The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1859-05-11

world. Her courage was Aoggcd into her.
She was whipped up to the balancing.
point-lashed through every position of
classic gracefulness she now assumes with
so much apparent ease. She was pret-
ty little girl and occasionally there would
be remonstrances against her fathers cru
city, All the worse for her, poor child,
for then her mother would snatch up the
whip, and cut her to pieces, out of sheer
spite at being interfered with. I often
wonder whether Bill Jones keeps up the
system of discipline resorted to by her
father and mother, from her cradle up
ward. She must have become so accus-
toned to it. one would think, as to feel
quite uncomfortable under any other sort
Of treatment"
"And do you mean to say" we asked
that all the children are taught to be
acrobats and equtstrians in such revol-
wing way?"
"No," our friend replied: "oh, no
Some like it-havc good nerves, naturally
emulate each othcr--and would become
excellent performers, almost without
tuition. But they are the exceptions.
Take Signor Smitherini, for instance, and
his wonderful sons Did you ever see
them do the double trapeze, or 20 through
series of gymnastic evolutions, "a il
Risley.' IF you know how their poor
little bodies ached and smarted with the
hoggings they had in the morning, at re-
hearsal, you wouldn't enjoy their extra
ordinary feats of agility and youthful
strength half so much as you do. Bill
Jones was awfully hard on his pupils. He
wouldn't even let them practice on mat
tress. They had to do it in the ring
sometimes in country places, where we
couldn't get sawdust enough to put
layer Of three inches of it on the hard
ground. And Heaven help those luck
less boys, when Bill took it into his head
to come and watch them do their lessons
in physical development. | ncct only
tell you that he was muscular, singularly
skillful in the management of whip, and
that his pupils were costumed in the thin
nest of shirts and drawers"
But perhaps" we suggested "these
were except ons with which ycu met"
"No," said our friend I'VE changed
portions of our company, over and over
again. during the Summer; we were en-.
gaging and discharging people all the
while. but | never saw much difference
amongst them"
"And the Talking Horse p"
HAS scars on him now, to testify to
the brutality of his training
"And the Intelligent Mastodon p"
Whose size, compared to that of the
horse, is not equal to the greater proper
ton Of torture that he has endured"
"And Little Angelina, the Fairy
Child?"
"Why, the last time you saw her she
was riding a balky horse. Every time the
horse changed its gait, it was as much as
she could do to keep her balance. Her
.ather was ring-mastor, and. as he saw the
danger she was in produce an expression
of pain upon her face, he"
"Took her away, of course" said we.
I" He wrowlcd to her, between his teeth
Smile = with an oath) smile, or Iii cut
your (another OATH legs of" Ay, and
the next time she invoIuntarily looked
scared again, he did cut her, too. The
audience didn't notice it, but a member Of
the company did, and | heard him relate
the story as good joke"
Horrible" cried we. "But the cd.
ucated ponies, that We see go through
their tricks with such seeming good-hu,
NOR"
! "Do you recollect," rejoined our frenC
chow enraged you told me you felt, one
night, at the Broadway Theatre, wher
you saw one of the clowns there make 4
pony kneel down, by fairly hamm, ring it
shins from under it?"
We did recolect.
"And the audience applauded, eh?"
We nodded.
"And they laughed like mad when til,
elephant shrieked ?"
Certainly"
"Do you think" said our friend, they
would have laughed so heartily, had they
seen be keeper goad him ina raw wound
under the ear, to make him produce tha
comical sound ?"
We were horribly disguised with tn
revelations we had heard, and beseeche,
our friend to postpone the subject.
II will" he assented =" but first tel