Litchfield enquirer., 1880-03-18
The Pleasures of Civilization.

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 'There still fingers along the ordinary mob of sightseeing English men and women much of the hard ferocity of the old Roman circus" So says chief organ of British opinion, the re- mark being inspired by an accident over which all London has been talking, and which has led to the introduction of a special bill into Parliament by Mir. Edward Jenkins.
 Among other fine things in Westminster, London, isa place called Aquarihm. Itsosten- sible objects is inferable from it's title. But, like the 'museums,m sathenaums" and "ly- ceums' that have furnished decorous and apologetic if slightly hypocritical homes for the drama, the Aquarium supplies variety of entertainment which its name by no means suggests. Some oi these are cloaked in de- scfiptions of alluring ambiguity. Thus ib bill before us, we observe that at S:45 o'clock, January 21, "Dexter, the man of Many Mys-t teries," could be seen i; at o'clock, ''Vento," whoever or whatever he, she or it may be, was the attraction at 4:15 the equally doubt full "La La" was to do something; 'NCaouli, Marvellous Conjurer," became the more in- tellglble feature at 5 o'clock; and 'Z9o, last performance" was offered as the crown ing joy of the day at 5:15 o'clock. Now it is sZno'' who has been the subject of the cas- uality that has caused so much debate and which has prompted Mir. Jenkins's Parliament ary pill .,.. .ooo..ou # ..zo.o, D and '.Zazel" was young woman who used to De shot from cannon. In the growing taste for the antique we are not surprised to hear that ''Zgo's" performanceI is considered an improvement on 'Zazel's," inasmuch as in the former the artist constitutes the projectile which is discnarged from ''catapult." This machine is surmounted by platform on which the performer lies down. That per former is young woman SO clad, as the cor respondent of the Tribune delicately puts 1t, ''that few of her physical perfections remain a secret to the spectator" When the catapult is loaded the human charge IS about twenty feet above the stage. Below her is system Of powerful springs At signal the machine is discharged. The effect is to throw "Zeo" some sixty feet into the air. She describes somerset and decehds in safety if she is lucky into 8 net which is spread out at duly calculated spot to receive her.
 Of course in doing this feat the woman's life is always in danger-and this fact constl- tutes the attraction of the performance. She may break her neck as she strikes the net. The machinery may go wrong, so as to throw her either short of the net or beyond 1t. She may lose her senses so as to fail to turn in the air. or to assist the propulsion in the needful manner. The various exquisite sources of pleasure to be found in these possibilities have been availed of In London in the most gener- ous manner. Years ago there was certain person who followed Van Amburg, the "Lion King" all over Europe. He was persuaded that some day the lion would surely bite Van Ambnrg's head off and he could not bear to run the chance of missing so delightful spec tacle No doubt ''Ze's" audiences have been swelled by persons who have looked forward with avidity to like ttillating entertainment.
 f0of fhoir Neither of the calamities we have suggested came to pass, but the poor creature was the victim on Saturday, January 31, of another mishap from which by marvel she escaped with life. She went clear through the bottom of the net, and striking the floor many feet be- low with sickoning ''thud," |" the 'good-look- ng young woman who moment before had been smiling at the spectators was heap Of quivering and apparently lifeless flesh and broken bones" It happily turned out after wards that no bones were broken; but the woman was terribly stunned. week after, her reappearance was advertised Curiosity, it was thought, would be sure to fill the house; and it did. Some humane souls wrote to- the newspapers protesting against repetition of the barbarous risk, but without avail. No law exists against shooting human beings out of ''catapult" ;" and SO the snowman went on and pocketed his profits without let or hinder ance. Mir. Jenkins's bill to stop such work in the future may become a law but it will not alter the fact that this feat of 'Z9o's' has been of late and for some time the most at- tractive performance in London, and that it became more attractive when events showed that it was even more perilous than had fornt- erly been supposed.
 Is it too much, then, to say that this equals the ''hard ferocity of the old Roman circus"? We fear that on the contrary a parallel ex- ists that must be pronounced very sadden- ing one. The disposision to cruel sports in what is called this enligtened age is strongly marked, and it prevails in this country as well as in Europe. We have, it is true, no bull fights or bear -baitings, but the dog and cock fights so frequent among us. if trivial and un- attended by the element of personal danger to those who ''assist" at them, are equally cruel and more contemptible Whether it is Blon- din who walks across Niagara Falls on rope trapeze, or acrobats who go through their fear ful performance at giddy height, OF wom- an who is lashed to spirited horse in "Ma- zeppa," the feat invariably draws the crowd in proportion to it's danger, and the dismal fla talities that so often inte rrupt such exhibitions lend zest to them here just as we have seen in London that disaster gave fresh attraction to the feat of "Zeo." We hear, however that the unhappy young woman has sustained in- ternal injuries and that the ''last perform ance" we have cited is likely to prove the last In a sense such announcements rarely convey.
 There have been similar examples before and they have been grieved over for day and then, by most people forgotten. But they have sad significance and one which, as the human race grows older and is supposed to grow wiser, it is blot on our civilization to lose sight of. If humanity is to go backward while science goes forward, the nineteenth century has surely less to boast of than those who live in it have been fond to believe. That the "Zeo" matter should have created so animated 8 discussion in England, and have led to the new preventive bill brought by Mir. Jenkins into the British legislature, forms the sole redeemlng feature of an episode that is in all otherways disgusting and dist eartening ". Y. E0ening Post.