San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1888-01-31
LOOKING FOR JIM.
A TOUCHING INCIDENT OF CIRCUS
LIFE--"GONE TO MEET
HER JIM"

Sporting and Theatrical Journal
Ipresume that no profession 10 so full
OF exciting Incidents and adventures as
the circus profession, and looking back
on several years Of travel 10 difierens
countries with recollections tinged with
sadness aud regret, aud softened with
that hello OF romance which the lapse OF
time invariably surrounds even the
tamest events, my memory reverts to
one pleasant season touring England
and Scotland with the Sanger Brothers.
We had opened In the .prettiest city in
England-that OF bennington, In War
wickshire and for the first month or
two had Travelled amongst the beautiful
roads. lenes end towns of that historic
county. We had visited Stratford-on-
Avon, Shakespesre's town, Warwick,
with its mOated grange, and kenil-
worth, with Its castle, then exohs nglng
lovely scenery for the CRIME OF the black
country, passed through Stsffordsbire
aud struck a bee line for Scotland. Our
show, though large one for Eng.
land, was small In comparison
with those In this country; conse quently
the individual members irsternlZed more
together and seemed to consider them
selves as belonging to one common fam
lily. Perhaps the toughest man In the
gang IVES Jim Ashby, our boss canvas
man. He WAS q muscular old fellow who
had travelled with various circuses all
his life-a great crank, rough In speech
aud holy terror to green hands, but the
best hand at getting up canvas that
ever saw. just before We started Jim
had got msrfied. In his rough way he
had caught the fancy Of young servant
girl and brought her along to join the
Gh IRA MIA hAr In
charge OF the wardrobe and she soon be-
came favorite with even gone. We all
wondered what she could have seen In
Jim to be so infatuated with, for infatu-
ated she certainly was. No sconer did
she finish her work In the dressing room
than away she buriied ell over the camp
looking for jim. The boys soon noticed
this, aud 1t YVES byeword, whenever
any OF us met her, to say. interrOgative-
ly, "Well, where nOw?"t ID which the
little woman Invariably replied, with
smile, ''Lc oking for jim"
One night In June, while we were
playing 10 the city of Al erdeen, Scot
land, q terrible storm came on; the ele-
phsnts stampeded, the people be'ene
pc nic.strlken, fnd sIl was Confusion and
chaos. All hands jumped on the ring
bank snd tried - re-Pssure the Tighten
ed people. IN the midst of the turmoil,
terrible sheet Of lightning was seen,
followed by q Terrific clap OF thunder,
sfter which the stoTn Immediately sub
sided, ana in less time almost than |
tske to wIite the words, ever ybody be-
came tranquil; the audience seated
themselves, the elephants came meand-
cling back to their place, and the per-
Torrance resumed. II ives not rutil the
performance YVES over that the people
dispensing to their homes came across
the dead cody Of Jim Ashly, laying In
the roadside. He had been evidently
struck by lightning, for his features
wore quite q steely blue tint. We car
ried him into a SELDOM, notified the pc.
lice, and then carried the news to Mrs.
Sanger, whom we begged to break Ii az
gently ss possible to Annie, the young
widow. We all expected a terrible
scene, but the poor thing took 1t very
quietly. Placing her hand on her brow,
a dazed expression slowly stole over her
features. and, without saying a word,
she walked to the baud carriage
and took her usual seat for the
next town. The band remained
to play at the funeral as token OF re.
spect. The next morning Annie was
early at her work, but as soon as she had
laid out her wardrobe for parade. she
hurried from tent to tent anxiously look
ing for jim. Ia vain we reasoned with
her, She would not or could not realize
that her husband Yves dead. Strange to
say, that during the remainder OF the
season, she attended faithfully to her
duties, but every spare moment she had,
she would nervously hurry all over the
camp. Such strain upon her constitu-
ton soon told Its tale. For over O month
she never slept, and by night aud day,
when not actually travelling, she con-
tiuued to hurry from place to place in
tently looking for Jim. One morning In
the village Of Bake well, in Derbyshire,
Annie was found lying by the wardrobe
trunks GOLD In death. Worn almost to
skeleton by her hurled wanderings,
she had, we will hope, at last
attained her object and met Jim.
1t was but natural that the circus
people who had stuck to the little
woman In life should honor her even
10 death, and tesrs glistened In many
eyes unused to the melting mood" MS
to the music OF the circus band playing
the dead march, her body was lowered
to irs final resting place. The boys
Clipped in aud &C the present time visI-
tors to the Bskewell Cemetery can
notice an elegant white marble cross
erected over her grave, on which are
aaruaA ha