Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1872-03-21
MtisfeIIaneous. q
A High Calling.

u was done away with long ago.
Government took il up, SAID it was dan
Gcrous, and put Stop To- it, Perhaps
1t was dangerous. and perhaps govern
mcnt vas night 10 put a stop 10 II. Bat
didnt like it then, for 1t was my
hr, al. and meant five pounds a We, K
TO me and when il WAS stopped. my
profession Was ruined
don't look like il now, for vou see
I've made fivsh, and am close on tiit, /,
hut fifteen of twenty Wears ago. when
| "as IN my hv-hin5s, | couli have
shown you such figure and such mus.
c.es n You w"u.du't see every dax.
Ne and my brother were rcyular
! par. just the same height, and soudcr-
inlIN aike. IL was - bit ui CANNON !,
hut II took wonderful, in the bills. and
our manager sand 1t would he utter
madness la announce ourselves a,
/ benjamin and Thomas Kitchens. sowc
uscd u be IA blue letters all over Lon
/ don. Lc Frcrcs Proycncaux = and
the people came 10 see u from all
I parts.
We were engaged. You see. at the
! RoNai Conduit Gardens. and did the
/ trap' ze work. Now, dare say. \ou-
II iind plenty oc people who viii
I say II WAS known Iuny before: but
don't YOU believe them. I'm the man
Who invented ihc trApczc-at least.
/ IN the boy that Is, | invented It when
vas boy, on the SWING IR,pPT.,aolh
- ,i,r. out of "othcr, clothes
l iinc. and rubbed till it bgokc all 10 bats
aud let Tom down SO heavy that he
pa, out his shoulder.
luu SEE 1t MAS from experimenting
( on that swing, hanging by my legs, by
! one hand. 10y two hands, and upside
I down that | soweu the seeds Of al,
these wonderful trapezc exploits that
have. as We say in the bill, thrilled
| cXpcct:,nt audiences IN every nerve aud
| hbrc of their frames"
I"m turned very suIky after lie put
his shoulder out, and lie wouldn't try
any more tricks, till he grew Jealous Of
seeing me get 50 handy al them (he
WAS queer fellow. was Tom. and new
I cr could bear Tor mc to toe ahead Of
/ him. even IN taking medicine.) 81 Il
( then he set 10 when | wasn't bv, and
worked 50 hard lfat he got 10 shorten
the rope, and 10 hang by one foot
quite clever. l hadn't known any
| thing abou, II. he'd been SO that l va.
quite took aback one dav when, after
figuring about III my boyish fashion up
on the rop.., he sniekercd at me 4 bit,
and then. 10 my great astonishncnt,
| &c, down. he SAYS: and then he sets
to- docs all have done before, and "A
great deal more. too, till he ends bv
| hanging bv one leg. when, crs sh the
rope snapped. and down caine poor
| Tom on his head aud shoulder with =
most terrible bang.
Up got Tom. and few at Inc like a
tiger. because was lau. .hing-and
put it 10 YOU, could l help it.-and
then we had regular stand.up figh,.
which was not ended until our Mary
charged down on us with clothc
prop. and caught Tom by the throa,
with the big prong. SO MS she held him
against the wall till he promised he
wouldn't fight any more. Tom didn't
keep his promise, for he was a terrible
DO, for fighting, and many's the up
and-down set-to we have had together.
Woe betide any boy though. who
touched me 1t didn't matter how b,g
he was, Tom always took my part, and
thrashed him.
From doing things on the rope, we
took to tumhling little on the ground,
tying ourselves in knots. walking on
our hands and shall never forget the
day that | first threw somersault
without touching the ground with my
hands. That day was marked one
for me first because Of the pride felt
rs | ran 10 the field and spun over
second. because Ton was so jealous
that he took run and jump. and
came down on his back, making il so
stif and bad that he couldn't move
hardly for a week.
At last. having done all this for our
own amusement as boys, We had To give
up, for times got very bad at home
Poor father, who had only been jour
newman painter, fell i'll and died and
mother moved to London, where. after
a deal Of trying, we boys got jot
here and a job there. at rough painting
for, from helping father at home, We
were both pretty handy with brush
Times, however, were very hard Will
us, when one day we heard ofa chance
The Royal Conduit Gardens were be
ing done up in hurry, the lessee hav
ing taken them, as it we're, at III,
eleventh hour; and being at "a higl
rent. Of course he wanted to get then
open as soon a. possible. Redecora
ton was the order Of the day. and ev
cry man who could handle brush wa
taken on, painters being scarce in tn
spring.
Well, we went. and were soon bus,
at work. painting arbOrs and arches
and touching up orchestra and artidt
ial sky, till the gardens were opened
when the manager, who was very civ
fellow, gave Tom and your humble se
want . ticket for the opeaing day.
That was treat for Us, for we wer
In good spisits. having . few shilling