The Washington times., 1894-05-07
UNDER THE BIG TENTS.
How Barnum and Bailey's Circus Comes
to Town and Is Gotten Ready.

How Barnum and Bailey's Circus Comes
to Town and Is Gotten Ready.
An immense field of beautiful waving grass
two feet high was the square at the corner Of
North Capitol and NJ streets yesterday at IL
o'clock. 1t looked as if 1t had been culti-
waited. At 1t was covered with canvas tents,
acres and acres in extent, filled with such q
variety OF wonders, costly and rare. as Alad-
In palace, erected In night, could never
nave equaled. Aladin's palace never had q
stable OF four or five hundred magnificent
horses. no matter how voluptuous the eastern
writer's imagination may have been. Aladdin
never had a hundred chariots
Perhaps he had twenty or so. Aladdin GER
tainiy never had thousand men at his COM
mand. All these things Barnum and RaiIev's
circus spirits into city and puts under cover
in two hours after it leaves its trains. It'sa
wonderful thing this arrival OF Barnum and
Baileys show.
When THE TINES man reached the grounds
yesterday afternoon Mr.. Starr, the press man
OF the show, and group OF newspaper people
were just sitting down to dinner In one corner
OF the dining tent. The tent seats 700 people
at a time. Something ike that number were
eating, after the first labor Of putting up the
tents. The circus mans life is a hard one,
some philosopher has said. He seems to do
six days work in one, and 1t makes him
hungry. He eats a great deal. THE TINES
man began to see, after thinking some OF
these things over, where the 81 ,500a day goes
to that Barnum and Bailey pay to keep goingi
81 want you to see the gorillas," Mr.. Starr
said, they're eating dinner, too, but they
won't mind our intrusion"
The irony of wit. Wonder IL it's part Of the
af cbor Er,cf hAIa
Johanna, the two famous gorillas are in the
tent side by side with the congress of nations
But you have to look at some OF the South
Africans and Islanders, and then turn to the
hideous caracatures OF them that the gorillas
are TO see the force OF this. Chico sits up be-
hind his bars and pounds his fist on the walls
Of his cage and his keeper gives him an egg
to suck, and you wonder how many genera
tions off he ia. If ne don't get his egg or his
drink OF wine out of bottle, he cries, and
you decide that it's not many.
The yellow and brown and black skinned
congress of nations have one big tent.
There women and children sit and stand and
recline in picturesque groups In their vari-
colored costumes. They have not been with
the show long, but are becoming acquainted,
although they cannot understand each other.
A coal black Singalese woman was bor-
rowing a smoke Of tobacco out of a brown
Arabs American bag of plug-cut, and putting
IL INTO ner tngllsh bulldog pipe. Sne wore
an intensely heathen dress, but pair of black
and red stockings quite civilized. A fine
faced East Indian, as handsome as any of
the newspaper men, watched Chico with
them and smiled an inscrutable eastern
smile. A shiny, blaek-faced little African
whose father was a cannibal perhaps, had
been given new blue sailor suit and cape
trimmed with gold braid. He looked quite
prospective American voter. This suit and
the bulldog pipe and the black and red stock
ings and Chico's wine bottle-how easy it is
to acquire civilization.
The congress Of animals were on the
grounds two; larger collection than the
show has ever had before. The lions roared
and the hippopotamus opened his mouth and
took in several barrels full of air. A group
of lions and lambs and big Inastiffs perform
in one cage together.
Almost the finest part OF the show before it
comes of is the two tents full Of draft and
performing horses. Three hundred OF the
draft horses. great fine fellows in one tent,
arranged in four long lines according 70 color,
are q magnificent exhibition by themselves
The performers were not on tine grounds.
They stop at the hotels. And their long pro-
gramme takes place in a tent that covers
more ground than all the others together.
You can get an idea of how large Barnum and
Baileys is.