New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-04-26
HE STANDS AT THE GATE
THE MAN WHO TAKES TICKETS AT THE
CIRCUS
MANY QUALIFICATIONS OF A GOOD DooRMAN
EMBODIED IN THE FAMILIAR PERSON OF
ENos JosEpHs. OF THE BARNuM
pAIIFy SHOW


There is one figure more familiar to the circus
going public than any OF the celebrities OF the ring
Mr. Bailey. the controlling mind and deus ex
machina" of the circus world. Is little more IMAM
name to the people who twice day All the great
amphtheatre at Madison Square Garden. so quiet
and unobtrusive Is his personality. The heads OF
departments and the officials who manage the num-
dreds OF and animals and handle the vast
revenues Of ''the greatest show on eartn cop!
after their chief. and, adding modesty and SELF
effacement to their many virtues. do their impor-
tant work quietly and in the background. Even
"Tody' Hamilton. the head Of the department OF
publicity, and prince OF press agents. Is never I'M
necessarily In evidence-especally when the New
York correspondent OF the "Podunk Intelligencer
appears at the gate with request for four seats
and wild desire to obtain material for a special
dispatch to his paper the prospects OF the circus
season.
But there Is man connected with the show
whose duties Will not allow him 10 hide his light
and personal beauty under bushel. He Is no
other than Enos Josephs. the doorkeeper FOR
nearly twenty years he has stood at the gate OF
the receipt of circus customs. and has the record
OF never letting man. woman or child get BY him
without giving up the ticket cash demanded by
the circus protective tariff. To the hundreds OF
thousands who pass the brass gates at the Garden
every spring, as we'll as to the millions who surge
through the ropes while the show Is on the ROAD,
the stalwar figure. ruddy face and quick. clear eye
OF the doorkeeper In the house OF the circus are as
familiar the posters that fill the town with the
glory OF this mammoth amusement enterprise.
The Job OF tending door for big circus Is no
snecure. The eight-hour law IL unknown In the
circus Jurisdiction Josephs comes on deck early
In the morning and with short intervals FOR pie
and other temperate refreshment. his watch lasts
till the performance Is over In the evening. Tnen
he and his assistant take two big milk cans full OF
cancelled tickets downstairs 10 be burned up, ana
the DAYS work is over On the road the hours are
quite as long, and the work harder. for Josephs
Is brevet grand marshal of the parade, and spends
the mornings organizing his forces and leading
them up and down the main streets OF the city
upon which they have descended.
The necessary qualifications OF a good doorkeeper
are many He must be polished and smooth to the
ticket-holdng public. hard as adamant TO the IN
sinuatlng. would-be deadhead. urbane and non-com-
initial 10 the possible possessors OF a pull with the
management" and chain lightning when 1t comes
to a matter Of dealing with drunken rowdyism.
After all this there must be the physical ana
mental makeup which enables man TO stand up
and take tickets with both hands from rushing,
pushing. half-crazy crowd OF countrymen at the
rate Of ten thousand hour, without letting one
slip by or permitting any "children OF larger
growth" TO get through on half-tickets Figh'ins
a thresh.ng machine is gentle exercise compared TO
the sort OF thing that the circus doorkeeper has to
stand up to between the hours Of and O'Clock
and and O'Clock every day while the Show is
doing the provinces
Ali these qualifications Enos Josephs has to per-
lection. His quick eye and strong arm never per
nit the foxiest of small boys to slip by without
rendering unto Caesar the pastoboard whlch is
Caesars. He can swing an excited citizen on, OF
the line and explain the !ntrcacles OF the circus
free list him In terse but polished phrase, WITH
out for a moment stopping the ambdextral harvest
OF tickets from the passing multitude. Ana wnen
occasion arises he do the bounce act, in
way that Billy Edwards might envy raising the
yet so mid and band Is his manner. tnat ne
rarely has recourse to the heroic treatment. HIS
assistant. green hand AZ the business. nearly had
his head shot off several times In Texas last year
the natives the ages OF their children, Dut
Josephs could run for Sheriff In any county In the
South, probably. without having his circus record
used against him. He never gets ratified dropping
the reserved seat stub into the box and handing the
admission half of the ticket back to the hurrying
visitor as his less coo-headed assistants have been
known to 10 Whether smiling upon the tide OF
beauty and fashion that flows through the gate at
Madison Square Garden. struggling with the
eager mobs OF Hohokus he is always the same
accurate, mperturbabe ticket-collectng machine.
there is anything interesting out OF the ordinary
about himself or his work.
How did | get into the business" he counter
querici In answer to the question OF an adInirer
some OF us boys up in New-Bedford learned to
toot the horn and pound the drum and one summer
we went with the circus for fun and what there
was In it-Sl0 week and found. After two or three
for want Of better man. and have been there ever
since. | enjoy the work on the road. Get fat on
IT, But It's slow loafng about here No. thank
YOU 1 don't smoke. and | haven't time to take a
drink. Good night