Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1875-08-20
MING AWAY WITH A CIRCUS.

hUN NlN4 "A w al W 1la "a OIHoo0'
, THE OLD TINE SHOWS LIFE on TIL
RoAD-eEADEs IN CIRCUS L1FE-THI
VALLEY AS A SHOW PLACE,
&c. &c, &c.
:. 'Tain't like the boys used to travel,
said thin, why looking man, with streaks
of grey in bis hair, us he stood near oul
office while the Rothchild circus was NOV
ing through Staunton a few days ago. 1t
was Mr. james Bryan talking, and what
he don't know about the way the old cir
cuses travelled amt worth knowing.
ssYou Travelled with one once, Mr..
Bryant s's 81 =
eyes, said Jim, sstwice; but you can
Call it once, because it was only once III
the old days before the war. l went out
from here with Eldred's circus twenty
years ago. He had just bought out John
Robinson, and one VI two Of Robinson's
boys were with us. The infant Robinson
was along. 1t was a great show, and had
everything it advertised. There were thir-
! ty dens OF animals -Showmen call the cages
sdens, you know Aleck Robinson WAS
; the doorkeeper drove the lions denaoui,
Of Staunton, but when they got to Lex
ington they promoted me to taking care OF
ring stock. had Champion and Rose and
| Puss and Ellen Robinson S horse and the.
clowu's horse Rose and Puss were pad
ring. Johnny Roller was the property man !.
| and he afterwards got to be clown"
THE LIFE.
s'All the circus attaches don't rank alike,
do they,?7
sob, no, there different grades in that,
like there is in everything else. 1t goes
this way: Proprietors first, performers next.
ring stock grooms next, den drivers next,
and CANVASS men lowest of all. We got
SIS month and board, and the clown
then only got $25 week, but he had ii
horse and buggy to travel. The life is bad
enough. A fellow generally runs off with
circus thinking there is no work to do
and he will be able to see the country
through which he travels, but he misses it
both ways. He works hard and he don't
see the country much. Most Of the tray
cling is done in the night, and when the
show stops in the daytime everybody is SO
tired that after the canvass is up, all
hands, except the performers and ring
men, stretch out to sleep. You may say
in manner it's dogs life. One grooms-
fellow. He woke the men for IL and 2
O'Clock breakfast with a whip, and flogged
'em up. You see it wouldn't do to leave
any Of 'em behind, and the whip was the
only thing would Wake 'em.'' ~
HOW THEY EAT AND SLEPT.
'sDid the men camp in those days like
they do now?' u
ooh, no, they weren't up to that style
them They went ahead and contracted
for so many men to eat and sleep ut a no.
tel, and when we got up to the place, it
our name was down, we gave it, and went
in and got IL meal We slept in some big
room, maybe the dining-room, i'll which
places were chalked off for each man to
sleep, and his name was marked on it.
Sometimes bummerS used to follow us and
slip in and get their meals. / have known
as manya us six to be following us at time
The butchers were very bad on that, too.
that's what we used to call the lemonade
and candy men. They were :; bad lot, and
would not mind picking up things when
they got chance. We got paid once a
month, and if there was any way to do it, \
these fellows would get in on it,
TILE NAY THEY TRAVEL. ----
"Ihe travelling is hafd work, and worse
when the roads are bad. When u team
gets stuck the whole caravan behind is
stopped, and the bosses curse and beat the
horses and. men until the team is pulled
out. The ring stock is always stabbed, but
the wagon horses are tied up to a fence
anywhere the caravan may stop. The men
and. women performers and ticket men and
proprietors always travelled i'll buggies. We
never cared much to see the
PERFORMANCES,
and rarely did except we were dressed up
and put in the RUG to make q show, which
was done when we came to big town or a
good town. I have been in as a tumbler.
Waynesboro was always considered good
town, and they made good show there.
slept with my saddles and harness next
to the dressing-room and saw a good deal
of the ACTORS"
sWere they sober sort of people?"
t'Well, no they weren't; nor they weren't
so bad, either The men drank some, AMI
the women, too. Me being next to the
dressing-r2om, they used to ask me to steal
some liquor in for them, OF tip the bud,'
as they called it. You see, Mr.. Eldred
didn't allow liquor in the dressing room.
Sometimes did it for them and sometimes
1 didn't; was afraid of being caught .
NIGHT DRIVING.
ssThe night driving on the road was the
worst work. We always started at night
with pilot ahead, but we would get sepa-
rated. When we came to cross-road the
pilot would put a rail across the fork we
must not follow. Sometimes discharged
man would 60 ahead and change the rails.
and by that means as many us dozen
wagons would get several miles ON the
wrong road, and that would raise thunder,
There was some cursing then, you may be
sure of it. We would start from Waynes-,
boro for Charlottesville, eating breakfast
at - O'Clock at night. That was called a
big drive A drive from. Staunton to
| Greenville was called u short drive"
GOOD ROAD
ssThe Valley, from the Potomac to Blu
chanan, is called a good road by circus men
because there are SO many good stops and
short drives. Three or four drives before
you get to Lynchburg is Il good show coun