The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1894-05-16
The CIRCUS IN TOWN
Small Boys Happy and
Everybody Going TO See
the Elephant.
ON THE CIRCUS GROUND TODAY
The Way the Mammoth Tents Are
Erected-An Interesting
Description.
ON THE CIRCUS GROUND TODAY

Description.
When the residents of Lafayette awoke
this morning they found that the large
vacant lot at johnson avenue and Monitor
street had undergone a vast change during
the night. Instead of a vacant lot, the resi-
dents saw huge banks of canvas, which they
made out to DO the tents of the Barnum and
Bailey circus which arrived from Elizabeth
late last night. The arrival of the greatest
show on earth" was, of course, first dis
covered by the small boys who foched to the
grounds from all parts of the city to witness
the putting up of the ''rNammothn tents and
to endeavor by running errands and doing
odd jobs for the workmen to secure a general
admission ticket to the show. A few of the
urchins succeeded il their plans and a great
many did not.
The putting up of circus tents is an inter
esting performance and requires consider
able skill on the part of the chief canvas
man. The rule "a place for everything and
everything in its place" is followed out
strictly to the letter by Barnum 81 Bailey,
and the large force of employees work as one
man. The chief canvasman of the show,
William Kelley, is so skillful that he can
tell at a glance just where to place each
tent. When he completes the plans and has
every tent provided for, Kelley provides q
which are attached strips of red flannel and
to Others strips of blue flannel.
FIXING THE POLES.
Then, with the aid of a tape measure, he
fixes the position of the first pole and marks
the spot with one of the red pins. Then he
measures off the required distance for the
second pole, and then for the others, I'M
til all the places for all five poles
are fixed Kelley then goes to the end poles
and with a string makes a semi-circle be-
yond each and at regular intervals OF ten
feet he sticks a blue pin in the ground. In
this manner both ends of the tent plan are
marked. TIL line upon which the sides OF
the tent are to be fastened is next laid out.
While Kelley is making the measurements
a large gang Of men are at work unloading
poles and heavy hickory posts or pegs
from the wagons, and with the aid OF wheel
barrows these are distributed about the
grounds. Another gang OF men armed with
heavy saedge hammers are waiting to drive
the s'pegs" into the ground. The men are
diviued into nine gangs of eight men each,
and one man in each gang with a large crow
Thar makes preparatory hole for the poles.
The foreman of each gang then drives
1.-THE pole in with his sledge hammer,
while the other men stand in a circle, and
leach in turn gives the pole a sound blow.
THE banners fall with lightning like rapid
fity andt the sound of the blows all over the
grounds is like the rattle Of the hoofs OF
cavalry horses while making a charge. In
a few minutes the $50 'tpegs" required for
the main tent are In the ground. Opposite
each main pole extra pegs are driven, and
then the ground is cleared. b five fifty
foot poles which hold the roof of the tent IN
position are then carried to the proper places
by the workmen. Then twenty-five quarter
poles, each thirty-one feet long, are all car
ried in and arranged in line with their up
per ends pointing twa Then thirty
four shorter quarter poles are brought In
and rranged in the same way, but further
away from the main poles. Two short pegs
are then driven at the foot OF each main
pole for bearers, against which it is to rise,
and with ropes each pole is pulled to a per-
pendicular position and made fast.
PUTTING UP THE TENT.
Kelley then makes an inspection OF the
work and orders tho nya brought from
the wagons. Eight men stagger unde the
first load, a huge roll of the tent material,
and drop it when ordered to. Another
gang of men, numbering about a dozen, un
fold it, s~traighten out the two curvlng end
pieces, and then the four pieces that cross
from one side to the other are brought out
and placed on the ground. The tent being
on the ground, the pieces are joined to the
hoods about the standing poles and then the
sections are laced together. Hall a dozen
men gather under the tent at each pole, and
! the rest of the men are at work showing
small poles under the edge of the tent and
slip their tops into the holes made
for them. At a signal from Mr.. Kelley
the men raise the edge of the tent,
bringing the small poles to an
/ upright position The quarter poles are
then placed in the proper position and the
tent begins to assume shape. Teams OF
horses pull the bases OF the quarter poles tt
their place, and the guy ropes, which reach
from the edge of the tent to the stakes,
tighter, and soon the mammoth" tent Is
taut and firm. The tent is now complete
and measures $50 feet long and 1870 feet wide.
The seats are then placed in position and the
decorators place flags on every available
pole.
The work of making the rings for the per
formanceS and erecting the small tents Tor
the animals and side shows is a mere baga-
telle compared to the raising OF the large
tent. 1t requires the services of more than a
hundred trained men to erect the main tent
The work of taking down the tents takes
less time than what is required to raise them
The performance tonight will close at ten
O'Clock, and by noon tomorrow the entire
show. tents and all, will have been moved
and erected in Hoboken.
THE PARADE TODAY.
The parade. today, was grand and was
witnessed by thousands. This afternoon the
neighborhood of the circus is black with
people. and at two o'clock the big tent Yves
crowded to its utmost capacity. To get to
the circus from any part of the city. take
the belt line cars, getting Off at johnston
avenue and walking two blocks towards
the meadows, or as the circus man himself
SAYS ssfollow the crowd"