A few
words need to be said about a group of people who helped the
many local amusement businesses prosper. Local 31,
called the Roustabouts then, Stagehands now. The parks
need the union and the union needed the parks, because
although already invented in 1902 by Willis Carrier, a/c was
not in the totally enclosed theaters yet, so most closed in
the heat of the summer. So in the summer, many Local
31 members worked in the parks, from selling ice cream to
running the rides. They also did the carpentry,
painting of scenery, and the lighting about town.
Today the union is still making things like concerts,
conventions, and many other activities in both Missouri and
Kansas possible.
It's a fact that a
Republican helped save Sugar Creek. In February, Governor
Herbert Hadley, a former prosecuting attorney, the
first Republican in Jackson County to hold that post, came
down on side of Standard, preferring fines and regulation to
throwing the two-million dollar plus Standard Oil Refinery
out of the state, and there would be a few more calls for
ouster in the next few years by a bunch of corrupt judges.
In March, the city of
Independence got a great deal from Standard. Every
month the city used two tanks full of fuel oil to power the
electric plant. The city signed a deal with Standard
to buy the stuff for $18 a carload, down from $48, or 55
cents a barrel, a cut of 60%, despite the fact that the
Missouri Supreme Court had just voted to ouster the Standard
Refinery from the State.
In early May the talk
around the county courthouse was that Fairmount Park's
management would again petition for a liquor license, the
idea of a bunch of citified drunks roaming the countryside
around the park did not set well with the locals. But
management had other ideas, sell water.
While the local dries were
about to march on the county court, and that was just about
everybody, full page ads in all the local media warned of
the dangers of drinking city water. It seems that alum
added to the city water is not good for you. Alum is
used even today because the stuff attaches itself to
bacteria in the water and harmlessly sinks to the
bottom. But the water from Cusenbary Springs has no
alum or any other human interference. As mentioned
before, Cusenbary Springs history goes back to
pre-history. The Indians thought it had certain
powers, and after they were run off it was a great place to
have a picnic. Today there are still wagon tracks
visible.
The assault began on
Sunday, May 16, on page A-3 of the Journal.
The don'ts about your
drinking habit
Don't drink filtered water.
Don't drink distilled or boiled water.
Don't get the soft-drink habit.
Drink "CUSENBARY"
a pure spring water. Five gallons in a jug, 50 cents,
or a case of 12 1/2 gallon bottles, $1. Phone 707
East. The capacity of the pump was 1200 gallons per
hour and was said to "arrive from unfathomable depths
of quicksand. I was told as a youth that Dr. Fred Hink
and Mayor R. J. Roper both sold water from the spring when
they were just starting out on the road to capitalism.
Opening day for the three
parks was Sunday, May 23. Carnival Park was already
gone. Electric Park featured Alligator Joe from Miami
and his Sea Cows, claimed to be the only ones in the world
in captivity. Forest Park added a 175' x 90' swimming
pool from two to twelve feet deep.
Fairmount went with free
vaudeville and balloon races. Heading the bill
was Rand's Dog Circus, thirty canines that barked up a
storm, Ted could walk a tight-rope. A Japanese
wire-walker, Meyers & Mason Comedians, and a local man
who was a baritone. Vaudeville proved to be so popular
that carpenters built extra bleachers to accommodate the
extra crowds. No one complained about free
vaudeville. If you became bored, there were a dozen
other things to do. The lake was full of hungry fish
and the summer of 1909 was going to be hot. To
prepare, several carloads of sand were added to the beach.
In June, the main features
were more freebies. Zimmerscheld's Orchestra was added
to take up the quiet time between the vaudeville acts.
The new features this week for the vaudeville were Huffell
& Hiffell, vocals and soft-shoe artist, McClean &
Simpson, Comedians, but the featured attraction was a guy
named Arthur Browning, who was supposed to be the best
"Buck and Wink" dancer in the U S of A.
On the lake, also free,
were boat racing, the main feature being a contest of two
miles, winner getting a silver cup. Big deal.
Drawn to the races were a couple of studs from the
farm. William McPike from Warrensburg and C. L.
Gardner of Hannibal. After that some locals raced
shorter contests that took less endurance. Buoys were
strung across the lake to keep everything in order.
After the boat races, swimming contests of half a mile and
quarter mile were held for the locals. To finish the
month free balloon racing was again employed, the winner
getting a large silver cup. L. B. Bales of KC again took home the prize,
beating out R. V. Porter of Minneapolis. Vaudeville
featured new acts every week, from a Japanese man named Tom
who juggled while walking a tightrope, to the usual dancers,
singers, and comics.
The big advantage that
Fairmount Park had and was emulated by Electric and Forest,
was water. Fairmount had a spring-fed lake, the others
had large pools, and the water wasn't always clean, if you
know what I mean. That's why the "PARK IN THE
WOODS" had such a draw on the city
folk.
This year's Fourth of July
was on a Sunday, which meant a long weekend. At
Fairmount, the balloon race scheduled for the celebration
had to be cancelled because one of the aeronauts was injured
in the line of duty on the day before, so the lake became
the main attraction. Because of the popularity of
triculating around the lake, forty more boats were added
weeks before and that still wasn't enough. Early in
the afternoon there was a line waiting at the boat house for
people with a boat out to bring it in, park management
promised to buy more boats.
Swimming contests were held
in spite of the large number of swimmers and boats.
One of the advantages of having an eight-acre lake.
At Electric Park, the main
attraction of the fireworks display was a likeness of
President Taft in the sky, along with vaudeville. Poor
Forest Park, while still very popular, had only a couple of
Fourth of Julys before it returned to a forest.
On July 18, a new freebie
was announced, weekly fireworks every Wednesday evening for
the rest of the summer. Starting at 8:30 between the
first and second vaudeville show, the area across the lake
would erupt like the Fourth of July.
The following week's free
attraction was a lady named Millie Zeino, female
aeronaut. She was to cooperate with Zeketo, a
daredevil who was another free attraction. His gig was
to dive off a 75-foot high tower into a net set up next to
the vaudeville stage, and he did this two times a day.
But on Sunday, he and Millie put on parachutes and jumped,
gently falling to the deep part of the lake.
The free vaudeville bill
was the usual fare: Rose Elliot, singer and dancer,
Grogean and Maurer, musicians, and Collins & Le Moss,
comics. On the lake, several boys will participate in
a 150-yard and 300-yard race, first prize $25
per.
On the last Sunday in July,
balloon races were back. L. M. Bales, the balloon
champ of the park, raced R. H. Winstead of
Indianapolis. Bales won again. Management was
very happy. The swimming contest and the cash prizes
did what they were meant to do, attract people to the lake.
In the first ten days of
August, more than 12,000 people paid to go swimming.
Free balloon races, weekly fireworks, vaudeville, a band,
and swimming contests along with a lot of picnics ended the
season, and no one drowned.
END OF
PART ONE
Copyright © 2006 John M. Olinskey
