Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1854-12-06
No. Ill.
A Crammed Circus Company.

A peculiar incident occurred al Hsnovff
Court House in Virginia IN consequence
of he IVY rains we could not perform there,
and concluded to start for Richmond imine
diately after dinner. The landlord howey-
er informed us that as our agent had err
gagged three meals and lodgings for The cor 5
pany. our bill would be the same If we de-
parted that day as if we remained tolre K:
fast next morning. We backed our remon-
STRANGE with an offer to pay for dinner ard
portion OF the balance of the bill 10 COM
pensate for provisions obtained and not
consumed, but the landlord stubbornIy re'
fused to abate jot OF bis first demand.
II was now about eleven o'clock in the
loreno ,n-Mr. Turner was very angry at
what. lie considered The unreasonable de-
mands of the landlord. and told him it
would be much 10 our benefit If we could
proceed at once to Richmond,
81 don't prevent you" said The stubborn
hotel keeper; but you must pay for supper.
Iod,ing and breakfast have made pro-
vision according to order, and must be
paid for it,
AT what hours can we have our meals 70
asked Turne-.
Whenever you please" wa, the re.
ply.
Very well sir. We will have dinner
at twelve O'Clock, and supper at half-past
twelve. We will lodge at one o'clock this
afternoon, and breakfast at lf-pdst one,
said Turner
The landlord was amazed alike BY the
fact and manner of thi, announcements
"You don't want three meals at once, do
you p said he"
NO" said Turner, "nor will We have
three at once. You shall set the table and
cook us a good dinner. We will eat it,
The table shall then be nicely cleared of
and reset with clean dishes, and our sup
per shall be placed upon it. We will eat
that and finish it by one o'clock. Then
we will 60 to bed; and do you see that the
supper table is cleared off, and good
breakfast cooked with plenty of good cof-
fee. and let it be all ready when We arise
at half past one o'clock. And, mind you,
don't think you can re-bash one neal and
make it answer for another. We won't
stand that. We pay for the best, and We
will have the best
The landlord said it wa. all right and
started to prepare dinner. followed him.
and tried again 10 effect compromise, but
he would hear nothing Of the kind.
A good dinner was on the table attwelve
o'clock. We did full justice TO it. aad
Turner then ordered the table TO be cleared
off and supper brought in at once. 1t was
done punctually by halfpast twelve o'clock,
and we all did our best towards eating it.
By one o'clock we had devoured as much
as we possibly could. Now show us to
bed," SAID Turner, each man by his demand
being provided with lighted candle. The
landlord showed us our rooms, and We all
| (tbirty.six liz NUMBER undrcssed and tum-
bled into bed, previously TO which, how
ever, Old Turner ha!loed to the landlord
from the top of the stairs, 'Do you see, sir,
| that our bro akfort 30 Gil roaIy and Tho
table smoking hot in half an hour"
No response was heard to this request
Turner maintained his gravity, and so did
the landlord. Both were angry and made
serious time Of, but for myself, | was
corvul>ed with laughter at the absurdity of
the whole thing. All the company Indeed,
were in great glee; but we felt that the
tavern keeper was unreasonable, and there
fore we not only obeyed the orders of Tur..
ner but did our best 10 get the worth OF
our money. We were up and dressed in
half an hour, but our beds exhibited every
appearance of having been devoted to at
least one nights lodging.
4 y
We then all marched down to breakfast.
Every thing was cooked and prepared in
the best order, and stranger would have
thought, had he seen the victuals disappear.
that we had been on short allowance for
fortnight. 1t has ever beer mystery to
me how we managed to live through such
stuffing as we all underwent on that oc-
casion. have seen my father cram tur'
keys for weeks preparatory to serving them
for Thanksgiving dinner, but that was rot
"a circumstance to the crammed circus CONF
pany.-Barnum's autobiography.