New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1873-04-29
AN AMUSEMENT CRITIQUE.

70 the EDITOR OF the TrfoHhe'
SIR: once heard bright child declare that
circuscs wero prohibited in heaven, she did not wish
10 GO there She had been baptized. was under
rhrsan influences and previous 70 this heterodoxy.
had never given her good parents moments anxiety
Her naive utterauce touched responsive chord
within my own breast, for we'll did remember how
eoriouy the crcus shoue Ivy the light Of other days.
how the ripgnaster, in wriuked dresscoat, seemed
the enviable OF mortas, being on speaking terms
with all the celestial creatures who jumped flags
and through balloons how the clown the dearest,
funniest OF men; how the young athletes IN
tights and spsngles were my beau Ideals OF
nasouinity; and how La Belle Rose with one foot
upon her native heath. otherwise wellpadded sad
and the other pointed in the direction OF the sweet
htue cherubs that sat up alo the most iasc'uaus
OF her sex am persuaded that crcuses Nil an acning
void in the universe What children did Deloo 'he'' W
venton shudder think for circuses are TO chuhoou
what butter 20 bread aud what the WOrlu uu oe'oo
the birth Of Barum is an almost equally rghtiul prob
lem Some TO shows others ATTAIN SHOWS anu
vet again Others shows thrust upon them barhuu
Is a born Snowman. II ever man 1ulhIeu HIS ues'nl
il Is the discovercr OF Tom Thumb With the majority Oh
men and women life is failure. Not until one leg
dapre in the grave is their rGiSOn dec disclosed The
round people always hud themselves sticking ID the
square holes and vice but With Barnhm we heed
not deplore a re mGnQee We can smile at MS reVerses
for even the phoenix has cause TO blush III ms presence
Though pursued by tongues of FIRE. Barnum remains in
ylpcble when iron stone and mortar crumble around
him. and while yet the smoke is telling volumes OF
destruction the CHEEKY voice of the Snowman excaims
Here you are gentlemen admission 50 cents, children
half price"
AprOpos Of Baruum the past week has been one OF
nnmitga ted JOY. Singing the song, / would were
boy again." I've the elephant To speak truly I've
seen elephant, but half dozen. L have had
feast Of roaring flow OF circus In fact, have iu
dulged in the widest dissipation have visited Two
eircuses in two consecutive days. and have sucked pep
A.. chi and nj he
reason seems obscure but crcuses and peppermint
candy are as inseparable peanuts and the Bowery
Approaching this solemn fact Barnum provides bigger
sticks adorned with bigger req stripes than ever Romans
sucked in pamy days OF the Coliseum Ia the dim
distance l mistook them Tor BARRIERS poies but upon
direct application recognized them for my long lost
own.
However let me, like the Geimans, begin with the
creation. Here, ladies and gentlemen, is for sale Mr.
Barnum's Autobiography, full of interest and anecdote
one Of the charming productions ever issued from
the press, 800 pages, 81 fupage engravngs reduced
from s. 90 to 81 So Every purchaser enters free"
How ordinary nOItals can resist buying Barnum's
autobiography for dOllar-sucn bargain as
never was-is ncomprehensi5e. l believe they
cannot. / believe they do their duty like men,
and as one man I resisted because belonged to the
Press, and therefore not mortal whoever heard OF
Journalist getting a bargam7 With Spartan frmness
I turned deaf to the persuasive music Of the
propagandIst and entered where hope is all before.
was staggered by welcome from all the Pres-
dents Of the United States, Fitz Greene Haeck Gen.
Hooker and Graz Brown These personages are rather
yyoodcny and red the face, though flushed with
victories of the platform the table, but recognized
their fitness in a menage5e. What athlete has turned
summersaults thar some OF these representative
mcul What hon has Oared gently than few OF
these sucking dOvesf BaTnum's tact In appropriately
grouping curiosities living and dead too well known
TO require comment Passing this galaxy Of brains and
beauty Us there anything more effective than alera
Sion l took my seat high in the air amid
dense throng of my fellow creatures and realized
how many people 1t takes TO make up the world
WHAT did seel saw double. | beheld lot one ring
but two in each Of which the uncommon variety of man
was diSpOrting in entertaining manner But l felt
for these uncommon men. Think what Immortal mates
must arise from these dual performances! We all like
receive the reward Of merit, but when Two per
formances are going on simultaneously, how are the
artists TO know for whom it is intendedl Applause Is
Tie sweet compensation for which all strive privately or
publicly. and be cheated out OF IT, or lett III doubt
as to its destination. a refined form of the inqu
sion Fancy the sensations Of the man balancing |
plates ON the little end of nothing feat to which
he has consecIated his life - at thought of his |
neighbours performance Of impossible feats In the ar
Ii would be than human in both not 10 WISH
the other in jericho in equally remote quarter
OF the globe | sympathized with them. became
bewildcred in my endeayOTs 10 keep one eye on
each and nwardly say, How happy could l be with
either were 'totheT dear eharmer away" II human
beings were constructed the same principle as Janus
and had two faces, fOre-and-att circus would De
convenient but nowadays doublefaeed people only
wear TWO ewes in their heads, the Barnumun cOncep-
ton muddles the intellect. 1 pray you. great and
glorious Snowman, take pity on your artists and your
audieDces Don't drive the former mad and the latter
distracted Remember that insanity is On the increase,
and that accommodations In asyums are limited TAKE
warning before you undermine the reason OF an entire
continent Beware Beware !!
hear much and see of the physical weakness OF
woman Miehelet tells the sentimental world that
woman is exquisite inyalide, with perennial mead
ache and nerves perpetualy the rack 1t is mis-
take. When gaze upon German and French peasant
women ask Michelet which is right he or Nature
And since nv introduction to Barnums female gymnast
a goOd-loogng welcomed mother Of a family, who
walks about unfinchnGly with men and boys on her
shoulders and carries 800 pound gun as easily as the
ordinary carries clothes-Dasket-I am per
shaded that the coming woman" like Brother JOna-
than will click all creation" In that good time woman
will have her rights because she viii have her muscle
Then there murders and playful beatings between
husbands and wives the wives will enjoy all the glory
of crime. What an outlook And what a sublime con-
ISOLATION to the present enfeebed of wives that
having their thIoats and their eyes carved out
merely their bceps have not into train
ingl Barnums female gymnast Is an example to Der
sex What woman has done may do again.
others train up daughters in the they should
fight and when they are married they will not depart
this life God the side Of the stoutest muscle as
well AZ OF the heaviest batalons. II is perfectly
less for Anthony to talk about the equality OF the
sexes az long as man can strange his mOther-in-
was exceedingly thrilled by the appearance Of the
two Young gentlemen from the Cannbal Islands, who
are beautifully embossed In green and Ted and compass
sonaed them for the sacrifices they make In putting on
oh A