The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1894-10-04
THE TRAINED FLEAS.
HOW A PAIR OF CoCKNEYs FOOLED
THE CALlFoRNIANS.

Deal by Listening To His Own Talk.
Among the attractions mt the San Fran
cisco fair was a trained flea exhibit Aft
cr the exposition closed the proprietors of
the insect circus had row. The patrons
of the trained flea outfit will be interested
TO learn that the show was a fake of the
rankest kind; that 80 per cent of the in
| scots were dead when exhibited, and that
the men who manipulated the concern
knew no mc-o about the true inwardness
Of training and handling fleas than they
did Of the social habits of the tuberculosis
bacilli
The warning partners were Frank Ry-
man and John Burgess They are both
English, and Burgess, who is a clean
! shaved, merry faced young fellow, with a
cookney brogue that is redolent of White
chapel or some equally notorious slum in
faraway foggy London, exhibited fond
ness for bicycling and it was at the cyclery
that he first conveyed to an admiring
crowd the Information that the flea show
was delusion and snare.
1T was this way" began Burgess in
choice Londonose. "Me and Ryman and
two other fellows 'ad concession for sell
in cutlery, but we couldn't make nothink.
We wos driven to desperation, an it wos a
case Of do somethink OF starve Well, 1
gets it into me nut that trained flea show
would 1T the public, but there wasn't a
bloomin one of us knew the fust think
about 'andlin or 'arnessin a flea.
"Of course I'd seen genuine flea teams
in the hold country, where they 'arness
'em with 'orse'air and hexibit 'em in mag
nitied glass cases, but I don't know no
more'n Hadam 'ow the thing wos done.
THAT didn't stop us, though. We got
a Jap to make hus a nice little houtflt of
tiny paper carriages with copper wheels,
and we gets place fixed hup for giving
hexibitions. Fust we got some fleas and
began hexperimentin just to see if we
could tumble to the racket Of 'arnessin
'em. We couldn't. They was too lively
FINALLY we got some very fine copper
wire and stuck piece of it into one of the
fea's launches. First we stuck it in too
far, and then the flea died, but we kept
on hexperimentin, and we found just ow
far we could spear a flea with a good
chawnco of lleepin i'm alive until the show
was over. We got the thing down pretty
fine, and then got outside and did bit
of spielin while Ryman stood indoors and
speared the 1eas and made them fast to
the carriages.
When everything was ready, I'd rush
hinside and superintend the hexhibition,
and 1 tell you it was ticklish job, COS
seven out OF the eight feas would be dead
before the show began.
"Auy'ow I'd give the people a nice talk
about 'ow ard it was to train and 'aTness
a flea, an 'ow yer 'ad to ave certain
brand of flea, with plenty of brains, or
you q, Id never make nothing out of 'em.
l useS p tell 'em that it took six months
70 heducate young uea, ana we 'ad real
i've uoa win silver chaln around Is
neck, when L drew thelr attention to as
nea that was lusb learning Is business l
also tolu .en oW we au 70 chahge nea s
galU ana nill Iho resV ol ~
Wv ana we geJ Uhe ueast why, ny
man used TO lasso stray dogs around Uhe
lalr GROUNDS an we goJ al we wanted
OW ana we reed olHf L used TO leed en-
ana IL makes me pIoou DOH Wnen lhlhk
OF 1he hlhgIaVlVuue Oh Ina1 l,,, Ieller lyman
LOOK aJ me haIih mere, 4neln ueas USED 10
Ioeu ON mo arO plo9u'
Ueheialiy Wneh Ohe snow was aDouJ 10
I commence alI Vno leas pu1 one "oqlu DO
ueau' coh'lHueu BURGESS Ut useu
10 pun uiaNe IIooon III anu 1llU IAe pa5te-
board card Jhey Wo5 Worhih, on ana the
carriage ana meas would roiI down III;
Lntu Gllo 'iio1lloi iIODlo Salh uiiu ~
"aUcn lllo Cta"hco so a. ooulu VllV un9
catu Ihe otnGr way, unu Vno OeaIh "oulu
gliuG uo"h III again
why Uho puDlo suoou u Ahe iaIhns,
puu oiVoh thousng as o" Lyman Woulu
queer JhG snow, u useu 10 IGy IL on zoo
Uhlch' kol,O On Saying, IAloles anu
genus IL Iahes IWo ours 10 arhess u liea,
ana thero ohly ahouher man an lneseu-
UhaV me laWUHer-as Is IN uhls country
at present. as KNOWS 'oW TO 90 H.
l sara 10 MN one oay' LOOK ere ny
man, you Iea-oollln IL zoo sUrohg' Ihere s
mllllohs Oh people IN thls country an the
+ ohaWhces arc thaG one or TWO on EN- are
as cieNer as you or your pIooliilh IaW1her;
JusC uiaW IL plO lnliu' Gun, OF they IL
Tuhple tha5 the 'ole business Is n RED, raw
, rake,
! wen, SIT, IL was wonderful ,ow people
I stood the show we al ministers OF the
gospel and goVernesses ana All sorts come
IN, and me 'arG used 90 be IN me NOUN
tryin to ind hapswers Tor the questions
. they haSked. But neNplalneQ heVery-