The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1883-10-10
curiosrties Of Circus-life.

: An old man named Barnes, living -
miles from Raleigh, came to town the
day Sells exhibited here There Was
much complaint on the streets Q ne
high price Of admission. Late III the
evening Mr.. b. came in to stop his pa
per. saving he found it very readable,
and all that; but the times were hard,
&c. He sat for some time in CONVERSE
ton, and we gathered from casual re-
marks that his trip had already cost hIm
the price Of the paper for hali-a-dozeh
wears TO come.-Goldsb oro Messenger
tells OF hundreds who were skinned
oui OF their cash by the "Genii OF the
Ring" But Charlotte Journal beats
that record by far. 1t tells OF meu
riding 40 miles TO see the animals.
They soon found the Chameleon
which is famed tor Changing. One
man handed up 800 aud got Sl5. Anoth-
er handed up $50 and got back 80. And
the number Of men who had TO lie to
their wives about giving slO to help the
town Sunday schools, was way up IN the
hundreds. Next morning the ely
Lookup" contained - men with a
headache. and a serious appetite Tor wa
ter. The co election comprised whites,
blacks, mulattos. Chinese. and II In
dian. The Journal describes the incl
dents OF the day in this blythe verbiaSe:
Il have lived here 50 years.' remark
ed Major James Fox. OF the Central
Hotel. yesterday, as lie stood IN front
Of the hstel and watched tie Gro Sds 20
by. s.but III all that time | have never
seen half so many DRINKS here III Il
day as there is to-day MAJOR Games
was very deliberate in this assertion.
but he was correct. There wt> I rtgu-
lar epidemic Of tangle legs. 1het dIdn
20 about in ones and twos. but IN groups
uf from six to a dozen, III all stages OF
lei from the simple loose kneed
to the plump dead druak h could not
navigate at all except in a horizontal
position, back down, with somebody
hold of his arms aud legs. The regular
DOllCt lOTCe Nd5 llCICdSSd ~ a WI Po VI
specials, and all they lad to do the
whole day long was to gather up the
DRINKS. 1t was not a rlotouo drunk,
but a good old rainy day circus drunk.
and it appeared thai the sovereigns We're
simply bent On having iun. They We
had it. and tomorrow morning they will
pay for it."
The same paper says: "A few days
since a man arrived at Monroe and an
bounced that he was the advance agent
for old John Robinson's circus which
was following him and would shortly
appear in Monroe. He had some old
circus pictures. and these he posted
round about. He then made contract
with Mr.. +. NJ. Griffith for teams to
haul the circus, and other contracts.
also, the whole amounting to $500.
After having finished up his business he
found that he was short of cash, and go
ing to the Peoples bank drew SIS on
the circus account. Putting the money
into his capacious pockets he hied him
away to regions that the people of Mon
roe wot not of. He was a swindler, OF
coarse, and the wonder is that the peo-
pie of our wide-awake neighbor town
could not tell it. He took in the town
almost as badly as did the hotel register
fraud not long ago. And that is not all.
This agent OF old John Robinson"
sampled the credulity of other towns
along the Carolina Central road, and it
makes the people mad to think about
the way he fooled Them"
Rufus Reed, colored, who was
charged with an affray with Sells little
elephant. and the facts brought out at
the trial proved that the fight between
the elephant and the man was a severe
one, and furthermore that the man
whipped the elephant. Reed, who is a
tall, muscular colored man. had been
giving the elephant q few apples, hand
ing it all except one, which he put in his
vest pocket. While his attention was
turned the elephant reached out it's
trunk and getting hold of Rufus pocket
tried to pull the apple out, tearing the
vest nearly off before the wearer's at
tentiOn was turned to the elephants
prank. Selling the elephants trunk
C"snoOt." Reed called it) he tried to
wrench his vest and the apple away
from it, but the elephant drew its trunk
from Reeds hands and swinging ii
around gave Reed a terrible blow on the
side of the head. Reed drew back and
feled the elephant to the ground with a
blow from his fist delivered over the
eye. The elephants keeper then at
tackel Reed. and Reed knocked him
down. In the meantime the elephant
had regained its legs and gave Reed
another blow OH the side. Reed was
TOW thoroughly exasperated, and ac-
tu,lly knocked the elephant over on it's
back, and then left the tent. AS the
elephant had left the city and could not
appear in court Yesterday, tie mayor
took Reeds statement, and let him oil
lightly, feeling that the elephant de-
served the tioyging. Reed is a power.
fully built man and is something of a
giant in proportions. He is the same
man who had the fight with the bear. in
which the be ,r was killed, at Lowell,
six months ago.
....A negro belonging to Sells circus
was run over by a wagon near the depot
in Marion last Monday night, and died
soon after from injuries received.
....There was IN immense crowd il
Chester to see the show, and though the
order was generally good, one seriou.
fight occurred, in which a man was badly
cut up.
The BLUE-SASH BRIGADE.-Fielc
Marshal-in-Chier, Hal Nj. Worth. ha.