Kimball enterprise. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1883, 1883-04-13
HARD LIFE ON THEROAD.
The Exciting Lives of the Fighters
Who Accompany the Circus.

AltAASAJ AAATLON li1lI ROAD.
The Exciting Lives of the Fighters
Who Accompany the Circus.
New York Star.
eyes, it has been booming season
for some OF the shows; but
some of them, on the other hand, have
gone to pieces" said a well-known adj
vance agent in Union quare the other
day. "You see" he continued, "the
big fish have swallowed up the little fish
andthere has been agood deal ofsquirm-
ing"
"But can you tell me what a "hustler''
is, and what he has to do with the SER
vices of a circus?" queried the Star re-
! porter.
"What do you knowabout a "hustlers
| young MANI"
Comfy this" said the reporter, dis.
playing the following advertisements from
a sportive paper:
WANTED-Forty more first class bill-post-
w ers for United Shows. We have already
secured seventy good men, but as we antici-
pate sixty days opposition this spring, right
on the start, we want forty more reliable bill
posters, They must be good war workers,
true to their employers, h~ustlers, and ready
day or night, for any emergency. Not afraid
to fight tor their side if it should become
necessary to protect their rights. Only
those who are ~well-known blll-posters need
apply. We want 40 photographers or pro-
grammers. 10 the right kind of men long
engagements and liberal wages will be paid.
want Done but sober, reliable men. Con-
slder two weeks silence a respectful mega
tvie. Apply Immediately to-.
"Well, tilst is a pretty bold advertise"
must be had, and l don't know of any
better way of getting them. People who
go to circus shows in the city have no
Idea of the trials we have to encounter
III out-of the-way country places. Not
only IS th&re the competition Of rival
companies, but the countrymen; al
though they will come any distance to
| see h show, seem to look upon the
snow people as their natural enemies
outside of the canvas. 1t is necessary,
therefore, for every company to carry
with it a number of strong fellows, who,
as this advertisement says, are not
afraid to fight for their side if it should
become necessary to protect their rights"
You mean to say, then. that the
circus companies carry fighters with
them?"
"Of course. Why, when a circus man
| goes off to some of the out-of-the way
places in the west and southwest he
takes his life in his hands. Tody Ham
ilton used to tell a story Of his adven-
lures in a town somewhere in Texas.
The show had a large crowd at both the
day and evening performances, but many
negroes of the vicinity had tried to force
their way in without paving. On being
elected, they vowed vengeance. It was
evident when the time came for striking
the tents that there would be trouble.
The night was pitchy dark and torches
was lighted outside the tents. 1t was seen
that little knots of negroes had gathered
and were watching the proceedings with
sullen expression. The circus men
action. A tent was never struck much
quicker thanthat. 1t was folded, packed
aud placed i'll the wagons, when there
was a movement among the negroes.
The circus men knew that the moment
for action had come. Almost IN the
twinkling of an eye the torches were
entinguished, and in the stiffness of the
night came the sound of the sickening
thud of the tent men as they descended
upon the negroes heads. Each tent
man had selected the negro he was to
attack, and silently and swiftly the
work was done and the circus
moved out of town before daybreak.
Tody used to say that six negroes were
lett dead on the fell, and that the show
people were not prosecuted, because it
would have been impossible to have
identified the killers. 1t was certainly
Il case of the lives of the circus people
against those OF the negroes, and the
circus people did not propose to take
any chances. This was one of the most
serious circus flights that has occurred
in some time, but every season there
counters which never get into papers,
and the show folk have learned to 90
prepared. So you see, young man, a
hustler is a very useful element in the
interior economy of a circus.n