The Arkansaw traveler., 1885-08-15
The sawduss sumoriss.
lMlwAakee WiscOnsin.l

The circus clown has become noneu- . tisy. He is no longer fea,uredn in the show h.lls. Within the Sa~duS, arena |" Mir. MerYman is lucky If in q tosn he raises laugh al his thTcadhare joke In the couatry ne still retains his prestige, for there his saihes of w,t seem ireSAer. in the rural localities his part of iae per- folmance IS larger aad the difficult acts arc r.e;e abridged, but ia a city, \ clowns ousineSss has got to an lnhnneSimal point. The clown is pitiaele object. He recells the early days of the circus, when be set the benches roaring with tAe slightest motion, word or g,imace EVen in those days, no doubt. he wondered se- cretlY why the crowd perSls,eatly laughed al jokes that had never seemed fuSnY to h,m, sxcep, so lar as they contributed 10 hiS support
 In early days clowns were leading cir- caS attractions and were sometimes paid huge salaries because they ~eFe known and thelr presence was a great card. Dan Rice, no~ roaming about the eaun,ry ,n -ind'gent virtue, got as high as Si 900 week for do,ng clowns business, and hiS presence contributed more to the success of the show than the acroSatS, the traprre slack wire, bstehAcx uderS aud Ap lneSe iaggleES comb ped Year by year the clo~n's part in the peit1rmance has de creased, beaten back and hcmmed n by the advance ot the woman with the troa Jaw the performing elepan and taeus and and one other novelties, and now the old clowns influence on the audience ls but shAd " ot hts formes Eelgu They are sect by themselves Some peGEs,n 10 the winter with pAn,omime companies. The best cl0wn ts one who IS good az singing good at pantom,ne anu equally good al tum oltng aud Aotooauc feats.
 Forepaugh nAs two clowns. The best of these. .ni probably the best Ia the country, IS Andrew Coleman, the great English pan.am,me clown. He get, about StSo ~eek Last winter he was in London aud appeared at the Drury Lane theme n the great nantominc. Another celeorA ed elo~n Is Whimsical Walter The Adams family is tamuy of professional clowns George Il Adams and i've brothers all clowns draw thslI origln iron an old Enghsh olown. Cd Dan Rice was the frs, celebrated Amer. ican cloSn He made h,s entrance into the ring Tn 1858, ran circus of his own, made a great deal of money and squan- dered Il. His wlt was sympathetic and his manners were popular.
 Old Doc Thayer was another early clown and very popular in hts day. He had show ot ms own which went into the hands of the sheriff i've year. ago at Chester, Px. The tent was bought at the sale and converted into a tabernacle Thay.t was in business somewhere 10 Pennsylvania the l4st that his aequaini, ances heard from him. Ben MaRini-y, a rare clown, left the pTofeisou some yr ,rs ago to adopt the fa mic stage AS pruies- sion. He failed as a star. Now he la with Madison Square company ,ome- where. lie played ID " May Blossom last winter. Pete Conklin is great S,ng- ing clown. He is an old-umeT and IS With Forepaugh this seAsoa. Tony Pas ;or was circus clown and hls brother. Billy Pastor, was ildeI. Then in the anaals pt clo~ndom appear the names of tiliy Butk, wlth Doris; Touy Deuier, qn.te tunn1 ln hls tune; Johnny Pat-r Soo the k sn Clcr from Clare, the irish clo~n. who made hu el the song, " Bndget Donahue," and host Of others more sr less worthy oi mention The best ciowns of to day arc Eaghsn ard American. The singing clowns are ap, to play out. Their voices fdl from lie effect of singing in damp lots and expos. uie.