The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1875-06-03
A Tragedy In q Russian Circus.

CURED in circuses, notably the murder
GUS struggle between the two brothers
Reiner during a performance of the
Wollschlager troupe at Innspruck, in the
Tyrol, on the 9Th of August, 1912. But
an event of still more interest took place
on the 31st of March last at the Kisseft
Circus, in Novgorod, Russia.
The Kisseff Circus is one of the largest
in Eastern Europe. 1t is known through
out the Russian Empire, and its perform
ers rank very high.
Its clowns were native Russians, and
their quaint capers and jokes were
among the chief attractions of the per-
formances.
The best of these clowns was Maxesoy
Lidersky, young married man OF thir-
ty, He seemed to be born Centa ur;
his body seemed to be destitute of bones,
and his face, all muscle, was susceptible
of the most wonderful changes. He re-
ceived higher salary than any other
member of the Kisseff Circus.
Among the funny acts in the perform
ances of the latter at Novgorod was an
English horse-thlef's capture, sentence
to the gallows and ludicrous escape,
when already dangling in the air.
The horse-thief was personated by
LiderskX, and his miraculous escape
from death by the halter was effected by
his jerking himself from the cross-beam
to which the rope had been fastened,
and the spectacle of the culprit making
his escape from the gallows after kick
ing the air for few seconds, and then
running away with the rope round his
neck, would invariably elicit thunders of
applause from the conyulsed spectators.
For ten nights in succession the hsrse-
thief scene had been enacted without an
accident, but on the 31st of March it ter
minated in a terrible tragedy.
Lidersky, who received salary of one
hundred silver roubles week, was a
man of extravagant habits. His princi
pal pastime was playing at cards for
high stakes.
On the Both he had won from another
member of the Kisseff Circus nearly three
hundred rubles. The loser, Mazzef Tier
ring, had asked the loan of fifty rubles
from him, which Lidersky had some
what scornfully refused.
Tjerring had left the bar-room of the
tavern, where they had been playing
muttering threats against Lidersky.
These threats had been overheard by a
waiter, Ivan Grossyk, who spoke to Lii
dersky about it.
ooh, he is nothing but braggart, t."
had been Lidersky's reply: "When he
gets his next weeks salary l will give
him satisfaction, but not with my own
money"
The two circus men met at the even
ing performance, and Lidersky ad-
dressed playful remark to Tjerring.
Don't speak to me, dog" had been
the surly reply of the latter.
The horse thief scene was enacted that
evening, and it passed off as usual.
Lidersky slipped from the cross-beam,
which, to facilitate the escape, had been
planed and creased, and bowed to the
applauding spectators.
at is strange" whispered Tjerring to
another member of the troupe, THAT
Lidersky is not afraid of meeting with
some accident while enacting this scene"
This remark attracted no notice at the
time; but it served to fasten, in connec-
ton with the facts which we have re-
lated, the guilt of what followed where
it belonged.
Next evening the circus was again
densely crowded When the manager
announced the horse-thief scene there
was an ali! of suspense among the spec
tators
Lidersky, in the oddly exaggerated
costume of an English jockey, pushed a
fellow from his horse, was caught, SEN
fenced to be hung by a Judge dressed up
as King Louis the Fourteenth of France
a horribly grotesquely costumed hang
man appeared, put the cross-beam into
the hole in one of the wooden pillars,
and then marched the culprit clown up
the ladder with the rope round his neck
The rope was fastened round the cross
beam, and then Lidersky was launched
into eternity! Yes, into eternity; for
the rope did not slip off as usual; but it
remained fixed to the cross-beam, and the
poor clown kicked and struggled in real
ity for his life.
Horrible to say, the spectators be.
lieving all this to be in the play, ap-
plauded the desperate struggles of the
poor devil in the most enthusiastic man
ner.
For full two minutes mad he been sus.
pended in the air when the truth flashed
at last upon the manager that there was
something wrong. The ladder had to be
brought back to the cross beam; the rope
was united; Lidersky was lowered to the
ground-he was dead.
The scene that ensued in the circus
beggared description. The arena was al
! once filled with surging, violent mass
t of indignant men, who wanted to know
| how their favorite clown had beer
brought to so untimely an end
Surgeons endeavored to bleed him, but
without effect. He was stone dead.
. Then the important question arose
What had prevented the rope from slip
} ping as usual from the very smooth
, cross-beam?
The latter was examined, and then the
, cause of the lamentable accident was
!, discovered.
A notch had been cut into the cross
beam about six inches from its end, an6
to still further prevent the rope from
slipping off, couple of nails had beer
put into the cross beam, exactly under
the notch, the nails being left to pro
trude about one.third of an inch from
the wood.
1t was plain from this that the pool
clown had been murdered!
The indignation of the crowd increased
to the highest pitch when this startling
fact became patent.
The corpse of the clown was removed
to his house, where his young wife re
ceived it with heart-rending manifesto
lions of grief
The crowd meanwhile refused to leave
, the circus, Notwithstanding the efforts Of
the police to clear it. Outside another
t immense multitude gathered. Threat:
against the manager, to whom the event
, was attributed, were uttered by thou
r sands of voices.
} Finally the authorities resorted to the
: peculiarly Russian fashion of dispensing
a crowd, The fire engines were ordered