The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1896-06-27
BEHIND The CURTAIN.
How a Circus Looks As Seen Wrong
End To.
WAYS AND MANNERS OF THE MEN,
WOMEN AND HORSES.
How the Grand Entry is Made
u up-scenes in the Dressing Room
Interest of the Horses in the Work.

u up-Scenes in the Dressing Room
Interest of the Horses in the Work.R
Boston Transoript.)
Whenever the average boy goes to the
circus he comes away feeling that he has
seen only BALI of the show, and with an
unanswerable desire to follow the per-
formers out under that mysterious
green curtain which hides the wonder
land in which they live. His parents
will probably tell him that he would not
like 1t If he could go there, for it is a
land of humbug and fraud, and the peo-
pie there are not the people they seem at
all. This Is true only to limited ex-
tent. for there are few exhibitions which
are given to the public which are more
genuine than circus. and the ''deoep-
tions'' are perfectly innocent ones, and
deceive no ore. The land beyond the
curtain is one OF hard and honest work,
for no other way can the performers at
tain position in first class show. 1t
is one Of kindness and good-fellowship,
too. and one notices few of the little jeal-
ousiss for which the stage is so famous
this probably being due to the fact that
everyone plays leading part and thgre
osn be no favoritism in this way.
Through the courtesy of Mr.. Dean, the
press agent Of the Barnum & Bailey
show, Transcript reporter was enabled
to spend an afternoon short time ago
seeing the performance wrong end to-,
and viewed in this position it is full as
interesting as when seen from the re-
served seats. Directly back of the green
curtain is an open space, and little be.
yond 1t Is small tent in which all the
getting ready, both of men and animals,
is done. The tent is divided into two
parts by canvas partition, and on one
side of this Is the h1tching room where
the animals are made ready. The other
side is again divided into two parts, CIV
irg a dressing room for the men and one
for the women, each about twenty by
forty feet in size. There were few of the
circus people about when the tent was
first visited, but William ,fShowles, the
man who does the marvellous bareback
feats in the ring every afternoon and
evening, was found and kindly took
charge of the visitor. A look at the
horses was first in order, and Mr.. Showles
exhibited the four fine ring animals
which are his personal property. All of
the principal riders have their own hors-
IS as they get used to them, and the
nurses to their masters, and both can
give a far better performance than if
they are comparative strangers, as is the
case when a man or woman is riding the
compaDy's horses. Mr.. Showl es's horses
all love him, and any one of them will
follow him about like dog. 1t is a pop
ular superstition that Is great deal of
cruelty is used in the circus in breaking
horses to do their tricks and that they do
them only through fear, but this is not
so at all. No trainer who is worth any
hing at all Ii ever harsh with horse If
he can possibly help 1t. and John
O'Rrisu, who probably knows as m UGH
about breaking trick horses as anyone in
the world, says that the only way to do
1t is through kindness. All the riders
ars devoted to their animals, and it ls
pretty thing when one of them comes
through the tent to see his horses prick
up their ears and look anxiously for a
sign of recognition or lump of sugar.
Perhaps the mos, interesting horse in the
show is the old white ring horse Duke,
interesting especially ito Bostonians be-
cause he is the horse on which Mrs
John Stetson used to ride when she was
Kate Stokes, or "Katie,' as everyone in
the show calls her still He is getting
we'll along in years, but Ia still valua-
BILE animal. A ring horse may get
pretty old without impairing his value
in the least, and when man once gets a
good one he usuallyfholds on to him, for a
really good one IL valuable animal. He
must be perfectly steady and even gated,
and at the same time docile and intelli-
gent, for he plays nearly as important a
part IN the performance as does the
man.
After seeing the horses visit was PAL
TO the dressing tent, whers the men W ere
making up for the grand entry. They
were all splendid specimens Of muscular
u9N6lODIQ6ub, lOI uloy 1haho tHSil AlFiA =
by their physical strength and skill; but
it was noticeable thing that the men
with the greatest development whose
muscles stood out all over their bodies
like knotted ropes, were nearly always
haggard and pale in the face, as though
their constitution had suffered al the ex-
pelise of their bodies. This is probably
partly the fault of their mode of life,
for circus men often live pretty fast
one between the seasons, although their
lives often depend on their steadiness OF
nsrve and hand. In spite of the ia CT that
between thirty or forty men were ell get
ting ready together and getting in q
hurry (for circus people allow but little
time for getting into their costumes),
there was no confusion and but little
noise. Every man had his trunk. and
everything ne needed was there at his
hand. From half past one until the last
act went, there was not an instant when
half dozen men were not CHANGING cos
tunes or making up for new act. There
was but little making up of the face. and