Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1884-01-18
Scenes OF the sawdust.


'Hemmings. the retired circus manager
and performer ''The mode of travel.
the tent. the ring, the performance, the
salaries paid, the method of training
riders are all very different. All circus
IS twenty years ago Travelled in wagons
drawn by horses; now all but the small
sst and most Insignificant travel by
raj. This change is rendered necessa-
" by the enormous proportions TO
which the modern circus has grown.
To transport by wagon such immense
organizations would require an army
Of men and horses. and the cities and
towns To be visited are So far apart that
It would be impossible To reach them
within the required time. The labor,
anxiety and possible loss with even the
small-sizcd wagon shows of the past
were terrible. I'm bad weather. over
muddy roads. horses would become ex-
hausted and have TO be left TO die. wag-
Ons would be broken to pieces, and the
show would often fail, day after day, to
reach in time the towns where il was
advertised to perform.
Still, travelling with a wagon show
bad its pleasures Tor the performers.
Those of them who received large sal
aries had their own conveyaDceS and
could choose their own time for making
their Journeys. provided they arrived
1T their Il '>tnat.on in time TO perform,
and in pleasant weather ii was by no
means disagrceable to drive fine team
over good roads. through beautiful
country. i'm the cool of Il SUMMER morn
ing, from twelve to thirty miles. which
was about the range of the distances.
But ina very hot weather the drives were
made at night To- spare the horses. and
thus the people often lost great deal
Of rest. h. way through the country
was found Nv two men. who, in a bug
~. preceded the show, and. aided by
synopsis of the route furnished them
by the advance agent, inquired the way
and marked doubtful parts of the road
with rails taken from the neighboring
fences. At one time there were num-
Der of circuses which exhibited only in
river towns and travelled by steamboat.
but of late years this enterprise seems
to have been wholly abandoned"
HAS there Teen much change in the
character of the performance"
Yes, many acts that were great IA
vOritcs once are now never done at all.
Most prominent among these is scenic
riding. that is, the enactment of dra-
matte scenic by one or more performers
on horseback. An idea of what is meant
may well be gathered from the descrip-
ton OF one of the most popular of these
scenes called The Slipwrecked Sailor.
A rider appears dressed as a sailor. The
band plays liyey music, descriptive os
his departure from port. 1t changes
gradually, and soon indicates that a
storm has arisen, which fact is male still
more palpable In the audience by the
pitching and tossing of the sailor upon
the horse and the descriptive eXclama-
tions of the ring-mas.er, who VERBALLY
makes known all that the rider seeks to
convey in pantomime. At last he is
supposed TO be completely shipwrecked
and TO be floating upon spar in mid
ocean. His face and attitude Indicate
despair. IN idenly, rs ne IS looking anX-
iously of n the distance, hope seems TO
revive within him and the ring-master
eXclaims icyfullv: Aha. Jack, A sail.
\ sail! Signal it, Jack signals it. is
rescued, and is finally brought safely
back 10 the port from which he sailed,
where. 10 lively muse again, he is
greeted by his over DYED though imagi-
nary sweetheart and friends. This scenic
riding twenty-five years ago was the
principal feature of every circus. Now
1t Is never seen, except with very small
shows in remote country districts.
''Other acts which were favorites,
but are scarcely ever seen now, are iup-
Cling on horseback, walking and bal
ancing on decanters and bottles. double
leap.ng, witch consisted of jumping
from one spring-board to another, then
jumping from the second one and
throwing n Somersault over an oh 'ect;
and still vault.nT, which consists in
turning somersaultS, one after the 9TH
err, I'm rapid succession from spring
board, and alighting on the same.
Some performers could turn vast num-
Der of them. Arthur Barnes. an En-
glishman, having frequently turned in
the neighborhood of ten. This is very
fine act. and might be revived with adj
vantage. Running-vaulting was anoth-
or act which was very popular, and
which has been revived of late years,
though il is not done 20 ANYTHING like the
same extent that it once was. 1t CON
sists of running. vaulting from the
ground and alighting with the feet upon
the back of rapidiy-moviIg horse.
THE cavalcade of riders. which a.
ways commences a circus performance,
and is called by showmen the entry,
used TO be much more elaborate in the
character of the riding than it is now.
The entries at the present time are
nearly all alike and are mere meaning
less PROFESSIONS but there used TO be
great variety of them, each having a
dramatic plot rs distinct and Ineligible
rs that of any play"
''Nhat was the usual finale OF the
old-time circuses?"
The performance used to conclude
with an equestrian drama or a pantO-
mime, such as Dick Turpin. or La
Statue Blanc Then Dan Rice origi-
mated the idea of ending with the intro
duction of two trick mules, and offered
five dollars TO anv one who would ride
either of them three times around the
ring without falling off. This custom
generally prevailed until so many were
in ured bv being kicked and thrown by
the mules that IL had TO lie abandoned.
Large shows generally conclude now
with tumbling or leaping act by the
YIN p"hH' vi Win A1ccS IL iHcIe
is hippOdrome.
Has it always been the custom TO
give so-called concert after the per-
formance?''
mo; but it has prevailed for very
long time. Buf twenty years ago it was
not 80 universal as il is now. and those
shows which gave u concert did so in a
separate canvas; but tie side-show and
candy-stand have been inseparable
features OF almost every circus this
country has ever known. y PhitGclel-
phid Times.