The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1886-05-20
A Terrific storm.
SUDDEN TERMINATION OF A CIRCUS
PERFORMANCE.

SUDDEN TERMINATION OF A CIRCUS
PERFORMANCE.
Last Saturday Barnum s circus exhibited
in Staunton. AS usual there was large
crowd of country people in town, the
trains bringing in hundreds, and the in
coming roads being filled with every con-
ceivable vehicle from the solitary OK cart
to the four-horse wagon loaded with It's
human freight. The street parade was
one of the finest ever seen III the south
the magnificent horses being In them
| selves a show. At two O'Clock, when the
afternoon performance commenced tht
huge tent was probably two-thlrds full
and a generous crowd still fingered Ill the
museum inspecting the splendid menagefie
their on exhibition. The like OF thai
naenagerie was never seen before IN Staun'
! ton, and will probably never be seen again
I There were representatives OF the animal
i kingdom from every cline. From the
mai, site lions TO the scores OF monkeys
the collection was complete. and the oc-
cupants of each cage were in splendid con
dition.
Inside of the great tent thousands OF
spectators were intently wal ching the per
forr ;lnces in the two rings and on the cen
trail stage. Each daring act, land they
were crowded upon each other III such
quick succession that it WAS hard to tell
where the one ended or the other btgan)
elected enthusiastic approval. and the
programme was probably half completed
when an army of strikers entered the can
| yass and with tusilade of blows from
heavy sedges drove down the stout pms
and commenced tightening be ropes.
| The significance Of this addition TO the
programme was not realized by part OF
| the audience. Presently, however, those
seated on he higher heDches. from which
a view of the sky could be gotten. began
to desert their posts in pairs III trios, and
nrgruups and quietly leave the tent. Still
the main part of the crowd fingered and
| the performance went on. little later,
| Just az he races began. the bright glare OF
|
! light succeeded In ii stentorian voice
ol,, of the managers told the crowd to get
from under the ten' that storm was APP
preaching. Many nf the interested spec
tators seemed loatllr Ia leave until the
canvass began to ne lowered III ca a
pell nell lnsi was made from all sides and
Il scent, OF wild conl,sion eiisuea. AT the
main entrance the now thoroughly aroused
thrmg poured forthin almost a stampede.
| The heavens were overcast and a thick
! possible to see ten feet ahead. added to
the general confusion that prevailed.
Woman screamed. children cried in
terror. and men shouted at the top of their
voices. A few of tie cooler heads tried tt
allay the fright of the mass but they might
as we'll have whistled to IA hurricane. In
the in,liscriminate rush several ladies
tainted !, number of children were
knocked down, and half dozen men were
hurt by being run against 10y carriages and
horses I'M moment or two the dust was
followed 10y drenching torrent, the rain
coming down with Il fury that was blind
ing, turning the bitches into creeks and
filling the roads with water. by this time
half of the crowd had sought shelter in
adjacent buildings. or were briskly trudg
ing along the road TO town. for the most
part free from fright and philosophically
taking their ducking.
Strange to say that amid all of the ex
element that prevailed, the rushing te
and fro of hacks and wagons. the noise and
confusion. the binding dust and rain, there
were no serious accidents. Beyond a few
bruises and couple of knock downs, We
have heard of none who were injured. IL
was more luck than management. how
eyer. for Tone time the entrance TO the
tent presented Il scene well calculated II
make The s:eutest treE.hle.
Some of the showmen were more ex
cited than the spectators. They had evil
IDENTIFY been reading of western cyclones
and were under the impression that {
.'rustler" had been encountered here il
Virginia.
The storm lasted altogether about thirty
, minutes 1t was one of the most violent
ever experienced in this section, and wei
: calculated to make uneasy any who were
: exposed to it's fury. Two denseiy blacl
clouds seemed to meet in the vicinity O.
s the show grounds with a roar tha
, drowned all lesser sounds.
The cloud of dust that came as the van
guard of the water was even more trying
than the rain. Fortunately it came di
rectIy from the west and consequently or
the backs of the people who were fleeing
from the tent to the town. 1t would hav'
been almost impossible to have faced sucl
a storm.
The evening exh bition was given q
the regular hour, but there were scarcel.
tive thousand persons present. The pro
gramme was cat short, but what Their
was was good.
Cracking the Party Whip
ORDERING A DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY.
fReported for the VIRGINIAN.l