Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1891-09-16


the great pachyderm was conducted to his
allotted place in the menagerie tent, where
an iron pin was driven into the ground ard
a chain, which was riveted TO II, was lock-
ed around one of his legs. The pin and the
chain were part of his belongings, and he
was accustomed to ha chained up thus and
made no objection. Evidently he suffered
no loss of dignity by this operation, for he
appeared to say to himself. This is per-
fectly proper, am sure; for it is the rule
of all circuses to keep the animals in some
sort of confinement, and, although it ~
complishes no Useful purpose in my case, I
believe in discipline and cheer fully submit
to the rules
| It was very pretty to see how soticitous
YVES the Fairy of her immeuse charge. She
saw that he had 8 sufficient allowance of
fresh. sweet hay, and from bag which
che carried, she fed him some daiH.ies
Which she bad for that purpose and which
he took in his 1.-the trunk with manifest
tokens of gratitude. She patted his great
jaws and said kind things to him, and he
took it all as matter of course, seemlng
to say:-'I see nothing at all strange in the
affection and solicitude which this beautiful
little Fairy lavishes upon me; fnr am I not
very large and majestic elephant, and
does she not know that I love her better
than does any one else in the world% And
it was pretty to see how gently she bade
him good.by until the evening perform.
ance, which would begin in about two hours
from that time.
There was a far greater crowd than usual
at the performance that evening, for the
flaming public announcement of Christie
pher and the Fliry had borne profitable
fruit. Not only were the seats packed all
the way up to the caves, but rows of extra
seats had been provided on the level
ground facing the ring. Severl acts were
done before the manager announced the
new performers, which he did in the fol-
lowing graceful manner
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN.-I now have
the pleasure to introduce to you the most
celebrated performers of Hes Msjesty's
colonies Christopher and the Fairy. You
will see for yourselves that Christopher is
the largest and most powerful elephant in
captivity, and that the Fairy justly deserves
her reputation for being the most graceful
and daring trapeze performer in the world.
The performances of these two renowned
individuals will consist in gronnd acts in
which they both take part, followed by the
| flying -trapeze act done by the Fairy alone,
Christopher meanwhile standing below and
looking on, at the same time giving signals
to the Fairy and otherwise encouraging her
in her daring and perilous performance
high in the air.
When he had finished, the elephant came
slowly walking ont, and thereupon rose a
mighty shout of applause and great clap
ping Of hands. Sitting on toe massive
shoulders of the enormous brute was the
Fairy, glittering with spangles. She was
so small, aud fragile, and dainty, and ma-
| a. ~
caught the audience with sweeping force,
and the applause became deafening. Chris
topher calmly N arched into the ring and
proceeded deliberately around it, the Fairy
meanwhile guiding him with gantle hand
pressure on one side of his neck or the
| other, while with the other hand she threw
kisses to the audience. Her bare, dimpled
arms aud smiling, dimpled checks, her rosy
mouth, her large black eyes and curling
BLACK hair, in which diamonds shone, won
every heart for her in that immense crowd,
for SO much sweetness and grace and dain-
tiness they had never seen all at once in
circus ring before.
The circuit of the ring completed, the
elephant stopped and listened gravely to
the sorry jokes of the clown. He had heard
them before and was not to ae amused.
The Fairy bounded to her feet on the great
animals back, and there found room for
some entertaining tricks of agility. Then
she gave him tap with her slippsrsd little
foot, and, in response, he brought his long
trunk around, caught her by the waist and
set her gently on the ground. This made
the audience applaud until the Fairy was
almost deaf. Other things, some old and
some new, were done by the two suoh as
his walking over her, stepping ever SO care
fully, as she lay on the ground; recovering
her handkerchief from the clown, who had
stolen it and hidden it in his blouse; throw
ing her high In the air and stepping forward
in time to have her slight nimbly on his
back, and things like that. Then came her
act on the flying trapezs.
To prepare for this the clown fetched her
a flag, which she gave to Christopher to
hold in his trunk. Then the clown threw
tape over q trapeze hung high in the air,
and, with few parting oaresses and whisp-
cred words to Christopher she sprang
to the tape and climbed it like squirrel.
She sat moment on the tapeze bar and
then glanced down at Christopher, who, sit
ting back on his haunches the better to
look SO high, was gravely watching her.
The band had stopped playing. A clear,
pearls on the people below, called OUT
The elephant waved the flag and gravely
| nodded his approval.
Then came the real work of the act-all
sorts of agile turnings and graceful leaps
from the main bar to one hung higher still;
and after every one of these feats, each
more daring than it's predecessor, she would
call down in her musical, pearly voice:-
WAS that all right, Christopher
And christopher would wave the flag and
solemnly nod his approval, as much as to
say, Of course, it was all right; but we ex-
pect that from you, little FairyP
Finally came her greatest feat-it was to
leap clear across the ring from one trapezs
to another. She rested awhile before ur-
dertaking il, and Christopher, knowing
what was coming, braced himself, all his
massive muscles going on tension, as
though trying to give her strength and alert
ness for the dangerous task. The band
played spirited air while the girl set still
on the bar; then the music ceased, and a
deep hush fell on the audience. The Fairy
caught the bar in her hands and swung
beneath it, and her clear voice rang out
again:
Keep sharp eye, old ChristopherP
The elephant nodded and waved his flag,
but with less steadiness than bsfore. The
Fairy began to swing backward and forward
in the direction of the distant trapeze,
which she was to catch after her flight
through the air. Further and further did
she swing, higher and higher, back and
forth, her glittering spangles looking like a
shower of meteors. A ringing voice cried
OUT
'Now we 90, Christopher and she loosed
her hold and went flying away across the
tent, higher and higher, to the apex of a
graceful parabolic curve, then down toward
the trapeze, still SO far away, while the peo
pie held their breath and many closed their
eyes. Down sailed the small and graceful
figure, coming quickly closer to the goal;
two eager hands we're outstretched to seize
the bar; one hand touched it and clutched
it desperately, but the other missed it's aim.
The momentum sent her flying far beyond,
but she still held the bar with one hand,
and the ropes which held it creaked as the
strain came upon them. A hold with one
hand was not enough, and the Fairy had
not time to bring the other to bear when
the bar found the end of its tether. The