The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1881-02-26
sNcw York T,niesI

eNcw York TihesI
.whoa there, Come down tberei Have
yo, los, AL the little sense you ever did
have, Come down, ! say what's the mat
ter with you this morning" w ~
81 on. that's nothing" said Mr.. w. y.
Coun. the great circus proprietor ana inau-
acer: dts only Jim Melville put'ing new
no, 90 through bis A, II, Cs, ana NC seems "
have lille touch OF the tantr"as Just uo",
hn, no Wiz soon have that taken out ana
come down 10 work like good iei'o".
I,ook out through that window ana you
can see all operations, and all ue
cruelties we are said TO prac'ice 10
teach a morse TO perform In the ring. VIVA.
nonsense this cruelty business Is! why,
n horse was treated crueiiy anu pec'n'e
afraid OF bis trainer he would no. ee "or'n
mis- salt. No private gentleman no'se
.oro .,refnlly fed, groomed, LedGed. and
generally better cared for than performing
Sor.e' Otherwise the;' would not be so
smootb and handsome, could not be relied
nnon 10 do the tricks they are cIlled upon
10 nerform twice a day during the circus
season. and would not half the time be SO iuIi
~ the devil. But you should see Mr.. james
NJ. Melville, the champion star DafcoacN
rider Of Australia, aud man who scafce!
has his equal III tue world. lie don't seem
10 know what fear is, hesitates al nothine
which can be done on the bare DacK Oh q
horse. aud is a sort OF curiosity even 10 o'u
circus.men. He don't agree with many
men. and particularly With ladles VINO nave
rid;n0.borses they dote oil. lie says these
stories OF the Arabian sieed's love Tor nj
rider and all that sort Of tDIng Is
mere ..s,ufl"; that horse has very
little brains, no affection for ms mas
ter at all, but is very manu-,
Same. useful sort OF beast il he Is wellclred
for. But you would hardly thlnI nis NOTION
exactly correct II YOU were 10 visit the s'a'
bIe with him. The bretes know his step
and bis voice: they wbinny him welcome.
and when be comes near them You Should
see their noses explore his pockets TO see II
there is not q : ray apple or BIT OF sugar
somewhere in them. Candy he never gives
them. He says 1t won't do TO give
CIRCUs-HORSES
sucb stuff. though II may do to feed to dear
little children and give them pains under
their APRONS. l never saw him strike Il
horse blow IN anger in my life. but have
seeu him give careless hoster who had ne
pIeeled bis duty To the horse clip under
the ear that would a great deal rather he
should catch than |. jim is not large
man. rs YOU see, but lie has the strength OF
n giant. the agility OF a cat, and though he
is usually in jolly good bumOr, when he
does get his dander up get out OF the way
as ouick as possible. There. he Will
be In here in minute now. see,
he has turned the horse over TO
the groom, giving him pat on the neck
aud twich on bis name for goodbye, ana,
gracious! - Uhe horse let both back heels
fy in the air, coming within foot OF MI.
Melyille's head.l "Thsl was close scratch,
wasn't il ? But jim Is so accustomed TO mat
sort OF thing that he does not seem to have
noticed II. Now, when he comes in, you
tellbim he is the young grandpapa
Won ever saw, and lie will tell you all YOU
want to know. His daughter not long ago
had pretty, brIght-eyed little baby, and 1t
is difficult to say which is prOudest. Of il,
its mother and father or It's grandpapa.'
AT this moment
MR.. MELVILLE ENTERED,
Sill warm and rosy from the work he had
lust finished. He is not tall, only about
five feet five and a bali inche, high, about
fortv.fiye years OF age, and weighs 10
pounds but be is compact, snewy, with a
grip in the hand like iron, quick and de-
cisiye in his motions, but not in the slight
est degree nervous. lie has keen, pene-
tratIng eve that one can easily believe would
control an animal. After q pleasant little
compliment to the most active, youngest
looking grandpapa out OF doors. Mr.. Mel
vile warmed up and spoke freely.
eyes" said he, 4" guess | know little
something about circus life, but it is funny,
for my father and all his brothers were
boatmeu. Their father was a boatman be-
fore them, and they all thought it was in the
family. was born in Inverness, Scotland,
but was carried to Australia when eighteen
months old. There l was soon put in
boat, and, when | was only sixteen years OF
age, won two.anda. hali-mile race IN a
shell.bOat, and shortly after acted as cox
swain with crew which won nineteen
races out OF tweDty-one Of Sidney. But
beating was not in my line and l liked
horses and the circus better, and so my
father, knowing what young daredevil |
was and likely 10 have my own way, APP
preuticed me TO learn 10 be hOrserider.
Then was in my glory, tell you. There
was no objection TO apprenticing lads 10 be
made riders in those days, and the boys
were better for il. 1t was hard work.
though. We bad TO help clean horses, bed
them down, lead them around for exercise
when they were not at work, ana we mao 10
20 to schoo-and know our lessons, too.
Then we were taught gymnastics and the
first points Of eques,rlanlsm, and tue boy
who tumbled the most times and got the
most bloody.nOses, black-eyes, sprdins,
twists, was simply the one most laughed at
for his clumsiness. But theie was no cru
elty-that is
POPULAR FALLACY.
II n boy has any fear OF horse, shows any
hesitation at attempting difficult and per-
haps perlous fea,s, which are never forced
on him too soon, but come in the regular
course OF training. he is never whipped and
forced 10 try j., for no better reason than
that ii would not pay the managers 10 keep
HIM. He would never make rider. A
boy who does not en- 10y the wild excitement
OF the race, who does not like TO fly
around the ring OF, the back OF gal.
looping, excited hor>i, determined TO ac-
compish his feat and gam the ap-
plause Of the audience, or who winces
for a second at the fear NJ tumble or beng
stepped on by his horse, is just the boy cir
cus-men don't want. anu Instead OF beating
them, TO crush the little spirit they have,
they are precious glad to ave them 90 and
get their living In some 9th er way. served
an apprenticeship OF seven years, and was
never struck by whip ora. hand during all
that time; but loved the business had
determined to adopt, and my, teachers saw
only wanted encouragement at d nopunish-
menf. know that when l WI vs. practicing
ut the Sidney Ampbitheatre III lder the old
veteran Malcom l would fregt emily arise
al O'Clock, get out one Of III horses
used 10 ride, and have few no, irs' prac-
tice before the grooms were up. The old
man would always find ii out, thou, gb; the
look OF the horse would show II, an d then
he wOuld gfoWl ont sOh Yes iI,s III the