New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1885-12-09
"SN0WY'S'' LEAP.
A Romance as Related by an Old Show
MANA Trapeze Performers Peril.

MANA Trapeze Performers Peril.
New York telegram: resign above
the door was inscribed dramatic
Agency" and thestairway, seen dimly
from without, was worn with the
tread OF feet and revealed just then a
figure coming down. A moment more
and the sunlight that was setting the
dust OF Union square aglitter with
shining particles shown upon a face
that would anywhere arrest atten-
ton. 1t was not any scar or defect OF
feature, but a certain terrified look
that gave the man the aspect of one
who had just seen a specter. The re-
porter standing out upon the sidewalk
noticed it, and turning to look after
the owner ofthat strange countenance
saw that his hair was white as snow.
"Odd-looking, isn't he?" muttered the
reporter to his companion, member
of 'the profession engaged just then,
like many Of his fellows, in Micawber-
like pursuits.
The lounging Thespian looked up,
looked after the receding figure and
said:
Snowfall; yes, he is odd.''
4'Why do you call him snowflake"
ooh, on account of his hair, to he
sure. Didn't you notice it?''
Certainly. I couldn't we'll escape
it."
'Well, that's the reason he is called
SNOWFALL or Snowy. It's only nick
name
rs he an actor"
"No; he is a circus man. [ don't
know what he is now But he used to
ibe in the trapeze and tight rope line.
Pretty clever at his business, too,
can tell you"
The speaker Was Diminishing the OBJ
iect of the reporters inquiry with this,
but there was something in the awed
expression OF that face, something in
the white locks clustering around it.
that remained in the mind of the
>questioner like some haunting pres
'ence. What an odd face it was for an
athlete and an acrobat? Thoughts of
the Grimaldis of the stage, who carried
under their grinning masks and pie
bald raiment tragical stories, came be-
fore him, and ten minutes later, when
a burly soul with the girth of a Fal-
staff and the lungs of a Stentor came
along, who could tell the personal his
tory OF nearly every human being who
trod the sawdust on this side of the
Atlantic, he asked him Snowbalps
story.
"What have you heard about him?"
was what the big man said, and then
added solemnly, "few know the truth
about him.
II knownothing, said the reporter
1T was his face that made an impress
sion or me-"
:It well might, said the other. cit
is not theface God gave the man. He
was once q jolly enough soul. But
one nights fright fixed him. He has
worn the look of terror that is left
upon him for many q yoar. He will
wear 1t to his grave. If you care
about it / will tell you what l know.
But the narrative is not q cheerful one,
lpromise you. 'Snowy'-we call him
that--it is not his name, but the boys
calls him so. Snowy was trapeze
professor. You seehe is we'll built,
graceful fellow, even now. But when
he was young he was as graceful q
figure as any one | ever saw in the
business. He was clever, too, and
was among the first who took flying
leaps through space from one trapeze
to the other. When knew him first
he was with acircus. He was a great
attraction, too, for when he came out
i'm his trunks and spangels and kissed
his hand about the circle, there wasn't
a girl present that didn't admire him
and look it too.
"There are a good many pitfalls for
a young fellow in such a business to
stumble into. But he steered clear OF
them. He never drank and | never
heard OF his being mixed up in any gal
lantries. What was odd about him
was the way he used to keep to him
self. People believed he was in some
sort Of trouble, or had come from a
good family and was sorry for taking
to a circus life. But he never enlight-
cned them of his own accord.
"Soon after came to know Snowy
| had the management OF a travelling
variety show making a circuit down
East. We had all sorts of attractions,
a,om song and dance men to ground
andloity tumblers. There were stump
speakers and banjo players and ballad
singers till you couldn't rest. But 1
noticed that with the Yanks down
'there the athletic feats took best, so
made it a point to enlarge that part
'of the entertainment. That was how
Snowy came to get into my compa-
my. l made him an offer He accept
ed it and was engaged for the season.
F:You can imagine that in going
the rounds of these dual country
towns the players are thrown a good
deal together and learn mostlyevery-
thing about one another. Sometimes
they do; sometimes they don't. Any
way, no one ever learned much about
Snowy. He generally sneaked away
as. soon as the performance was over,
and we saw little of him until he was