St. Paul daily globe., 1893-08-27
AT THE CIRCUS.

al M CIhCUS.
Grow as old and dignifed as we will, |
we can never entirely shake Off sort of
sneaking tondness for circus. l am i
not sure whether our affections cling
most tenaeiously to the pink lemonade,
the fat woman, or the brass band. butsIa i
think it is the band which fingers fohdly /
in our memories. 1t takes many years
OF hard work and righteous endeaRoro
to forget the winsome strains of that
band. Who would listen to orchestral
selections from Faust" if they could
listen instead to Il genuine circus band
play after the Ball?' The members of
the orchestra would hide their heads
In confusion, or take to the woods
if brought into competition with such
formidable rival. Think back a few
years and you will remember small
boy or rl-strangely resembling your
seif-who could sit with closed eyes and
yet tell by the nuSic exactly what
the performers We're doing in the
tent. The music (?) begins slow and
dirge-like, as though the trick poodle
was on his death bed: this mournIui
melody continues while the procession
goes around. We also get dose of it
when tue '.world renowned, great and
only" is about to perform "hiS dar-
ing equestrian feat on nineteen llorSeS.''
! may be mistaken about the number of
horses that he rides at the same time,
but L can never remember having seen
any of those remarkable feats success.
f,,it
ever did succeed it must have been
years ago in the homestreteh of us
grandfather'S meadow. Then the trick
elephants waltz TO the tune of the
american Line" march; the bareback
riders come IN dS The horns blare: they
ride faster and faster, and in q wiidStrug
gle to keep up with them the band get
all mixed up. but vafiantly continue to
blow and pound as long aS they have
wind or strength. The trombone and
the cymbals usually hold out the long
est.oh. shades of Beethoven and Mozart.
but they make musical cou.bina-
tion. The Japanese juggler whirlS a
barrel to the tune of Annie
Laurie" whi ch he doubtless believes
is our national hymn, for he patrioti-
calIy waves two American flags and
shoots a firecracker. The girl dives
from the roof, and the dIum helps her
onto her feet with bang which makes
the small boy of long ago open his eyes
with snap.
1t is quite astonishing to notice how
many adults it takes to attend one small
childish specimen to q circus. The
same child would be allowed to visit
race track or a Gypsy camp entirely
unattended, but when he starts
for circus all his relatives sud
denly become very solicjtous about his
safety, and much 10 lis disgust he goes
to this highly intellectual treat followed
By & perfect retinue Of aunts, mothers.
grandpaS and mas, and any number
of uncles. OF course they don't want
to see the circus. but are com-
peiied to take the children" Those
unfortunate grown-up beings who do
not possess Il young family, borrow, one
during circus time. and cruSty old
bachelors who hate children at ether
times. go gaily forth in the direction Of
circus with brood of neighborS'
being so frivolous. They also buy
candy and peanuts "for the childreii, y
this prospect partly consoles the y6,itng3
sters for their unwelcome attendaHce.
until they see that their elders ,fat
the Iion's SHARE Tor fear the children
will make themselves ill. Such satfe
sacrifice is truly beautiful to tuuV
template. Perhaps the reason father.
and uncle drink so much circus lelQ-
made is 10 try and drain the stihFce from
whence cotneS this fiery liquid before
johnny has a chance for over TT
dulgence. This is a worthy obiaet, but
could they see how religi0usly Tie pro-
prietOr pourS in glass of aqua Pura''
for every giaSSfui OF mixture Wh!cli is
| removed, they would sc0n realize how
hopeless is their task, and wOGh! scnrry
around and get some paregoric TO hold
| III readiness for Johnny, instead OF
wasting their time drinking connection
which the claim to despise.
LII you think yoHr life has been too
| luxurious, and you wish to ''nGrtify the
| t1esh," 90 and try reserved seat at a
circus. You will experience more mis-
cry in five minutes than you nave
| known since you smoked your first
! cigar. Those chairs wouldn't fiji u
! fiVe-year-old boy, and it makes my head
ache to think how carefully the tiend
| who invented them must have compiled
| statistics to enable him to calculate so
| correctly what length to make the backs
| of those instruments of torture, so that
| they would not fit anybody, but have
| the sharp edge come directly under the
| shoulder blades of everybody. The
| victim of this fiendish device willingly
and cheerfully pays in his fifty cents,
seats himself. and thinks .'how COM
fortable," as he gazes at ~the COM
mon herd sitting on rough boards.
soop, too soon, those backs begin to get
in their murderous work. The owner
of the persecuted spinal column feels
as if he were being chopped in
| twain above the waist line.
| He wishes he had left his
back at home. He is compelled to sit
bolt upright. with no support, during
the whole performance or suffer untold
agonies. He looks around at his swell
friends, who are also i'll possession Of
| reserved seats, AMI sees that they all
look as if they had been dieting on
ramrods and straight pOkers for years.
they daren't lean back. Then oh! then
how longingly he looks at the crowd on
the boards and how sincerely he wishes
he had been content to sit with the com
mon herd and lean comfortably back
against his butcher, his baker or his
candlestickmaker. ul
~ )1 37s