The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1883-05-06
I. HEY! RUBE!"
,,,,,c Cry ~ the Circas Mns-O ccasaous
I'M -, which u has been Raised.

..t.tndy then in session upon tho SUBJECT
h"t,,, pcor." hverstying and relieving Its
~, lalpr 10y 'iiht and discursivc conversa>
eau hop,,J TO 4, .euss tho resent attack. by
wv in Dover. Del. upon tho people Of
gy nrh,n,, circus. aud the question was raised
r,,,r not the cry u Hoy! kuhc." IL. AZ
'a,r,.,.l in the published accounts of that
Wv ,r.,. tho circus mems rally ing cry FOR
ar. ". c. Caup. the victorian circus man
s.tlc,i H. Just "a Re came in. some one
Isr,r,r,y tr-t-l him by an eXnot mental yeti
W., Eubr!" at his back. and his instan-
.',,nua iump and look Of combined alarm and.
s,i,y ,.r, tely enough iur even the most
-tsptcaL Ne snid:
,rb,t ia Il tnIrihl" cry to any man who has
.s,.r i,e conlcqucucrs, and 1t gives me
Jt.,lirg down ms back even to hear II in
.,,e,sa,ion. T. means savage force, dcsner-
',ac,rh,t aad too oitNn death. A man who
w. heard that yell sounded in earnest. "a I
r~c, yill no, monkey with IL even in II rarlor..
.,,,ur lies and children. don't know what
,,.,ri,.n was. or how it came to be so univer-
..lh recognized. | only know that ever since
rb,ye been in tn" business or known ANYTHING
la,tit that ha4 been the circus mems slogan.
n nsod 10 bo equal 20 immediate discharge for
man ,o yali that about my show. Why. I'd
nto tban hear it from ono of my mon. Fire It
min The air once and it brings toge,llor. rs il
NV magi. two or throo hundred men, all
,b.,, nrc about the show. generally pow
ar,pl and etnrinimcl fellows. armed. rerhups.
,,,v with -tancs aud clubs. but stakes and
clubs are terrible weapons in the hands Of suclr
man all Wi d with excitement. and ready for u
despara,c and pitilos- light. for they know that
i.yyaat the ra.iyiny cry means 1t signifies to
,heu You have 10 fight for your lives, and To
s,ard by one another or he killed Thank
God IL is less necessary now than 1t used to
h. in early days Of circus life in this country.
Isay necessary for there was timc-Ind
sometimes II comes nowadays-whcn circns
men had no other recourse than to fight or ho
slaughtered and lhru they had 70 stand together.
yrp seldom If indeed ever. have the circus men
hgun row II was against all their interests
10 have one. Aside from the very likely chance
Of being killed in it. the best they could hope
for would be wounds. injuries. and consequent
illness in a strange and hostile community. or
arrest perhaps whore bail would be ont of tho
question and fair trial very probematical and
Il they were overcome BY the mob. their tent
and wagons ight bo destroyed. and the show
totally ruined and n. its people thrown out Of
employment.
But inc lenlS WoUlu no otuTlcu ny country
pughs. who would come in gangs out Of the
woods 10 .hc towns attracted by the rare ex-
element Of the Glycnt OF a circus They would
asSmilate with the worst town ronghs. and
they would al Ill up toFelhor on !ortv-rod
and e4g,in,hGhinas' Thhsty would come
spend their money in whiskey to investing it
in circus tickets and seeing, tho. show in an
orderly manner. And the sight Of u number of
strangers would have upon them similar eff
feet TO that which q rod flag has upon bull.
Amons them would he some fellows Of the type
citizen and Il bad man. I'm from Bitter creck.
The men from Bitter Creek, they al! fight. 1hc
further ~ the creek YOU go the wuss they are.
p-nlghts my night To howl: Whoop!' Those pill
grims would constitute themselves leaders of
show would know the fight would be forced
upon thon. Some poor canvasnan stiOl.ing
about alone, or doorkeepcr. would be tho first
tocatch i, but as he went down he. or soine
one near him OF tho showmen. would raise the
yell, lieyl Rube! and tho exercises would
begin You can hardly form nm idea how fero-
We're in their deyilishness. ! remember once.
down IN Miss ssippi !heycut down trees across
bridges TO keep US from gcttin.. away. swear
Ing that thoy would kill us all. Why, in, old
SIX or eight tough lighters to act as leaders IN
such de- pcrato emergencies and it is said that
when old John Rob. Gson took, his show
deemed it prudent to carry along a supply of
arms. cutIasses and rifles. Tor his en-
away a td2 oWn sSSuh ~ nd The pct
however, Why. Paterson. \ J right out hore,.
only a icw miles from New, York. near enough
phpve been civilized good many years before
she was. used TO DO II town where circuses had
btake along gangs OF Fighters for protection.
1n wGn to IT s"t a9d nGyer ar
possession OF u.s. would not let my men !l.:ht
tcu. and II was awful close work getting out
without it,, | have always opposed lighting;
because it frlghtens women and children and
keeps them away from the show. and it is likely
ss i Ia to ii the ,bs sS s%
one side or the other. and 10 cause any quunti-
Vof trouble, legal and otherwise.
Two causes arc making circus fights more
rare nov than thoy formerly We're. The first is
that the public is becoming more civilized. and
!sere is less local delegation for the rough than
there used to be. The second Is that shows
nowar Of such magnitude ns to overawe the
mob element in most cases. 1t will have to DO
avery numerous rs well wicked mob that
will tackle circus company composed Of 400
men presumably able to take care OF them
selves, in moderate weather and "a big show
MNoud be n big show that carried 100 men.
The main tent was then no larger than tho
Grcssins room OF biz show is now; and only
eight or ten canvasmcn were required. whereas
wenow have to carry rs or 100 men TO handle
The enormous tents.
Yes lvo heard Hey! Rubc" a good many
Times heard il once at Manchester, n. H.,
When was ru!n,n. the Barnum show. On
me ,ae mornin.; Of cur arrival there | found
soIoon. on 'h" lot "" had contracted for. l
asked ask ihe man to remove il, but, no refused.
and dciled nc tolnoyc it, found that he was
McSed up by y fearful crowd Of rouslIs. md
lhe I1rshal of tho town told me | had better
aot se' mo row with tho saloon keeper: so
rather than havs II disturbance ] let him re-
main. but requested him MOI to allow any Of
ue circus cmpu gees to hayo liquor in his
saloon. He promised that he would not. but
Ne led, as subsequently discovered. All day
my men were gettn. liquor there. com ing in
contact cont with the town toughs, and gradually
he trouble grew. just before SHIPPER
saw gang OF fully u hundred
men armed with clubs. come out Of
w woods near the horse tents. which were
sons little distnnce from tho others. Some:
n!ohy raised tho old yell of Hoy! Rube! and
minute the circus was ready for attnrk.
Y those days nobody carried n pistol. in the
PORN. at least. but we all had stakes and clubs.
amahaeed 10 get between the two crowds and.
LANSING larlcy. detained them from fighting
uhts m extra force of the local police got on
,ue ground and so tho trouble was averted. 1t
nas one OF the very few cases in which ! have
Aeaii oil mat rail- wing cry being sounded with
t tu pn'29lshed following ii quickly. In Lewis
wm, maine. II was raised again. and We had q
W.iititWe light broken bones split skulls. and
~ mat sort Of thing. No. I didn't discharge
Me man who yelled Hey Ruben on either oc-
~s"ii becau~, could not lind outwho he WAS.
,.ohiy last year when my show was in Car
e,s'l!o; Ca. happened to be away from it
~. ~ me time. md u desperate riot occurred
N a1 might rossib'y have been prevented. even
um'e' ' II had been present. Tho Marshal of
ss r m .h regular rnflan. came up to tho