The Old Beatle Magic
By Art Lewis
The Toronto Telegram
August 18. 1966
Screaming fans of the Beatles literally shed blood for their idols at a Toronto airport farewell today. Several girls cut their arms while lunging against a barbed-topped fence, as 250 teenagers screamed a goodbye to the Liverpool mop tops as they boarded their plane. About 1,000 broke through police cordons behind the King Edward Sheridan Hotel as police escorted the Beatles to the airport after their two performances yesterday at Maple Leaf Gardens. None of the girls were badly hurt at the airport incident.
The Beatles were taken from downtown Toronto in a police paddy wagon. "I saw them! I saw them!" Screamed the ones who caught a glimpse.
Their performance in Toronto allowed them to take back $100,000 to bolster the sagging British economy. Although they made as much money as in 1964 and in 1965, their 35-hour Toronto stay was a placid affair compared to the mob scene then. Whether it was Beatle John Lennon's recently much publicized comment on Christianity or just the natural decline of all pop music groups, The Beatles didn't draw the crowds this year the way they have in the past. Show business insiders are predicting this will be their last North American tour.
Crowds outside the Gardens and the King Edward Sheridan Hotel were tiny compared with the 1000s that mobbed the mop-headed singers during earlier visits. Police said everything went smoothly with few incidents. One 19-year-old youth was arrested at the Gardens and charged with causing a disturbance. Another youth was ejected from the Gardens during the afternoon performance after he climbed down a wired screen behind the stage and fell to a ramp 15 feet below. And another youth was struggling so violently, police had to handcuff him before carrying him out.
During both performances, girls made frantic runs up the aisles for the stage and were carried out screaming by police. More than 100 Saint John ambulance workers treated 167 people, including a 77-year-old woman. The gray-haired little old lady was from Port Hope and had slipped on her way to her seat. With tears in her eyes, she begged Saint John workers to let her go back because she didn't want to miss the Beatles.
Most of the others were teenage girls treated for hysteria. 15 were sent to the hospital. Seven treated during the matinee performance were back again with hysterics during the evening show. One Garden usher reported a 16-year-old girl approached him with $50 cash in her hand, which she offered in return for getting her into the dressing room backstage.
Unlike past shows, which were sold out, there were several thousand empty seats at the evening show. A Garden official said 16,000 of the 18,000 tickets were sold. Beatle fans caught few glimpses of their idols, except for two 30-minute stage appearances. They were spirited from their hotel to the Gardens and back in a police paddy wagon. Admission to their between performances press conference at the Garden was rigidly screened during the performance.
Screaming girls threw everything available on the stage, including lipstick cases, love notes, earrings, rings, pens, papers, cups, clothing, and a screwdriver.
Over at the hotel, about 35 police officers kept an all-night vigil, as the keener fans, many who had taken rooms in the hotel, kept up their attempts to sneak up to the Beatles' eighth-floor suite. Two enterprising girls were caught by police when a hotel employee noticed the dirty clothes in his hamper began to move. Dozens of less imaginative fans crept up the back stairs, only to run into the arms of police at the Beatles' floor.
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