Chicago eagle., 1894-05-05
A CLOWN ron FIVE MINUTES
Hs Made . rssmendsus "HM" snd
Il cest Him $500.


There sat in fashionable restau.
rant the other evening man Of iron.
gray hair and dignified bearing, who,
II appearances could be relied upon,
had never in his life done anything
ridiculous. He was 50 dignified that
he was almost stately. Portly, pink
Of complexion and erect, he was o
picture Of the gentleman Of case.
And yet this man at ono period in
his life was q circus clown. Twenty.
five years ago he lived in Norfolk,
Va. His father, wealthy Virginian,
owned steamboat and steamship
line. To Norfolk one day came o
circus. When It had closed It's bus.
ness there It engaged a steamboat to
take II further South. The boat
stopped ut several places, but every.
where, as they would say now. the
show was q frost" When the end
Of tho water route was reached the
circus owed the boat $500, and had
not dollar to pay. On the boat, to
look after the interests Of tho steam.
ship company, was the son OF the
owner OF the line. He telcgraphed
to his father explaining the situa.
tion.
Let the circus 90 on" was the
answer, "but go with 1t. Collect on
account whenever you can."
So the young man-the same who,
twenty-five years later made so good
an appearance In fashionable New
York restaurant-became a stroller
with Q circus. He was with II to
make collections on account, but
thoro was nothing to collect. Busi-
ness got worse; everybody, even the
would.be collector, "went broke, I"
and still the circus wandered on.
The young virginlan, who was ut
first regarded as prosecuting. de.
mon, to make himself less objection
able TO the circus people began to
offer his services In various ways. He
collected tickets, sold them, and
made himself generally agreeable.
One evening In little town 'way
down South In Dixie a clown fell i'll.
1t was necessary to have two clowns,
for one said all his funny things to a
a second. A circus without clown
Is worse than Hamlet with the sweet
prince eliminated, and so tho man.
ager went to tho young Virginian.
you'll have to bc second clown
tonight" ho said. "Thcrc will be
nothing for you to do. We'll paint
you, chalk you and make you up"
So second clown the Son Of Norfolk
prepared to be.
The two clowns were accustomed
to mako their entrance by turning q
double.summersault of a spring
hoard, landing In the ring. When the
time came on that evening tho Vir.
ginian made n sudden resolve. In his
boyhood ho had turned handsprings
and summcrsaults. He would try II
again. The first clown, the real arti.
clio, made his entrance In approved
style. Then came tho substitute.
He ran out boldly on the board and
sprang. lie was shot high into the
air, thrown over and over. and came
down with terrific thud fiat OH hi,
back. Slowly he arose, staggering
weakly around tho ring, on his face
that look OF comical agony which q
man wears who has had the wind
knocked out Of him, He was greeted
with o storm Of applause. The spec
tators thought that that was hii
part-that no was a trick clown,
They shouted, clapped their hands
and howled with delight. Painfully
bowling, he staggered out OF the rims
and then threw himself to tho
ground, gasping to get back hi
breath. Outside, In the ring, tht
crowd was roaring for him to appear
again. Tho ringmaster came to him
They're crazy over you," he said
You'll have to do that again fol
them"
my lands!" groaned the new
clown, clasping his stomach. "Dt
that again? See here, you owe III
$500. Let me OIL from doing tina
again, and we'll call it square. ."-lNev
York Tribune.