Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1890-09-07
THE FATE OF THE CLOWN
Robbed of His Dignity, He Lives on HIS
HNE NToI -"
Chicago Tlmes.1

"Tbere are only few OF us lett" ne
said with q patronizing ar thst TOOK
off the touch Of egotism-" only lew Oh
ma left. Time was when 1t took wise man
TO be clown now 1t takesIWeil, an ave,
rage fool. don't say much but Dieea
inwardly.p - o, ,os IN q
-om;niscent mood as he stood in the dress
;ng.tant preparing for the afternoon per-
formance. The appointments OF the room
zero not sumptuous nor was Reynoldss
.o;iot elaborate. Rows of battered, wea-
tbar- stained trunks encountered the space,
Ueans of paudy trappings, the diStcid mem
bro of many an assumed character. were
scattered on every side. 1t was one OF
those ill-equipped apartments III Whlch
modesty finds its sole screen In vacant
stare. The clowns costume was mi4-
tnre of the antique and the modern. III
consisted Of a pair of shoes and pair OF
trousers. Preparatory to bath the star
was shaving before an inch or two OF
looLino-clsss tackled to the certre-pole;
4 yrater-pall served as a shavins-mu5 ana
thetill of the trunk as table. 49,,
"Conyenient. isn't it?" continued the
clown. holding q cake of soap IN one hand
and lathering his face with the other;
"Ah, well. such is circus lie. clowns
There are none nowadays. As class were
like the mastodon plesiosaurus-an e1-
tinct race. There used TO be clowns,
though-the genuine article. W. Wal
left Harry Brown, jim Seal, jim Veal.
Toe Pentland. Sam Long, Bob Williams,
and Dan. Rice were giants. They were the
chief attractions of the show-the features
that most advertised. They played IN
small ring where they made grlmaces the
people could see and INDUCED IN sharp
repartee that the people could near. Ihey
- ~
body. and the ringmaster cracked his whip
AT them. Great DAYS those. Great pay
tool The clowns then were artists, and,
as a rule, as conceited as adored."
And nOwf"
well. we've nothing left but our ego
tism. and that, owing to our constant snubs,
is pretty well dwarfed. Big rings and null
tiple performances gagged our mouths
wears ago. We're not allowed TO say any,
thing we could not be heard If we were.
Glowing now Is an eXtravagant panto-
mime. nothing more. The fellow who can
fall --LATEST OF most awl.wardy. make the
most wretched apology for silent laugh
Get in the way and be kicked aside most
freauently-in short, the fellow VINO mas
tbe lardihood to 20 before multitude OF
neonle and make an ass of himself for a
pittance when he has the assurance that
not one in a thousand is PLAYING the slight
est attention to him. is the best clown.
Don't see where their hardlhood comes
imp" calculated the clown. vigorously
scraping the razor over his face without
looking in the glass-an art acquired by
fifteen years of practice on the road. just
imaeiro being the least conspicuous char
acter IN a host of pertormers-people 10 De
looked at chiefly on account OF the tlnsel
and the way IN which they are grouped for
spectacular effect There IS scarcely
clown in the ring to-day who does not claim
public recognition on account OF some trlck
animal-some measley cur that mas the IA
Guilty of turning somersaults, q monkey that
can keep its equilibrium on a donkey''s
back. or an ambitious hog-Lord, how full
the world is of them that can smoke a
pipe. The clown now is an adjunct OF ms
pets. and borrows glory from Their lntelll-
pence., Glorious position TO be rlngmaster
for apes. ours, and jackasses, isn't 1t!
Grand old Dan Rice! He doesn't blush to
90 out Temperance lecturing and get drunk
after the performance, but he would out
blush O clowns rouge brush were he COM
PEELED to enter the ring under the circun-
stances we do now. And the worst or IL i5
that our paw has been cut down proper
tionately with our DIGNITY"
And the outlook"
"Tbere is no outlook, and there will be
none so long as showmen persist IN crowd
ing a small-sized programme into the ring
at one time, and making provisions Tor en-
PERTAINING all creation under single tent.
The mere intent of the undertaking neces-
states making up IN the NUMBER or So
called clowns what is lacked IN legitimate
artists. Barnum, for instance, has little
army of novices--caliow youths who nave
borrowed a gag here and gag there,
posture from this artist, and gro
tesque tumble from that. They attudinize
wear In and year out TO the tune OF - q
week. There's one of them now. pointing
to q beardless boy who was making love 10
a pet monkey. They originate nothing.
They could not say bright thing II their
future happiness depended upon II. Yet
they are all clowns, but OF the TOOL type
that are content to brook their own medl-
ocritv for the sake of their bare bread and
butter and immunity from harder work. "
REYNOLDS, oblivlous of the glass, scratch.
ed viciously at his face, the antique part OF
his garb becoming of greater extent as the
exertion caused the modern articles OF APP
parel to gravitate.
Eyes. there are only a few-but pshaw =
il isn't our fault. When American show
men profit by European examples there
will be some hope for us. In the old coun-
try they have small rings. The shows are
conducted about as our theatres are. In
stead of tents they have elegant permanent
buildings. The clowns study new r6es
and go from place to place. They make
hit and proht by it. There is some in
centive to continuous persistent study.
But here, alas big tents. big programmes,
the biggest show on earth, and littlest
clowns. Now, please wear Your far-awav
look and Ill take bath. No! Call aga n
and I'll tell you some more about the woes
of the profession"