The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-11-24

ana rr..ererDor.io.@1v dropped down
through the seats l.iehunE on the Snlail
oi my back &ool. hilern Ieel n-i'" 81
five minutes was about five miles away
. ana running sEunl- Win tle toi8 green
/ clasped carefully in my right hand me-;
the show ri tha next stand, and Mac.
after collecting $50 from me as his share
OF my touch comp llmeuted me on my
ready wit assured me I would make a
circus man if ! stuck to the business, and
promoted me 10 the position Of door
.sI'he FIRST day was on the door I felt
pI0uder than man with new set or
false teeth. ] had my head up in the air
until looked like "a horse win a short
overchecll on 4 ltte after the grand
march q obs. husky man, wearing breath
Ike the udor Of "a coufiagra ton i'm bar
rel house. slouchea mp TO the door ana
asked me III rechuuniZed IN perfesh- /
informed him that the only 'pcrfesh' we
recognized was the 'perfesh that pur-
chased their tickets at the big wagon III
said be was a boss canvasmau and / told
him that it spelled nothing with me i
h. was boss of the cook tent. he couldn't
get into the show without letting go Of
his money the same as any other sucker.
As I said this he reached out and soaked
me punch i'm the side Of the head that
made me see an the stars at the Lick OBJ
vatOry. 1 came back al him, however,
and tried TO hit him with my fists. All
that saved me from assassination was the
fact that ] had sense enough TO call
Hey. Rube" and some of the employees OF
canvasman half to death After the row,
as / was amounting my eye with the raw
headquarters of a beef and wishing j
was dead. Mac came up TO me and said;
My boy said he, I don't see much
chance of making a circus man out OF
YOU even if ! did say 50 a little while
ago. Any ass that has been with a show
as long as you have and refuses admis-
sion 10 a boss canvasman ought to 20 out
and try to get somebody TO stake him 10
enough money to take course IN an
agricultural college. And any prize ass
that has been in the circus business as
long as you have and tries to fight with
his fists ought to be scalped with knife.
What do YOU suppose them tent stakes as
fur that is kept standing up alongside the
ticket box? Do you think they are there
for ornament DO you think they serve
the purpose of bric-a-brac. Not on your
last years salary. Them stakes IS there
to protect the man on the door Inc nrst
raw play is made 10 is your play TO pick
up one of them and fracture some BODY
skull. IL you can't do IL the first time,
try IL again. I'll overlook Il this time, be
cause you're little damp behind your
ears vet in the show business, but If it
ever occurs again III cut your suspen-
ders If were a thousand miles away from
winter quarters. Now, chase around ana
count up and If there's any shortage IN
the box III charge il to your salary.
well, they kept me on the door Tor
awhile and got 70 know the business
pretty WELL when the man that was sell
ing tickets IN the big red wagon got
wealthy and concluded he'd 90 OF ana
JOIN a Digger snow. Mac put me IN the
ticket Office. Before installing me he told
me one day in confidence.
This job does not pay Il salary. 1t pays
a percentage, and the percentage is just
what You make IL. See?'
81 was constrained to confess that l
did not see.
!" 'Well.' he said. In make it palmer
You see, there's a whole lot of people
come up to that ticket wagon that amt
got no right to have money at all. They
don't know TO take care of 1t and they
a hFNnH 20
big money in the window. expecting TO
get their right change back. See?'
told him l was beginning TO find
that something was beginning to seep
into NY comprehension.
m glad you're on says Mac. Now,
some people. might call IT, stealing, but
they amt in the circus business. We
dom call 1T stealing, because we know il
,ain't Stealing. We know that by getting
hold OF as much as we can of other peo-
pies money as the world goes round. we
save them a good deal of trouble and sOr-
row, because If We didn't take part of it
some wise guy is liable TO jump in some
bankers for people that don't know how
to take care of their own money, only
we never pay any interest. We don't pay
any principal either unless the depositor
makes good strong holler and we get
afraid he'll put the fly hobs on. That's
the circus doctrine that has been in vogue
since the days of Dan Rice. In that box
Office you are a banker and a philanthro-
pist Everything that comes in is yours
unless holer comes up and they force
you to give Il back again And if YOU
make any false plays that viii cast dis
credit on the profession IL have you in
a place where you'll be pinched on sus-
plcion OF being hungry and will have to
plead guilty TO the charge. All you have
in the wagon after we check up and YOU
pay for the tickets that come in at the
door Is yOurs-for minute. At the eX-
pirauon of that time you are to count
up your pile, in which opratiOn | will as
sist. and then split it into two piles, one
hA ~
The 90 per cent. pie goes TO me an the
40 per cent. pile goes to you. In the
circus business your share is known as
the gratters bit. hope / have made
myself sufficiently plain, and ! am of
the opinion that after l get in that wagon
and give you a few lessons you will
think it's whole lot easier snap to wait
Tor people TO come up and give you money
than II Is to go out and chase after it,"
The next day / took my first lesson in
tor. Before the crowd began to gather
he gave me some pointers.
See that thin, smooth Stat fastened to
the board you slide out change on, he
said. That Stat looks to be about as
useful as nose on the back of a mans
head, don't 1t? Wen, that little Stat Is
the greatest mOney-maker in the show
business, but you can't use it until you
get pretty proficient. 1t don't look very
thick, but it's just thick enough to stop
a dime or quarter If you slide the coin
up against II. Now, suppose some confd-
ing sucker passes you in a dollar for two
tickets ana ne don't look like he would
make much of a hOller if you held out OF,
him. You slide the change back to him
in such way that he viii instinctively
put his hand under the window to keej,
from allowing any Of the coin from spil;-
ing out on the ground. This detracts his
attention from the change transaction,
for a second, and in that time you slide
just as many dimes as you can up against
the Stat. We call it a "strainer" and he
gets what comes out. Whenever you
turn a guy that way you simply remark
Step lively, please" and one of the can
vasmen, who viii be standing convenient
Tor that purpose, will give the jay a jostie
and put him so far away from the wagon
that he won't have time to come back be.
fore you forget him and can honestly
say that 1t was your belief that he DROP
ped the money out of his hand. See? II
guy IS sucker enough to hand in a S5-biO
shortcomings him TO fare-you-well Make
the change in small money, drop it in his
hand in bunch, and say for the Informs
ton of the canvasman: Don't crowd
please That's the canVasman's cue 10
crowd and you can gamble your gold hem
crowd that Rube so he won't have a
chance to count his money until he gets
in the tent Be careful of old guys bur
young dudes are real puddin's. especial
~ if they've got a girl with 'em. When
ever you see fresh young country sport
with his baby in tow come up and flash