The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-04-29
PUTTING UP A CIRCUS TENT.
System and Celebrity With Which Each
Part Moves to Its Place.

From the New York Sun.
In putting up a circus tent the first
thing the workmen learn is to pay no at
tention to crowds. The spaces that the
boys don't occupy the unemployed men
fill, and frequently the nurse girls or the
anxious mothers help to swell the throng.
The workingmen move about as if IN
conscious of the presence of the specta-
tors, but their eyes are quick and their
voices strong in time of danger from fall
ing poles, and they can brighten a small
boy out of the way four times as quick as
policeman can. The urchin holds a
circus employe in much greater awe
than policeman.
So skilled is the CHIEF canvasman of a
big circus that when he arrives on the
ground where the tents are to be pitched
that he can tell at a glance just how to
dispose of them. In the Barnum show
the practice is to put up the menagerie
and horse tents first This is usually done
before breakfast whenever possible, and
then, after a short rest all hands turn in
and with a rush up goes the tent. The
chief canvasman of the Barnum show is
William Kelley. When he determines
upon the location of the tents he sends
for lot of men with iron pins, to some
of which are attached pieces of blue fan
Kelley takes a long tape line out of his
pocket and fixes the position of his first
pole by red pin. Then he measures off
the required distance for the second pole
and then for the others, until the places
for all five poles of the main tent are
fixed
Next Kelley goes to the end poles, and
with a tape swings half circle beyond
each. At regular intervals of about a
dozen feet he orders blue pin stuck in
the ground until both ends of the tent
plan are marked. Having disposed of
each end of the plan, he quickly passes
down the straight sides, and at the re-
quired places has pins placed for each
stake to which the guy ropes are to be
attached, and in few minutes the whole
place is thus staked of. All the measure
ments are in Kelley's memory, whether
the tent be big or little.
Then comes probably the most interest
ing part of putting up the tent. Stalwart
men have been unloading stout hickory
stakes from the three stake wagons and
these are distributed in wheelbarrows
over the grobnds. The sledge gangs then
seize their tools. There are eight men
in a gang and nine gangs to do the work.
One man in each gang plunges a crowbar
into the ground and makes a prepar-
atory hole for the stake. The head
sledgeman drives the stake in with one or
two smart blows, and the other six
gather about in a circle. Then all lift
their sledges and each in turn gives the
stake a slight tap, and thus they catch
the swing. The next turn around the
blow falls harder, and by the time the
third blow is struck the whirling sledges
rain down on the stake with a speed al
most as fast as one can count. One
sledge no sooner strikes stake and slips
away than another takes its place AS
they 90 whirling in the air the effect is
like the arms of a windmill in a brisk
breeze, and the sound of musketry.
When nine gangs are at work at once the
sight is confusing, and one wonders that
the men don't knock each others head
Off.
The stake itself goes plunging down into
the turf in series Of quick Jumps. One
can see it Jump, but ii never has a rest.
On the average, it takes about thirty sec
onds to drive each stake home, and in
few minutes the whole $50 stakes required
for the main tent are in .he ground. OPP
posite each main pole extra stakes are
driven. and then the ground is cleared.
The workmen carry in on their shoulders
the five 50-foot poles and place them near
their proper locations. Then twenty-five
quarter poles, each thirty-two feet long,
are carried in and arranged in line, with
their upper ends fronting outward. linen
thirty-four shorter quarter poles are
brought in and arranged the same way,
but further away from the main poles.
IL requires a lot of unloading, but the
wagons have been driven to places within
easy reach, and every economy IN space
and time is studied.