The Lake Charles echo. [volume] (Lake Charles, Parish of Calcasieu, La.) 1876-1898, 1884-11-22
A visit 60 wonderland.
ial Correspondence 70 Echo.

Special Correspondence to Echo.
must say that until yesterday
things in this locality ran rather
smoothly, not the least thing worthy
of mention having taken place, and |
actually think that the dwellers in and
about Marshall would have died from
sheer inactivity were it not for the
fact that they were buoyed up by ex-
pectancy aud anticipation awaiting
the advent of the biggest and best Of
shows, Sells Bros Monster 50-Cage
Menagerie aud Great Four-Ring Cir
Gus. For weeks the town has been
clad in regal holiday attire, gaudy
coIored Autographs lining the shop
windows and the walls, everywhere
one looked. Of course the Sells
Show is as well known here as the
Town Hall, and is considered as much
an Institution of the place; but if our
citizens were to awaken and find the
Town Hall changed into a splendid
marble palace, they could net be more
surprised than they were in the change
which one short season has wrought
in the Sells Bros Monster 50-Cage
Menagerie and Great Four-Riug Cir
Gus. Last year Sells Bros Circus
was considered big enough and grand
enough for all intents and purposes,
but this year it beats everything.
Everybody went to the show yester
day and last night, and everybody
went home pleased. | was informed
by one of the managers that the date
of the shows appearance in Lake
Charles has been definitely settled,
and it will now appear in Lake Charles
on Wednesday, November 20, so that
l hasten to tell you what / saw.
In the first place, on enteSing ] was
almost carried by the crowd through
the first of the huge menagerie tents,
containing just 81 cages of living wild
animals, and then into the second tent
containing 26 cages (their menagerie
is so large that it requires a double
tent; they advertise SO cages but
show in reality 53-three more than
advertised; l suppose that they chose
SO, because it is an even number 1t
was, indeed, a splendid sight, and
many animals were to be seen which,
/ am certain, are not to be seen any.
where else, and which will probably
never be seen again.
Splendid specimens Of the giraffe
family, the only ones, / am sure, now
on exhibition; monster thrce-horned
rhinoceros, the only coal-blsck sacred
elephant, and the largest of giant elc-
plants, were to be seen as some of the
special features of the show. The
greatest sight, however, is the huge
pair of blood-sweatiDg hippopotami-
without any manner of doubt the
only pair of their kind on exhibition
in the world.
Had they advertised an all-includ-
ing menagerie they would have hit
the mark. The ring, or, rather, to be
more explicit, the Touring perform
ance, was simply excellence; it never
| WAS HOT never Will NC bCdGSh' 'OuSh
riding! Jim Robinson! You've seen
Jim-everybody has. Well, Jim, the
worlds champion, led the riding, fol-
lowed by Madame Cordona, Don Jcre,
Bell, Frank II. Gardner, Miss Polite
Lee, and, in fact, twenty other cham
pions, each star. There is not a
single bad act, nor anything like a
bad act in the whole show. The rid
ing is, of course, but one line of the
performance, which includes every
thing under the sun in the circus line.
There is altogether 200 alI-star artists,
giving six acts at one time-in the
air, on horseback, and in the rings-a
most wonderful performance. | will
name few of the performers; their
names need but be mentioned. There
is the Stirk family, Europe's greatest
bicyclists, whose equals cannot be
found; there are the Leslie Brothers,
head balancers; the Romalis, the Mar
tinoes, the Puryis Sisters, Miss Maggie
Claire, etc. In short, fully 200. Every
act is a show in itself. find that my
limited space will not permit me to
| give detailed account, and so must
close by saying that it is, all in all,
the best have ever witnessed.
1t. JUsTUs.