Daily Yellowstone journal., 1888-08-05
LIFE UNDER The CANVAS.
A Circus Employees Hard Lot-vicioui
Animals and Long MINDED Bores-

A Circus Employees Hard Lot-vicious
Animals and Long MINDED Bores.
The variety Of incident afforded by
travelling with a circus and the nomadic
sort of existence it grants appeals strongly
to certain traits of human nature, and
there are never wanting men TO fill every
sort Of position in entertainments under
canvas. With Barnum's show, for in
stance, a regiment of subordinates are
employed, and every one is as carefully
drilled for his work as a soldier is for his
duties. But the glamour which invests
the life of a circus employee will be
found to disappear behind the scenes and
many disadvantages to appear.
On the last night that Barnum was in
Brooklyn recently, a Tribune reporter
fell into conversation with the man
i'll charge of the performing seals
in their cage on wheels, before
they appeared upon the stagel and
went through their tricks IF drumming
the banjo and guitar. One Of the I'M
couth animals was picking away at the
bar Of his cage with his tlipper. HE
thinks he has his banjo" remarked the
man in charge, ''and he will lie there by
the hour and do that. We take the time
to teach them tricks when we are spend
ing the winter in Bridgeport. One has
to know his animals to get along with
them. l can do anything with these
seals. but they would bite a stranger.
See that scar pointing to the back of one
of his hands,. Well, a strange seal was
put in the cage a few days ago, and
when / wen. TO clean it out he bit me.
You see, he didn't know me.
"Of course, the case of thu lions and
the tigers is the most dangerous. A man
came neal being killed in the lions cage
this morning. We all thought he was a
'goner.' Every man has two cages to
care for, and we have TO 20 in among all
the animals. | have one of the lions
cages myself. We only control them by
fear, our whips being of steel covered
with rawhide. Themen in charge of the
elephants have their goads ready to stick
into the animals whenever they are not
chained. The man there (pointing othe
text cage) has 10 sleep with the giraffe
every night to see that it does not get
sick. 1t is the tenderest animal we have
and is the only giraffe in this country"
The reporter ventured to remark that
if the giraife's throat became sore it
would be likely to prove q serious mat
ter, as it was so long.
''Yes," said the keeper. "a man was
here the other day who wished his
throat was as long as the CRATES when.
ever he drank whisky. But that was
better than the questions some people
ask. Why, some of them appear to
know nothing at all when they get in the
circus. They will ask if an animal eats
or lies down to sleep. If a lion roars
they ask what he does that for. One man
wanted TO know if the giraffe ever put its
head down to sleep. The women seem
10 think that the wild animals must do
everything different from what tame ones
do. The majority of people don't know
the simplest factsi in natural history, one
would think. If the animals could talk
they would be able to tell many strange
things said about them. Idon't mean to
say people can't read, but they will look
at those words. performing seals, on my
wagon, and then ask me what the ami
mails are. Then they want TO know why
we have water for them, and what they
eat, when they see what We feed them.
1t is a pleasure to talk to any n who
understands something about the animals.
| don't think $40 a month and board pays
for what we have TO endure from the
animals and people every day."-New
York Tribune.