Connecticut western news., 1875-10-29
CHARLEY ROSS IN WAX.

The BOy's Father Attends a Travelling Show and Finds Himself on Exhibition. .a
 When was up in Canada for the first
 time, says MT. Ross in the Philadelphia
 Times, working out 8 clew, one of my
 friends there told me that Coles circus
 had been along with wax figure of
 Charley Ross. Almost the first thing we saw in the town was a fence posted
 over with circus bills. On one of the bills was huge cut of 8 boy, labeled
 Charley Ross, and the small bills adyer- tised wax figures of Charley Ross and the whole Ross family. When we gott the circus the first thing we saw in the menagerie tent was big cage divided into two parts. In the first part, near est the entrance, was woe begone look ing family, labeled, "The Intemperate Family" The, other part was labeled
 "The Ross Family" A beautiful little boy, in wax, stood on the top of small round table. He was about the size of Charley, but didn't look anything at all like him., Mrs. Ross, who sat in the background, was gorgeously, dressed in the very latest fashion but she wore 8 bright green dress, and the real Mrs. Ross hasn't worn anything but black for a long time. They had me standing there just behind Charley, finely dress ed, but nothing like me at all. Besides l these they had a number of children seated on stools, and the only figure that looked anything like any of us was lit tie girl that really looked very much like my little girl. While we were talk ing I happened to hear the proprietor's po al lal, T l around and asked him whether his fig ure was an exact representation of Char ley Ross. a -... f.' .. -..s .. ..'.'. . .." ooh, yes" he answered, "I had that made under my own supervision, and I know ttiat it's perfect" .. ......-rt
 Where did you get the picture of the boy 2" asked him.
 "Oh, I got it from his father myself" he replied. without any hesitation I'm very intimate with the Ross family-go to their house every time [ visit Philadelphia. Those are :, exact ikenesses of the whole family" And he gave me an excellent reason for hay ing been at my house, which was very plausible, but then knew he had never been there. a. t......-..
 ''I know the family so well, he con- l.N0 for the return of the boy on my own ac- count; and I'll pay it, too, every cent of it." t '- ~0.tfa'# ta s1
 asked him whether he thought I looked anything like the figure of MT. Ross.
 "Oh, mo-" he said you don't look anything like him at ali. Why, have you ever been mistaken for him 2h
 s6Voo ST kolI hiy,o CT box-o Loo-. Al for him very often. I am Charley Ross father."
 We'll, sir, MT. Ross continued. laugh. ing quietly, he was the worst taken down man every saw in my life. He stood there for two or three minutes and couldn't say word. After awhile he put his hands on his hips and said:
 "Good Lord, MT. Ross, you don't say sol
 Then, after awhile, he took hold of both of my hands, and held on to them warmly. "You don't tell me you're the father of that boy9 We'll, well, we'll. every word of it, about that $2, 1000 re- ward, and nothing would please me bet ter than to have chance to pay it. But l really did meet you once, MT. Ross. I
 cc - .Sou "o yOu III 'Ao mayor office in Philadelphia. "And I rather think he was," MT. Ross added, paren- thetically. -
 We'll, for some time he was so con- fused he didn't know what to say. But, to relieve him, asked him to tell me candidly where he got that wax figure of Charley. -.. - -...s
 "Why, sent my son down to your store in Philadelphia" he replied, "and he got it of you" s.:
 l told him I guessed not. Then I asked him where he got the rest of the family.
 "Well," said he, Gas you're MT. Ross, I won't mind telling you; but I wouldn't tell anybody else. You see we used to have an incorporate family and temperate family. So we let the incorporate family stand, and just changed the label of the other from The Temperate Family to the Ross Family, and put the figure of Charley in front. That's the way we fixed it.
 was a little taken back myself at this, but the man evidently sympathized deeply with me, and at the same time he had an eye open to buisness, for as I was leaving him he said: "Now, MT. Ross, when that boys found I want you to let me have him to exhibit. He'll draw better than anything else that I ,an get, and I'll give you $1, 900 week for him for thirty weeks.''
 told him, said MT. Ross, that I would rather see the boy before I made my bargains, and that even then I guessed he wouldn't ever make an attraction in circus.