Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-05-26
The Curious People Who Follow q Circus.

The Curious People Who Follow 4 Circus.
"Peanut JIM was so called because
he could take out an eight-quart basket
of peanuts and come back with eighteen
dollars. bahama Ben," .sKid"Bar-
ton, "Frisky''C Coleman, Canada jack
and " Brummagen Bill" were fly work.
ers. Bahama Ben's speciality was
bananas
The speaker was q retired 'scandy
| butcher" who now lives in Fifth Ave-
nue., and was disguised as a Prince at
| the Vanderbilt ball-at least such was
the s.taffy" he gave an innocent re-
porter. He continued: The candy
butchers in a circus never work the bot
tom row of seats. Country pumpkins
who easily become their prey always
get up on the top benches. They do this
because they are afraid of the butchers
and want to hide from them. The lat
ter move around on the top seats, and
when they find a verdant fellow they fill
his girls lap with oranges, candy, pop
corn and fans. If the girl says she
doesn't want them they askher why she
took them, and make the young man
pay thirteen or fourteen prices for the
rubbish.
Strawberry lemonade men make two
barrels of the delicious beverage which
they sell of ten cents worth of tar
taric acid and five cents worth of ana
line and two lemons. They make
fifty dollars q day each. When
they have saved capital enough they
buy a snake, hire q beardless woman
and start a side-show. Barnum keeps
wodetectives to watch outfor travelling
swindlers who follow circuses and usu-
ally work in connection with the side
showmen. There are four of them in
q gang. One, who looks pretty solid,
is called the "doctor." Another, who
has a sedate and dignitied bearing, is
known as the '.judge," A third is
called the sender and the fourth the
'.dealer." They get into town early in
the morning: They pretend to be bust
ness men. One of them approaches a
resident of the place and says:
"What's land worth?"
Glands pretty good round here. Ola
man Jones has some to SELL"
elbows money!"
"Money's tight. Old Mr.. Brown has
$4,000 in the bank to lend"
If Mr.. Brown is old and weak and in
his second childhood, he receives a
business call from the ''judge," who
treats him to wine and cigars, and in
vites him to go to the circus. They 60
into the side-show and find the "doctor''
winning heavily at banco. The Judge
has got the old mans confidence COM
pletely. He asks the venerable relic to
join with him in betting against the
game. The two will put up $1,000
each. The Judge has his money in his
pocket and the old man may get his out
of the bank. The old man rushes down
to the bank, followed by the SENDER"
He comes back on a dead run. SO sure
is he of winning. The Judge and he
lose. A capper who has advised the
old man to bet actually faints away.
The Judge cries like a child. He says
that it will ruin his social standing if
any one finds out that he has bet
money, and begs the old man never to
tell it. He is so heartbroken at having
advised the old man to play that the
latter forgets his own losses and SYM
pathizes with the Judge.
The Judge says he feels culpable at
having innocently drawn his friend into
an unfortunate loss, and if the old man
will say nothing about the occurrence,
will meet him in two weeks and pay
back the money out of his own pocket.
In four cases out of five the Victim does
Just as he is hidden. The swindlers
leave a man behind to watch him for a
week. In some country places they
close the bank whenever a circus comes
to town, SO the depositors can't draw
their money. The banco men won't
touch a ''guy'' for 800. They take a
man with not less than 81. 1000.
"'The genius of the show" said q
veteran circus man, sis the advance
agent. He knows every town, hamlet,
crossroads, school house, country
blacksmith shop and country mill in
the United States and Canada. He is
acquainted with every country editor
and his peculiarities. He knows
whether the Baptists or the Methodists
are the stronger in any particular vii
lage. He knows when to spring the
'Behemoth of Holy Writ on the natives,
and when to advertise the sacred croco-
die. He is able to steer a circus for a
whole season without encountering a
rain. He actually forecasts the weather.
In winter he sits in a little room with
thousands of books piled up around the
walls and studies statistics. He gets
the highest salary paid to any one CON
nected with the circus. 1t is $40, 600 a
year. He has been fifty years in the
business"
There is an agent at the court of the
King of Siam trying to buy a. white
elephant. He expects to get the ami
NAL next spring. 1t will be of a cream
color. No white elephant has ever been
seen in Europe.
An expedition sent out by the show is
now threading its way through the
desert to Nubia, to capture a native
tribe with an offer of twenty-five dol
lars a week apiece. If they find the
source of the Nile they will bring it also
to America for exhibition.
Another expedition is in Africa look
ing for the missing link. If they get it,
it will be a beat ON every other men
agerie.-N. Y. Journal.
A Model Citizen.