The William F. Cody Archive: Documenting the life and times of Buffalo Bill

BUFFALO BILL AND THE SCHOOL CHILDREN.

Yesterday, on the invitation of Colonel W. F. Cody and Mr Salsbury, nearly 8000 children attended a special matinee performance of the Wild West Show. Over 4000 of the children were selected from various Board schools in the city, and the others were drawn from Mossbank Industrial School and the industrial schools at Chapelton, Maryhill, Rose Street, Green Street, and Rottenrow. The vast building was crowded in every part. In most cases the children were accompanied by their teachers, who conducted them to the show, and looked after their behaviour while there. It may safely be said that the Wild West has never been represented before a more appreciative audience. Each of the stirring incidents was followed with the liveliest interest. When anything particularly striking was shown, the applause, beginning at one part of the building and taken up at the others, swelled into a perfect roar of delight. At the beginning of the entertainment, when there is a parade of the entire company, an incident occurred which, as Major Burke remarked, was worth a dollar in itself. A dragoon, who galloped into the arena waving the Union Jack, was greeted with a round of cheers; but a moment later, when a United States cavalryman appeared bearing aloft the Stars and Stripes, the audience spontaneously struck up the lively strains of "Yankee-doodle." Lord Provost Muir, [1] wearing his chain of office, was among the audience, and in an interval of the entertainment he briefly addressed the assemblage. He expressed the pleasure he felt at being present, and hoped the children would all enjoy themselves. He concluded by calling for three cheers for Colonel Cody, and they were given with a heartiness enough to raise the roof. Among the members of the School Board present were Dr Henry Dyer, Mr Scott, Mr Glenn Edgar, and Mr Harry A. Long. The arrangements for conveying the Board children to the show were made by Mr Robert Gray, the principal officer of the Board. Major Burke, the manager, and his staff were untiring in their efforts to make comfortable what was probably the largest, and certainly not the least happy audience of children that ever assembled in Glasgow.