground, city water, free
transportation on the Northeast Electric Line and
1,000 pounds of ice a day for free. Fairmount's
proposal was much the same, although farther from the
city. Fairmount won. A good cafe, bathing
in the lake and Cusenbary Spring water swayed the
powers that be.
The parade downtown
went off with out too much trouble. School was
let out, children waved American flags with 45 stars
and pretty girls with red, white, and blue sashes on
their shoulders lined the streets. A lot of
hurry up and wait and a shortage of sandwiches failed
to dampen the festivities.
Camp Jackson, at
Fairmount Park, was another matter. It rained a lot.
A soldier could go home if (1) he lived locally and
(2) he wasn't in the brig. Many were and some
were fined their whole $16 a month salary. Food
wasn't always the best or plentiful. Some local
farmers came up missing chickens, and some chicken
thieves lost their chickens to other chicken thieves
before they could cook and eat them. Sick call
was very popular. A shortage of beds meant that
they had to sleep on the ground, rolled up in their
ponchos.
One poor guy was
killed by a train en route from a good time in the
city. Major Will T. Stark angered his troops
when he forced them to parade by his home in
Independence, a round trip of 8 miles in the rain and
mud, just to impress a couple of women. On the
16th of September, almost everyone received a 30 day
furlough. One Company was left behind to guard
government property. That wasn't too bad, for
they could go to the Horse Show.
Horse Show #4 was a
social hit and a financial miss. A total of
$23,000 was lost by park management, the equivalent of
23 new bandstands. That was one hell of a lot of
money back then, let alone now.
There were several
reasons for the loss, (1) Rain ruined 4 of the 7
shows, holding the attendance down, (2) The show which
was held on Labor Day in the past was delayed in hopes
that the troops could attend, (3) the annual carnival
downtown started right after the Horse Show, cramping
the availability of both hotel rooms and the local
amusement dollar, and (4) a lot more money was spent
on entertainment this year and the prize money was
also increased.
This year's show
started with a ton of enthusiasm. A ball was
held by the Algonquin Club the first evening of the
first show at the Dance Pavilion. A canvas
awning was stretched from the pavilion to the hotel to
keep the people out of the elements. Black and
Old Gold were the official colors for this year's
horse show, the bleachers had a new coat of white
paint. Everything was at the ready.
Among the many
features this year was the 3rd Regiment Band, but just
in case they would not be able to make it even at this
late date, a backup band was booked. The
"Ladies Boston Military Band" was a great
treat.
Polo pony races were
also held for the first time. Firemen from as
far away as Omaha competed to see who could hoop up
their horses to their equipment and race to the finish
line first. The usual horsey stuff filled out
the show.
OTHER
INTERESTING EVENTS IN 1898
-
Hawaiian
Islands annexed by U. S. (Japan warns of grave
consequences)
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Cuba
rejects an offer of self government from Spain
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Gold
discovered in the Klondike
-
Dow
Chemical Company is founded
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U. S. auto
production reaches 100 units
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First
cathode-ray tube (TV) developed
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Woman's
Home Companion begins publication
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"Dracula"
by Bram Stoker published
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"Stars
and Stripes Forever" by John Sousa is a big hit
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First
annual Cheyenne Rodeo
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Steeplechase
Park opens at Coney Island, New York
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210' high
Ferris Wheel at Vienna's Prather Park
-
Jell-O is
introduced, 88% sugar.
Copyright © 2005 John M. Olinskey
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