Donkey Boys--Central Park

Judges Young Folks--An Illustrated Paper for Boys & Girls 1888

THE DONKEY RIDE

ISN'T it jolly to ride on a real live horse! But if there is no horse close at hand, why, a donkey will do just as well. Our frontispiece shows some happy children who are enjoying a treat of this kind, and reminds one that a trip to Central Park, where there are a number of donkeys of various sizes to suit all children, large and small, might be very interesting.

After being told that they are stationed in the East Ramble between the Mall and the Arsenal, we start off in that direction, and presently the jingle of a string of bells and the patter of tiny hoofs on the concrete walk draw nearer and nearer, and finally a turn in the path brings to view a little dirty-gray donkey, jogging along in an easy-going trot, and looking about half asleep. By his side is a boy who guides him and at the same time looks out for a little girl seated on his back. She has enjoyed the ride so much that she begs of nurse Betty for "just one more."

"Whoa, Jack," calls the donkey boy, and as nurse Betty consents to another turn, the boy leads off for a second trip. But Jack doesn't look at it in that light —he insists that one trip is enough for each passenger, and no persuasion, coaxing or driving can induce him to take another view of the matter, and he deliberately backs up in his place in the line of donkeys, and there is nothing to do but to take the little rider off and transfer her to "Jim," whose turn it is to go out.

The donkey boy laughs and rubs Jack's nose, for he thinks him a most knowing animal, and he can tell you some wonderfully cunning tricks of this self-willed donkey.

Jim is taller and of a dun-brown color, and is much more obliging than Jack, so he starts along at a lively gait, and gives his rider a good jolting as he gallops down the path. She thinks it is jolly fun, though, and laughs in high glee; she would very much like to try it over again, but hasn't the courage to ask nurse Betty for still another ride—so she contents herself with the promise to come again some day soon.

"Tommy" is a funny little donkey, not much larger than a good-sized dog, and his ears seem to be as long as his whole head. He is the smallest of the lot, yet he is a perfect despot, and the others dare not dispute his right of way. Sometimes he takes a notion to stand crosswise in the line, and no amount of beating will compel him to turn around until he feels inclined to do so. He has a great liking for tobacco smoke, and if any one will only blow the smoke into his nostrils he will follow them all about as long as it lasts. A mischievous fellow one day gave him some tobacco to chew, and he liked it and swallowed it, but it made him so ill that now the donkey boy keeps a sharp watch upon all visitors, and will allow them to feed him nothing, even such a delicate morsel as a thistle.

Donkey rides were a big attraction in the park in its early decades. The cost of a ride in 1905, when this photograph was taken: a nickel.