Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1884-08-08
EN- THE FLYING TRAPEl,E.
BIZ MRS. M. P. HANDY. ssi..tt

I 5fa
BIZ MRS. NJ. r. HANDY. II. II "!
signor francesca the World Re.
neoWned Gymnast as the posters had
it, IN letters two feet long, was one Of
the chief attractions Of the Grecian Gar
dens, and his daring performances up
on cross bar and trapeze nightly drew
crowd to the popular place Of amnse.
ment. AS to the world wide renown,
that was an advertising license; IN point
of fact, he had never been beyond the
limits Of the United States, and his first
and only laurels in the gymnastic line
had been won upon the stage Of the
Grecian Gardens. 5& .t'.:. .s., i. i. r.
= To tell the carefully concealed truth,
Signor. francesca led dual existence.
For one hour every evening, Sundays
excepted, he was the hero of the ring,
the idol Of the gallery rest OF
the time he was Frank Beverly, report
er on The Evening Message.
+ The reason Of the riddle was not far
to seek. Poverty as common form of
misery, makes a man acquainted with
strange bedfenows. His family were
Virginians, dwelling on the Rappahan-
mock River, and for four years the tide
Of battle surged back and forth over
their home. When at last the bloody
contest was ended, and they returned
after three years Of life as refugees,
scarcely any thing was leftsave the land,
and the very face Of that was altered,
piled into redoubts and scanned with
rifle pits, which CAPPED like raw wounds
on it's surface.
IA Not tree remained of all their state
ly forests; the house had been burned
to the ground, and only the dwelling of
the overseer, who had elected to stay at
home when his employers fled, was left
standing. In this they took up their
abode, and went to work to piece their
broken fortunes as best they might
Slowly the fertile soil repaid their la
bors; vineyards and orchards grew to
replace those which had vanished; a
comfortable, though far less pretentiors
house rose on the site Of the old home,
and the wounds of the war were out
wardly healed. l. a.:
ID, Still, money was scarce, and when
Frank, the Youngest and only remain
ing son, was old enough to go to col
lego. the plantation was mortgaged to
supply the necessary funds. The ira
ditions OF the family must be observed
at any cost.
. Coming home with his dearly bought
diploma, Frank had no thought but to
open the worlds oyster as speedily as
possible. Casting about for the fitting
point at which to attack that obstinate
bivalve, he bethonght him of cousin
Of his mothers, who, emigrating to the
West before the war, and taking the
right side of theiconfict, was now the
prosperous editor OF a Northern jour
nal. To him Frank wrote, asking for
q position, receiving in reply permits
sion to begin at the bottom and work
his way up, if he could. q The process
Of climbing was, however, by no means
SO rapid as he had supposed it wonld
be. Economic as he might, it was not
possible to save much on salary Of ten
dollars a week, and months passed
without hope Of increase He did his
work fairly we'll, but he was no genius,
and his university degree, much to his
surprise, counted nothing in his favor.
Il Thus matters stood, when one even
ing he went with his fellow journalists
to see the performance at The Grecian
Gardens. Herr Krawisky, or some 9TH
er man with an unspellable nom d 'etage,
was the star performer, and his efforts
were greeted with great applause, in
which Franks companions joined.
= '"Why don't you clap?" they asked
him at length. .s,.5 .@E.a.ir NJ
q don't think he is doing anything
remarkable he replied, "Do you?''
. Come, now. don't put on. Why he
is one Of the best gymnasts in the coun-
Try !" I. .5... ! .....
I don't see that he is doing anything
wonderful. I believe I could do almost
everything we have seen him do to-
night"
Tell that to the marines, said Will
Harris Of The Hue and Cry, and Bet
you ten dollars you conldn't said
George Wharton Of The Daily Gong.
Frank flushed angerl i mean just
what I say 2 he repeated doggedly.
: You may believe me q not, just as
Il . ~