The morning times., 1896-05-11
SMALL CITY UNDER TENTS
Greatest Circus on Earth Gives
a Free ShaW This Morning.
ANIMAL WORLD ON WHEELS
Barnum 6 BaIley's Colossal Aggrega-
tiOn Now on the + Street Lot-Two
Performances for Two Days
Glimpses of the GIories of Tents
and Rlngs-Sew Specialties.

The greatest show on earth has arrived
iii the greatest city on earth, a fact which
was attested by the presence OF 20, 900
or more witnesses TO the filing on the
grounds yesterday morning of the immense
caravans, and the building Of the great
white city OF tents of Messrs. Barnum &
Bailey. The great spread of canvass and
the thousand or more sights are, as usual,
on the green at Z and Third streets north
west.
The scene Of the circus was by long odds
the place to go yesterday, and by the same
token IL was there that almost everybody
went. People who saw il last year to the
number of $4,000, may be informed that
the show is this year bigger, better and
more elegant in tone than ever. While it
is undoubtedly the greatest show on earth,
it is only proper to say OF it, that, it is
not only on the earth that it is great. 1t
has gone up into the air, and down into
the water, giving this season aerial and
aquatic displays, both of which are IN
paralleled in the circus world.
1t came here yesterday and from an early
hour until about noon the earth was shaken
by the pOndcrOus tread OF the elephants and
OF the many tOnned cages OF the wild beasts,
the troops of horses and the vans OF the
baggage. The army OF circus followers
from the highest To the lowest, number
about one thousand and not the least won
derful feature OF the advent OF the indis-
pensable show was the military precision
and order in which the gigantic pdrapher-
MALTA and its human and beast hosts were
marShalled TO and on the grounds.
As early l O'Clock the canvasscs began
to flutter in the breeze and flap in unison
with the palmetto fan ears OF the elephants.
BY and by a whole tent appeared and then
another and another until at half past
O'Clock, the great central tent was raised
into the air and the flag Of Biiley and
Barnum floated gaiiy from H. tall summit.
IN THE TENTS.
rhe first tent erected was that for the
menagerie and n night there were twelve
tents, each containing from lCO to 200
OF the thousand distinct features which
make up the entertainment known ds the
Circus
By The courtesy 0f the management n
represent atiye OF The Times was personally
conducted through the wilderness 0r this
city yesterday afternoon By that prince
OF agents Mr.. c. l.. Dean II was an orf
day with the animals only, and they were
making hay while the SUI shOue. Some u
them. such as the hippOpotauu-cs ele-
while ne ~iIn was shining. bur most 10 them
had breIkfaSfed and We're stroluug around
the great enclosure. having, as o were the
freedom Of the city.
In this mcnageTie tent is the big feature
or the show the representatives Of the
oriental and South sea nations. Among
these are the famous Indian n EirS tusglers,
dancing girls OF the pagOdas. CeyioneSe
dancers. the rhythmic stick dancers, the
cocoa nut tree climbers. The pet 81 this
most Interesting aggregation Is ATrdi, the
beautiful. the EsmeTalda of the show. only
twelve years or age, n Hindu. a great
dancer and type of her class in beauty. in
grace and education. This part OF the
show has given IL new life and another long
lease of success.
There is absolutely nothing on the bills
that was not in the flesh as observed oa
this tour OF discovery The herd of ele-
plants is twenty-fOur in number; there are
fifty cages OF wild beasts containing more
than three times that many animals. and
the triple ring is just as advertised One
of the most attractive of the feats TO be
seen today viii be the firing of the wonder
ful Alar out of cross bow.
Two OF the speCiaIties which are alone
worth the money it takes to get in are
the giant gorilla and the red-nosed monkey.
The giant gorilla drinks and has black
nose, while the other one of our ancestors
is 4 teetotaller and has a nose that suggests
the painting red of all the big cities or the
United States
These two are worth a sreciaI study
Another animal that may be fingered over
is the Black Dwarf one of the HOmerio
pigniies, whose native fashion is to dance
on his head
GRAND STREET PARADE.
1t will be conceded that one whole even
Ing would not be long enough TO tell about
the wonders that are contained in three
long trains OF sixty-fOur ears, each full OF
living or dead wonders. Some of these
have been already seen by thousands of
people of Washington, bat again there are
hundreds OF them that will be new ac-
quaintanceS. All that is necessary to bear
in mind is that there viii be two per
formanCes for two days, the afternoon per-
formanCe at o'clock. and the night per
formance at s o'clock
There will he another thing which every
body in Washington will know when they
read The Times. The grand pageant and
parade Will begin this morning at Q O'Clock.
1t will move on p street to Tenth. then
down to X, then TO Washington Circle,
then to PENNSYLVANIA avenue. to Seventh,
to o and thence to the grounds.
1t will be painful information TO about
40 900 boys who loved him for the noise
he used to make. to know that King George.
the great A static lion, is dead. He died OF
old ge, very Old age, as he passed his
life in the circus business.
He was also very rich for the same rea-
son. He died very happily. When it was
found at Wilmington, Del, on Saturday
night that he had determined to dIe the
great doctor OF the show gave him chlO-
roform. He. the lion, went TO sleep, and
ne is still dead.
1t is also fact that the great black
bear wants chloroform. He is said TO be
wanting to die. He is very old. and it is
said that the desire for death struck him
as soon as he reached Philadelphia. These
two davs in Washington will undoubtedly
make him change his mind.
COSTLY MARDIGRAS PAGEANT.