But the cowboys and Buffalo Bill caught
them close up to their howling apparatus,
and for several moments pandemonium was
let loose. The great scout rode once to the
section occupied by the boys and welcomed
them most heartily. The thanks be received
were emphatic and unmistakable.
Shortly after Mr. Cody had given an exhibition
of his proficiency in shooting glass
balls Supt. Daniels, followed. by Jimmy
Durkin and Johnnie Tardib walked into the
arena and presented their friend with a most
beautiful and appropriate gift.
Was a Handsome Token.
The present was a solid gold plate, 4
inches wide and 6 long, a facsimile of a messenger
call card. side read as follows: The inscription upon one
side read as follows:
CHICAGO WAIFS MISSION MESSENGERS-
CHICAGO, July 27, 1893.
Where sent..........................................Hon William F. Cody
Address.............................................Buffalo Bill's Wild West
Paid.............................................................And still in debt
Charges...........................................................None for life
WAIFS OF CHICAGO
(Signature of sender.)
Per T: E. Daniels,
Director General Poor Children's Day.
On the reverse side was engraved:
A slight expression of our gratitude for your
effort in behalf of Poor Children's day, 1893.
The plate, which was given to the waifs by
Shourds & Kasper, was a complete surprise
to Mr. Cody, and as he sat astride his beautiful
chestnut horse be appeared to be, for the
[Drawing]
THREE WANT TO CARRY THE BANNER.
moment, unable to answer his poor little
friends. When at last he drew himself together
he spoke most feelingly to the youngsters.
Boys, I will always cherish this beautiful gift
in remembrance of the waifs and coming generation
of Chicago. Nothing gives me greater delight
than to give you pleasure. I sm glad to
have you here today and any orphan asylum or
poor child who wants an outing will be welcome
to the Wild West. You are only boys now, but
you will have a voice in the future, and more
than one of you will be heard in this land of
freedom. I wish you good luck, boys, and sincerely
hope you will all make good men.
Buffalo Bill's remarks, were hailed with delight
and such shouting that it seemed the
clouds above the pavilíon would be torn
asunder.
Poor Children's day at the Wild West will
always be a green spot in the minds of Chicago's
waits,
Inter Ocean July 29"
HAD A JOLLY TIME.
Waifs and Newsboys Have a
Whole Day's Sport.
SEE BUFFALO BILL'S SHOW.
Are Fed with the Best That the
Market Affords.
Race, Jump, Play Ball, and Win
Prizes, and Come Home
Tired.
Yesterday was red-letter day for the
waifs of Chicago, and they enjoyed it to the
limit. They agreed that it was far and
away the biggest day they had ever had.
They went home at night tired out but
happy and with their little stomachs distended
with the good things which a charitable
public had laid before them.
Nor will Buffalo Bill forget the day,
either, for in the years to come when old
age creeps on and memory grows dim, a
solid gold plate, about six inches long and
four wide, an exact representation of a
messenger card, will remind the great
scout and Indian fighter that on July 27,
1898, he entertained and made happy the
largest audience of little people that
Chicago could scare up.
When Buffalo Bill looks at this golden
[IMAGE]
CHEERING BUFFALO BILL.
plate he will read this words-and they
will always call up pleasant memories of
his World's Fair year experiences:
Chicago Waifs' Mission Messengers.
CHICAGO, July 27, 1893.
WHERE SENT-Hon. William F. Cody.
ADDRESS-Buffalo Bill's Wild West. P
AID And still in debt.
CHARGES-None for life.
WAIFS OF CHICAGO.
(Signature of Sender.)
Per T. E. DANIELS,
Director General Poor Children's Day.
On the reverse side of the card is this inscription:
"A slight expression of our gratitude for your
efforts in behalf of Poor Children's Day, 1883."
Preparations for the Day.
For weeks past preparations have been
making for Poor Children's day. Urgent
appeals, magnificently responded to, were
made the charitably inclined to see that
the waifs had enough to eat and
to wear, and for weeks the mission
rooms on State street have
had every appearance of a wholesale clothing
establishment. Boxes and bundles of
wearing apparel were everywhere and yesterday
and the day before the boxes of food
were sent in. There were countless thousands
of them. They came from everywhere
in the city and filled the mission
storerooms. The contents of these packages
went a long way toward rounding out
the day and filling it chock full of joy.
As early as 8 o'clock children from the
Waifs' mission, Chicago Hebrew mission,
Unity Church Industrial school, Home for
the Friendless, Chicago Nursery and Half
Orphan asylum, Englewood nursery, and
the Jewish Training school began gatherings
THE LEAP RACE.
at Madison and Market streets. It took
nearly an hour to get the little folks in line,
and when they finally started for the Van
Buren street depot of the Illinois Central
road it was in the following order:
Order of the Parade.
Police.
Professor Hensler's American Cadet band, of
Milwaukee.
Director General T. E. Daniels and aids, as
follows: J. L. Mulgreen, marshal; Theodore
Murphy, Walter Martin, William Fritts,
George Glisby, Walter Courlin, William Hein,
George W. Brock, Albert Hagaland, Thomas
Fitzpatrick, Georgė Bamberger, Roscoe J.
Clizbie.
Waifs' mission girls in tally-ho coaches.
Chicago Home for the Friendless, Miss A. F.
Rexford, superintendent.
Major Nevans' Illinois State band.
Waifs' mission messengers.
Waifs' mission boys.
Newsboys' home, Mrs. Bowman, matron.
Chicago Hebrew mission. B. Angel, superintendent.
Unity church industrial school, Ada J. Hayes. matron.
Chicago Musical Association band
Englewood nursery, Mrs. Kingman, matron.
Waifs' mission express.
First regiment band.
Newspaper boys.
Tailing on to the procession was a crowd
of several hundred ragtag and bobtail, not
belonging to. anything in particular, but
coming, with unmistakable propriety, under
the general head of "poor children."
They were every whit as proud and as happy as
though they marched under a banner
all their own, and were just as eager as
their fellows to "get there."
Loading the Trains.
Arriving at the Van Buren street viaduct
the boys and girls were shot down a schute
specially reserved for them, leading to
trains which were in waiting to convey
them to Sixty-fourth street. As one train
was filled and pulled out another took its
place, until four trains of five cars each
had been loaded and dispatched.
It was a noisy crowd that disembarked
at Sixty-fourth, but the marshals got the
youngsters in order finally, and walked
them over to the vast open space bounded
by Sixty-second. Sixty-third, Stony Island
avenue and the Illinois Central tracks.
The title of this plat rests in J. Irving
Pierce's name, but the waifs owned it yesterday.
They improvised a diamond and played
baseball and carried out a long programme
of running races. These were arranged in
fifteen classes, ranging from fifty to 300
yards, each class having five prizes. There
were special classes for the girls. Besides
the running races the list of sports included
a sack race, a potato race, and a
competitive boot-blacking contest.
All these sporting eveņts were entered
into with the greatest gusto, the list being
concluded just about the time dinner was
announced.
And such a dinner! It is doubtful if a
Chicago waif ever saw its like before.
It was served in pasteboard
boxes instead of courses, but the
guests were not there so much
for style as for the purpose of appeasing a
large and healthy appetite. Literally
everything went, and the mystery was that
even 10,000 children, could hold so much.
Nobody counted the wagon-loads of boxes
and hampers, or the barrels of lemonade.
After each 1little jacket was comfortably
distended the Arabs were rounded up and
taken over to Buffalò Bill's. They would
have liked to be headed the other way
first and taken into The Fair grounds, but
this pleasure was denied them. Mrs. Potter
Palmer made an urgent plea in their
behalf some time ago, and this was supplemented
by other appeals calculated to
soften the heart of anybody but an exposi-
[Image]
OPENING THE LUCH BOXES
tion manager, but none available. President
Higginbotham is quoted as saving that
he did not care to throw the
grounds open to such undesirable guests
So the tittle men and women took in the
exposition from outside the Stony Island avenue fence and viewed the glories from afar.
Saw Buffalo Bill's Show.
But the Wild West show was open, and
Buffalo Bill was hospitality personified.
To many a youthful mind this morning he
is a much bigger man than the president of
the more extensive show across the street.
The entire west side of Buffalo Bill's pavilion
was reserved for the boys, the east
side being given up to the girls. There
were about 8,000 of the former and 2,000 of
the latter. In the performance it would be
difficult to say what most pleased the little
folks.
Whenever the American flag appeared it
was vociferously applauded, but when the
hero of the occasion rode in from time to
time they went wild. Annie Oakley's shooting
pleased the guests mightily, and they
thought John Nelson and his coonskin cap
were abɔut right. The Arab gymnasts
likewise caught the erowd, but not quite
to the extent that did the cowboys and the
bucking bronchos. When the old Deadwood
coach came into the arena and stopped
at the grandstand Superintendent. Daniels
was invited in, and the boys evidently considered
the courtesy properly extended,
for they gave him a great cheer during his
perilous ride around the ring.
The event of the day came in after
Buffalo Biil had finished 'his rifle practice
on horseback. Superintendent Daniels
signaled him to wait a minute, and taking
[Drawing]
GOING DOWN THE SLIDE.
Jimmie Durkin, a waifs' messenger and
Johnnie Tardif, a little crippled newsboy,
with him, went down into the arena and
presented the host with the gold messenger
card mentioned above. In a voice distinctly
audible to all in the vast assemblage,
Mr. Cody responded:
My little friend, you have brought me a beautiful
present, which I shall always cherish as a
memento of the coming generation of Chicago.
Nothing gives me greater pleasure than to contribute
to the happiness of others, especially
the young. I am glad to have you
here today and if there are any
other children in the city, situated as you are,
who want an outing, they are welcome to the
Wild West show. You are only boy but you
have a voice, and you will yet be heard in this
land of freedom. I only wish you to become
great men for the great country you are to represent.
At the conclusion of the show the little
folks were hustled into special trains and
hurried back to the city.
Among the articles contributed for prizes
were:
The Prize List.
Elegant silver cake-basket from the Pairpoint.
Manufacturing company, G. J. Corey, manager.
Two gold rings from A. Lipman. Silver
gilt cornet and fine banjo from Lyon & Healy.
Silver pitcher. Meridan Britannia Company.
Three accordions Mack & Bucker. Music
books, Brainard & Sons. Seven harmonicas,
Loris music store. Sheet music and instruments,
Root & Church Music company. One dozen each
baseballs and bats, two dozen caps and belts,
one-half dozen foot balls, three-quarters dozen
hammocks from A. G. Spauldıng & Bros. Three
dozen fine jackknives from Horton, Gilmore &
McWilliams. Thee pocket knives, one set
knives, forks and teaspoons from Edwin Hunts'
Sons. One dozen ball bats and balls from the
Wilkinson company. One-half dozen vacuum
pistols from the Elastic Tip company. Three
rubber coats, three foot balls and three rubber
balls, W. H. Salisbury & Co. Three rubber coats
from the Goodyear Rubber company and many
others.
Donors of flags: Murray & Co, six dozen flags
and loan of large tent; Louis E. Bloch. loan of
thirty-six National flags; Charles W. Dahlgreen,
loan of large flag: Chicago Costume and Decorating
company, loan of six large flags. A large
quantity of streamers from the following papers
of the city: Tribute, Heraid, INTER OCEAN,
Post, Times, Mail, Journal, Dispatch, Globe, Staatz
Zeitung.
For the tents and races the following were donated:
Six hundred yards of rope from Shannon
& Son; 100 tent stakes, Roberts & Co.; potatoes,
from J. F. White.
Banners were furnished by T. B. Grant, B. F.
Chase & Co,, Devine & Co., and J. B. Frink.
Messrs. Shourds & Kasper gave a messenger
medal presented to Buffalo Bili.
In addition to the many thousand lunch boxes
filled by the public large quantities of pies,
cakes, biscuits, sandwiches, eggs, etc., have been
donated by H. H. Kohlsaat & Co., Troy bakery,
T. B. Coyne, Bremner bakery, New York Biscuit
company, Bryce Baking company, W. E. Aldrich
& Co. bakery, barrel of pickles from John C.
Meyer, barrel of sugar from Havemeyer & Co.,
etc., etc.
J. Irving Pierce gave the use of his grounds at
Sixty-second street and Stony Island avenue
for the picnic; Ilinois Central, free transportation
to and from the grounds; Columbian Coach
company, three coaches in the parade; Reid Ice
Cream company, thirty gallons of ice cream;
Thompson Ice Cream company, thirty gallons of
ice cream.
Herald July 28
HAPPY DAY FOR WAIFS
ANNUAL OUTING FOR STREET ARABS.
Ten Thousand Homeless Boys Enjoy a Ride
to Jackson Park, a Bountiful Dinner a
nd a Special Performance at
Buffalo Bill's Show.
Ten thousand street waifs were given an
outing yesterday. Massing on the lake
front they were taken to the exposition
grounds by the Illinois Central Railroad,
with a half dozen bands and an escort of
police. The boys were not as ragged and
dirty and hungry as usual, for they had been
thoroughly scrubbed and decently
clothed in garments contributed by the people
of Chicago. But they were just as
hilarious and noisy as ever. Dinner was
served at a buffet counter nailed up on the
common near the Sixty-second street entrance.
The shed looked like a corral, with
the inside packed to the ceiling with paper
boxes. Here were stacked 10,000 luncheons,
great wads of dry stuff running the whole
gamut of pastry and the kinds of meat from
sausage to dried beef. Each bundle con
tained doughnuts and pie and hunks of dry
cake and a cluster of pickles. There were
crackers about the edges and bread in the
corners and enough in each for a farm hand.
The delivery was begun as soon as the
boys scrambled down from the trains.
Superintendent Daniels, with a frantic demeanor
and a big cane, stood guard at the
head of the line and urged the youngsters
to be circumspect and thoroughly observant
of the established code of society's dinner
laws. He wanted no jamming, no grabbing,
no yelling, no pushing, no scrapping, no hauling,
no stealing. He got all of them.
Raid on the Commissary.
Like a herd of stampeded steers the mob
swooped down on his shanty and nearly
captured the diggin's outright. They
crawled under the walls, sneaked through
the cracks and snapped their fingers in the
faces of the score of officers, who were
powerless. They guyed the law and punched
its upholders and laughed since they knew
the policemen were only a bluff. It was
(DRAWING)
THEY SAW THE WORLD'S FAIR FROM THE
OUTSIDE.
their picnic and they purposed to run it.
Superintendent Daniels looked fierce, but it
did not squelch the boys: They knew he did
not mean his threats and that murder was
the only crime which would cause their punishment.
Well, the word was given and the rush
started. In a single file the long row which
turned and returned and lapped upon itself
for a length as long as ten blocks began to
move through the place where a single
board left off made a door. On either side
of the sluiceway were busy women and
scurrying mên who doled out the dinners:
Slowly the boys walked, but they were
double-quicked by the push behind, a long
string of empty stomachs which had not seen
food since early dawn. Many pinched bodies
had not been full since the last armory feed,
and those near the tail of the procession
grew frantic. They fought and mauled and
pummeled, but always crowded. Little
chaps were squeezed out by bigger ones and
the hobbly fellows fell back at the onslaught
of the stout. Like straw from a thrasher
the line emerged from the kraal, each face
hidden deep behind some fat lump of something.
There was no shade, so down in the
sun the host flopped. Acres were soon
black with grinning faces, faces that cared
not for the blistering sun which beat down
upon them as it does on the backs of the
brown sons of the Sahara.
Each face opened and closed with the
greed and speed of a famished man and each
face's cheeks swelled out with mouthfuls
which the throat could not handle. Pickles,
pie and cake, doughnuts, crackers and bologna
went down at single gulps, while the
little fellows were as happy as veriest epicures.
One bundle did not fill some stomachs,
so the thrifty youngsters entered the
line and received second portions.
It took an hour for the procession to pass
the entrance. It took ten minutes for each
boy to swallow his rations. Then came the
lemonade. Lusty men with sugar by the
barrel and lemons by the bushel and water
by the tank worked with swift arms over
rivers of rich, fat lemonade. They stirred
the beverage with long poles and hesitated
(DRAWING)
MR. JOHNSTON STARTS THE RACES.
not on the ingredients. Nothing was spared,
since generosity had provided most lavishly.
All a boy had to do was run around
the block and get into place and the
luscious drink was his. They
again rushed through the crevasse and each
boy lifted his tin cup. He was allowed but
a second, and choking and strangling the
chaps piled out and stretched their legs
again in the sun. They were full of victuals
and drink, and in an hour life had put on all
the rosy tints of the delightful existence of
a dilettante.
Contests for Misfit Prizes.
The games were called, a great list of perspiring
sports which had entries of a score
or more contestants for each event. Judges
were selected, but so pell-mell was the excitement
and so confusing the noise nobody
could tell who won. There were prizes appropriate
and prizes ridiculous-silver cake
basket for a colored racer and a pickle dish
for a boy without pickles. A long, lean
youngster, with a face like a pirate, lugged
off a roll of music, and an urchin of dismal
countenance secured a set of silver forks.
A bath and a place to sleep would have
served him better. But the boys didn't
mind. They ran and jumped, and climbed
and drenched themselves in the heat, and
for once, at least, had a jolly good time.
Some man sounded a bugle. Like a rally-
