New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1857-04-13
THE MONKEY SHOW

bles have led us, up town, down town, out back Of
town, or and where in the middle of town, have we
failed to encounter that wonderful show progressing
in flood tide Of public favor
When we first saw it, on Canal street, there could
not have been less than thousand people clustered
around it, breathess gaping and grinnng, the outer
circles of the crowd tiptong it anxously for peeps
over the walls of the shoulders within. No shabby
crowd either, although it had its shabby proportion
there were stately merchants, busy clerks, digned
gentlemen of leisure and all sorts of genteel people,
mixed up with draymen, wood-sawyers, servant
women, newsboys, children of all degrees and ne
gros-a promiscuous assembage, truly-but all on
perfect equality regarded the luxury of beholding
that wonderful monkey show. And since then,
wherever we have stumbled upon it, has its potency
been visible in the complete and reckless suspension
of business and the general affairs of life, which the
first groan of the organ and the first hop of the little
red;iacket brought about.
Well, what is this show that creates such sensa-
ton and reaps such harvest of pcayunes and dimes
1t is nothing but monkey show such as some years
ago attracted no more attention than the monkeyless
organs which now 60 mourning about through the
sleepy streets. We can account for its popularity
with the masses only by remembering the dearth of
monkeys that has afflicted the world for some years
past and by setting down the present turore as the
mere indulgence of new sensation, favored with
memories Of old one, long gone by. We can tell,
by the manner and attitude Of many sober-ooking
people who halt to look at little Red jacket that
they feel it SMALL beneath their dignity to stop for
monkey.show, yet are chained to the spot by magic
they can scarcely resist Gentlemen seated on balco
MES and leaning in doorways may take Their I'LL OF
the show without loss Of dignity but the welldiessed
pedestrian must find it hard to halt without feeling
certain loss Of PRIDE He would never stop, we opne,
only from conviction that little Red Jacket absorbed
all the gaze in the neghborhood and that he could
contribute his gaze without being noticed. So en-
tcing is a monkey-so wonderful the present monkey
show. Having properly paved the way, we will now
make an important ii not startling announcement:
We have stopped to look at that monkey show! !
And we have done so not once, or twice, but dozen
times. We have not, however, in so doing, expert
enced the depreciation Of dignity which we have dis
covered in others for always feel stout in the
conviction that a newspaper man hasa right to go
everywhere and take good look at everything pur-
chasing his immunity by shedding subsequent illll-
minaton in print. And by this article, good reader,
we pay for the divers easts of reason and flows OF
soul have enjoyed, in our CONCENTRATIONS Of the
wonderful monkey show
But it is not the automaton tricks and fooleres of
little Red Jacket, which so much astonish the Juve-
! niles and the unthinking population at large, that
captivate ,ls. We look and beyond the monkey,
and see sundry things infinitely more interesting We
feast upon the spectacle of three ful-groWn men
say about four hundred pounds of flesh and blood
making fat and easy living off of one little monkey,
weighing, with jacket, cap, and all, about three
pounds. This is great food for reflection. We feel
that the tiny Red Jacket is dreaduy imposed upon,
all for want of little intellect He can do great
many cute little things, but not without prompting
If he could get along without prompting, and had
sense enough to be his own manager, what couldn't
he do? He would soon be a millionaire monkey, and
deem it condescension to dine with crowned heads
If, without intellect, he can support three great Tub
berly men, what sort of family of his own might be
not keep with intellect If he lived up to his means
he would be able to provide stylishly for whole
colony OF monkeys. In Short there is no end to the
train of thought suggested by this aspect of the
wonderful monkey show.
We next relish the plan of the show. 1t is organic
ed in regular theatrical style. One lubber acts as
manager, carrying around his contribution cup anc
extending the circle according to the size OF the
crowd. The sleek head of monkey projects from
| his capacious bosom but this monkey never does
anything, though he offers some claim to consdera
ton by his susceptibility to peanuts. similar mon
key peeps from the bosom of the second lubber The
crowd wait and wait to see this monkey come out and
| do something but we look upon them as on the
bottom lines of theater bill 90 This and that in re-
hearsal with gorgeous new sceneres and stage effects
| etc., and we don't wait. Lubber No. , is acting
manager and prompter to the wonderful little Red
| Jacket. His property room is an enormous satche
slung to his side and stuffed with mysteries which
would keep the Juveniles waiting till doomsday Lub
Der No. 3 is the orchestra He grinds away at mel
lihuous organ almost as strong lunged a calliope
and airs military, sentimental, merry and sad, arc
| droned forth according to the particular wonders
which little Red Jacket may be enacting at the time
We gaze at all three of the lubbers together and AZ
we see the harvest of dimes they rake in we look int
the future and see their beautiful and splendid,
dressed daughters beset by fashionable shanghais
ready to call out and exterminate any caitif bas
enough to twit them with running after an eN-organ
grinders daughter.
But to us the gem of this exhibition is the lltbbe
who prompts little Red Jacket. Slouchy, sallow
faced lazy and sleepyeyed, he looks like man VIII
had discovered the vanity of hope and the emptines
of fame. He has nose, and a moustache and WIN
kers that would honor minister plenipotentIaIy
whilst his general soemnty might be enyed b
t an undertaken. 1t is curious to see such most
and such moustache and whisker alive to NJ
thing but the antics of the little monkey on h
tripod As we gaze at thcm-the man and the MOI
key--the idea sezes us, that by some mysteriou
process and by years of patient labor, the man h9
infused all his vitality into the monkey, or nearly al
d retaining only enough for his own actual necessite
D, in putting the monkey on his stand, handing him