Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1892-02-26
FUN WITH A CIRCUS.
PLAYFUL RETALIATION OF AN IN
JURED coUNTRYMAN.

Visitor Objected Firearms Were Called
Into Use-Great Sport for Some.
'Have seen you fellows since was in
Marico oap" asked Mccormick as he lighted
a cigar Mccormick sells firearms in Arr
iona, New Mexico and Colorado
II got to ella City. and heard there was
| circus at Maricopa. and thought I'd take
| it in. for wanted to sell bill at Stanwix,
and mi ght do something in Maricopa too.
! don't know as you fellows ever saw a
circus in the southwest. You wouldn't
know it Every man in the shows walk
| ing arsenal-has to be in that country
And the man in the ticket wagon has guns
on all sides Of him. It's merely matter
of PREF onderance of shooting weapons
which survives after circus time-the show
or the populace. This show had been in
Maricopa ten days, and there hadn't been
any trou BILE to speak Of One man from the
hills had been killed at the ticket wagon in
a dispute over the right change, but he'd
been warned if he asked for that flyer again
he'd get plugged. He did ask. with his
gun, but he missed somehow. and he was
plugged. Then they carried the corpse
around the ring on the back Of the elephant
in the grand procession, as a solemn warn
ing to other disputatious hayseeds
THE fact was they had CRATER in their
wagon. Maybe you never saw CRATER
| work."
Never did" said James
HOW THE CRATER" WORKS
well, you see there's always mob
| around the ticket wagon, and holding up
their hands. flourishing bills and gold
pieces. and bowling for tickets-greasers,
| lnjuns, cowboys, miners, ranchers, gam
blers, every kind you can think of. The
ticket seller-the grafter-has a few one
dollar bills wound around his middle fin
ger. so that the ends come together, and it
| looks as IL ough he had twice as many bills
as he has. A granger comes up for a ticket,
hands over a five dollar bill, the CRATER
slaps down the ticket, thumbs over the
ends of four bills. in plain sight of the
farmer whips them out from under his
! finger rolls them and hands them down
| Nine times ont O. ten the hayseed grabs the
money, stutfs II in his pocket, and elbows
| out of the crowd before trying to count the
change Then he finds out that he has
only two one dollar bills, when he thought
he saw the ticket seller count him out
four Well, ne goes back with fire in his
eye, but it doesn't do him any good. Any
how. 1t didn't seem TO the day | was up to
Maricopa. | was just getting near the
ticket wagon myself. when one o. these
rustics Jhat'd had the flimflam game
played on him came rushing up and
squeezed tn rough the gang You tarnal
thief he says to the CRATER. gi'me my
money, will your
THE ticket man Just looked at him out
O. the corner OF his eye and went on sell
ing until the sucker began to yell rob
| bersT and things, when he shouted: Get
out O. here! You can't play that game
with this succus.'
But. blast your carcass, gave you a
tenner, and here's only four dollars back
Cuss me If III pay more'n dollar for any
succus
| You're crazy old man; move along
now out o. the crowd, or you'll get hurt
| THR FARMER woRsTED.
THAT seemed to annoy the farmer, for
| quicker scat he put three bullets through
the wagon window to ease his mind, and
the CRATER began to pepper back, rather
| regardless OF the promiscuous crowd
skipped off TO the gold chariot at one side,
got behind big wooden angel on one
corner of it. and staid there where / could
look out with little danger of getting a
pellet. But they stopped shooting pretty
soon. You SEE, the CRATER had two men in
the wagon who grabbed their guns the
minute the fuss began, and blazed away at
the old man, while the CRATER had settled
down 10 selling tickets again. The rustic
saw the odds were against him and ne lit
out, swearing vengeance. He had only a
scratch on the shoulder, but stout copper
colored old lady from over the border mad
vertently got between him and one of the
sings from the ticket wagon, and didn't
hive to see the show Her husband was
disposed to fini fault. but the CRATER apollo
gized and assed him in free, so he made
mp his mind to let bygones be bygones
| 81 think il vas Just after the big bare
back act that everybody in the tent sud
denly heard guns popping outside. But
the clown was just coming into the ring
and we didn't pay much attention to the
matter until casual bullets began to inter
fere with the comfort of the audience; and
when the clown himself was bowled ovel
and had to he carried out on a banner q
good many people became so interested il
the proceedings outside that they paid
little attention to the performance. Their
all at once there was coTHmotion near the
dressing tent entrance and pack of thirty
mounted cowboys galloped into the ring
The Old hayseed was at the head of them
and every man had his fireworks out anC
ready for business.
| VEL INV CIV VII II Iht IiShEl SELLElS
| "As you fellows know I've travelled for
, firearms house FOR twenty years and hav.
! handled weapons by the thousands. but
, when II comes TO a front view of shooting
machines in the paws of crowd of earnes
citizens I'm dis posed to retire from busi
ness
Il was afraid the visitors meant mis-
chief, and | WAS about to drop down be
tween the seats and crawl out under tn,
edge of the tent, when they began crack
ing away at the trapeze ropes, and in fiv'
minutes they were all down. This reas
sured me- They were evidently in play
FIJI mood and couldn't kill any one in tn
Y audience without serious provocation
y After this preliminary sport they forcet
every performer to come in and entertain
them with a special act. To wind up the.
brought in the CRATER. He was bounC
5 hand and foot ard was looking dismal, 70
2 somebody had shot hole through his ear
l and it hurt. They unbound him and mad
him rig up in the toys of the dead clown
after which they requested him to shin u
Il. l..