St. Paul daily globe., 1888-08-19
MEN WHO TALK.

New York. great circuseS. My
experience is tnnat it
has not. The firSt-class shows. which
have abundant financial backing, have
found their transportation rates some
what higher, but this has been compen-
sated for in other ways, so that they
have made, and not lost money. The
first effect of the new law was to dis
rupt large number of weak shows that
had never given the fun-loving public
their moneys worth. and whose disap-
| pearance from the road was not re-
GREETED. 1t is true that in their place
number of small acrobatic shows have
come, but they fill SO little place in
| the legitimate field of a great circus that
their competition is not felt.
There are only three first-class cir
cuses in the United States nOw-BAI-
NUM-, FOREPAUGH and SELLS. This trio,
in what they present, excel in every re-
! spect even the so-called royal circuSes of
the continent. Foreign managers have
| always claimed superiority over us in
| their animal exhibitions, and l think in
this they are right. But our acrobats
and riders surpass theirs so far that
comparison between the two-iS impOS-
sible. l don't know a country outside
of America that furnishes SO many dar-
ing and par excellence equestrians. To
| ride in the ring requires greater skill,
more courage and more strength than
to dash at break-neck speed across a
prairie.
| A circus rider seems safe, and to
many his work is apparently tame, but
there is not man who goes into the
ring but what takes his life in his hands.
Every nerve and every muscle must be
alert-one mis-step, a vicious turn on
the part of the horse, miscalculation
as to leap, and he<is done for.
They take him, crushed and bleeding,
off of the sawdust, and in week circus
and public have forgotten that he ever
| existed
That is the sadness of professionals
life-that when MANNED in serviceithe
throng forget his past deeds, and he is
| left to fight life the best that he can.
know of very few professionals who
are well off. Even though the best of
them draw salaries as high as $500 a
week for the season, it is soon gone.
Their personal expenses come high,
and, while they are as rule not dissi-
| pated, rowing existence eats up what
is left.
l was in the ring for ten years my
self, and have drawn S175 a week for
several seasons, but never saved cent
of it,. / worked hard, and when 1 was
free and pay day had come saw no rea-
son why should not enjoy myself. The
inducement to save was small, and
rarely thought of.
companies make a
of Buffalo. practice of carefully
studying the list of
casualties that occur every day through
out the country on the different rail-
roads. They note the proportion of ac-
cidentS to each road. the causes, and
what remedies are applied to. prevent
repetitions of the same. 1t is the only
way in which an accident company can
protect itself against impoSitions and
the taking of extra hazardous risks.
| hC III gu IlOliJil ullCl bHC lOll
strike was on, the Travellers Accident.
| Buffalo, and other companies stopped
taking risks on that road. 1t was too
hazardous. New engineers and the
strike troubles made losses too GER
tain. Some of the companies after
wards resumed, but others still
/ refuse to insure any man in
the employ of the road. AS
soon as an accident company is satisfied
that a railroad is bucking what we call
''fate," they call in their agents from
the road and leave it alone. l was TAX
ing risks ON the Burlington when the
strike commenced. But in short order
my company took me from it and sent
me to the Union Pacific.
1t is so with dozen manufacturing
establishments and where there is much
machinery and danger to life. If the
accident company thinks that precau-
tionS for safety are being neglected and
undue risks of life taken. it will go in
and cancel every risk, rather than take
the chances of loss.
Accident insurance is not run alone
to pay people after they are injured, but
before accidents come.
~
Jesse Nortier, / have lived thirty
years within sight of
of Butte. the Rocky mountains.
Every morning in that
time l have seen the sun rise over
snowy SUBMITS and go down behind
rocky walls.
During these three decades the most
thrilling incident that l remember was
when WoNG Foo married white
woman and nearly lost his life by it.
Butte was hardly Butte thirty years
ago, nor was the basin east of Helena
much known to white men. l had fur
contracts in the country and wandered
about it just about as l saw fit, coming
East occasionally to see Commodore