Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1890-06-10
CIRCUS MEN IN WINTER.


fortune. of actor. ani addresses, they
seldom or never refer to ,lnu' people,
though from the fact that the numbyT 81
person. connected With every rircu. u.
many time. greater thiu that compfi.' IL
by the lsrgr.t dramatic company, tile
.av dust folk. aT- q mor' numerous clt.-
than the chll,lvn 10 Ihc.pl., while from
th. hazardous, gyp.y like character of
their profession. their daily I've. 10
fraught With much ,lcrpcr romantic in-
tsrr.t than those of the WARN. of the
sock and bu.kin. in Berlin, Nienni,
Dresden, ilamburg, PIri., Lyons ani II.
i'r,rr-burg there arr large "slnirr cir
cu.s.," wherr the sport. ~ ia" arrns
may be .nioy,,i through th. cold .ea.on,
aud the prs. ~ those citic. devote. quite
q. much sti-ntlon Ia the artists oi the
.awdu.t cirrl. q. to tl,c ,oiaric. 81 th"
stage.
II ". vi.lt frankiori, q Suburban part
10 Philadelphia; forlhim, y. v, New
ark v. j., aud Wet Chester, Ia, Ne
shall learn the answer to our question (:
What DO ,lru. people do Ia wlnisrf We
shall hnd that they ~ io the haru Ia Keep
thcm.elS-. warm, u not to pat their
head under their Wing. To put " mofr
plainly, th.rr arr maintained st each 81
tl. place. have named large "prsctlc-
Ing harms, q. they arr Technically called,
Supplied With regular foriy'two foot
clrru. ring. IN which the circu. people
promot. th. circulation 10 the blood 10y
praciiclng their act. all through the cold
season. Wh-n clfcu. performer sc-
cumulai.. money b. Invariably Invest.
I, In q farm ON which Ia pas. his time
when r-.ting frum hl. professional
labor, and such people usually have .
practlcing barn of their own for lndlSidu-
al use. ir. fortunate member. ~ the
profession spend their winter. al some
one of the four place. have nsm"l, ln
order to cnIoy th. advantage. Tor prac-
tic, afOrird by IN. public practicing
harms, which are th. property ~
.om. ,ipu. manager or rctir~i per
former.
Not only do they practice their oil
acts, bat They l-am new one. q. veil,
b--lic. breaking aud training new hor..'
to the ring-a task 10 no incon.licfable
magnitude. Every rider !. required by
clrcu. manager. Ia furnish hi. own
horse, and the principal artist. usually
keep from two To- four. These they are
compelled a. maintain during the Winicr
AZ their own expense. NOung people
d..Irou. 10 b-coming rider. are also IN
.tnict.si In their osu ,ho."n profession
ln th..r prctlclng bsru. dufing the cold
season.
Itwa.a strange sight that m"t my
gar. a. I .trolle,i into one ~ the.c prac-
ilcing barn. the other day. \ motley
group of clrcu. performer. va. gather.
rd abou, the ring, Ia which . beautiful
young girl ~ about H. year. ~. taking
her hr.t lc-.on In bareback riiing.
Ih.r. wer-two or three handsome young
women among thcm With their t~o or
thru. husbands. and their two or threc
mother. aud their eight or niue little
children, Who do the fairy busincs. when
rrlulr-,i. The father ~ one ~ these IN
t.rr.ting f,mllic. WAS in III. habit of bal
ancing the father 10 another ~ the fam
lie. on top ~ great pole. The fthrf
of a thIrd family often made pyramid
~ both those fathers, With hl. youngest
.on for th. a,-x aud himself standing
upon two har... for th. base,
Al the father. could dance upon roll-
Ing casks, stand upon bottles, catch
kni,e. aud balls. tslrl hand basins, ride
upon ANYTHING, jump over anything and
stick at nothing. All the mother. could
land did do dying acts upon the bare
hacked .te.si.. Onc of them drove four
In hand alone, Ia a Gr,ek chariot,
through every town Ia which .be appear
Ell. they all assumed Ia L. mighty
raki.h aud knowing, yet ther. w,s ~
msrkable g-ntlene.. aud childi.hne.s
about these people, q special in,piitudc
for any Kind ~ sharp practicc., and an
untiring r-adlnc.. Ia help aud pity Que
another, deserving a. much respect ani
q. much gcnetou. consideration a. the
virtues ~ any elias. of people In TIE
world.
"IIo~ are horse. trained for the ring =
] asked.
"you mean the horse. upon which
rider. Ierforn their f-at., Well, To-
answer that question ! will begin by say
Ing that the hest aye al which Ia train .
hor.. l. from 5 To u years. ln selecting
Que for the purpo.. YOU must fir.t decide
What Kind of riding you Wish Ia use him
for. AZ YOU doubtless know, circu. rid
Ing IL of Two kinds, namely principal act.
aud manege acts. Principal act. arr
those Ia which the artists ride in a
standing position aud perform yariou.
acts, such q. plrou.tting, jumping ani
throwing .omersaulls over objects, etc.
Principal act. may b. ridden either upon
the horse. bare back az upon pad sad
die. Thcy may al.o d. ridden a. two,
four or six horse acts, ia. performer
riding any of those number of horses
all AZ the same time. ar they may be
hurdle acts, bar. or hurdle. being placed
la the ring ani the horse jumping over
them.
.Manege act. are those in which .
horse !. ridden under an ordinary saddle
by q Lady ar gentleman la q park riding
drcs., the object being. NJ the name oi
the act implies. 10 display tl,r rider. .kill
In managing the horse. For huriie rii-
Ing YOU want the mat splritci, da.hlng.
high metiI.sl l,or.c you can g,t, hut Tor
any other style of prin'ipai at horse.
should poses. lliil. ar No spirit, and
should be Ola dull, plo'l,ling. phlesmiiic
disposition that nothing can excite.
Having .el,,t-i your horse, the fr.t
thing l. To- bit hlm-tlt u, 10 make hl.
mouth .o sensitive Ia the bit that be- wlll
Instantly respond O. tile slightest pres.
urc upon u. TIL. nav be acco'npli.he
quickly With some, while others ~ill
require months.
"IIayIng be.n well bl'ted the horse
4. put Into th. ring, roller or surcin;le
about hi. bsaly aud his head kept up by
"bearing up" reins. Ills trainer, in tie
centre of the ring, holds . long hinge
rein attached Ia the blt. In TIL. way be
IL taught th,t be- must keep going round
aud roun th, ii,g'. Inner e'lge. THIN
the attaches of the circus practice vault
Ing upon hl. hack tlll be- is thoroughly
acc,istom~,i to Il aud acquires what Ne
call the balance of the ring. Then the
paper covered hoops through which rid
ers lump aud the Vide pIeces of cloth
called banners over whleh they leap arr
brought In, ani be II made to pass under
them till ise will do % without the slight
est tendency to shy or ftghten. Then,
u designed for pad horse, the pad I'
placed upon him to sccustom him TO h.
Ofteu, AFTER oil other stages Of his edu-
cation have been successfully pascal, he
viii Kick To such an extent that u cannot
be plscrsi upon him. lie must be taken
out Of the ring altogether. ."-washIngtou
Star.