Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1888-09-05
LIFE UNDER THE CANVAS.


A Circus Employees Hard Lot-Tfcious
Animals and Long MINDED Bores.
The variety Of incident afforded by
travelling with circus and the nonadic
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 az carefully
drilled for his work as a soldier is for his
duties. But the glamour which invests
the life of 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, Tribune reporter
fell into conversation with the man
in charge Of the performing seals
in their cage on wheels, before
they appeared upon the stage9 and
went through their tricks of drumming
the banjo and guitar. One of thei un-
couth animals was picking away at the
bar Of his cage with his fipper. s:He
thinks he has his banjo" remarked the
man in charge, land he viii 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. I can do anything with these
seals. but they would bite stranger.
See that scar pointing to the back of one
OF bis hands,. Well. a strange seal was
put in the cage q few days ago, and
when went to clean it out he bit me.
You see, be didn't know me.
"Of COURSE, the case of the lions and
the tigers is the most dangerous. A man
came near 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 go 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 rawhido. The men in charge of the
elephants have their go;ads ready to stick
into the animals whenever they are not
chained. The man there (pointing to the
next cage) has to sleep with the giraffe
every night to see that it does not get
sick. It is the tenderest animal we have
and is the only giraffe in this country"
The reporter veztured to remark that
if the giraffe's throat became sore it
would be likely to prove . serious mat
ter, as it was so long.
YES" said the keeper. ga man was
here the other day who wished his
throat was as long as the giraffe's 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
to think that the wild animals must do
everything different from what tame ones
do. The majority Of people don't know
the simplest facts 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.
It is a pleasure to talk to any one who
understands something about the animals.
don't think $40 month and board PAYS
for what we have to endure from the
animals and people every day. New
York Tribune.