San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1896-09-24
GLoR1Es OF OLD ROME.
Ringing Bros Realistic Reproduction
OF The Ancient Hippodrome.

Ringing Bros Realistic Reproduction
OF The Ancient Hippodrome.
In the grand Roman hippodrome,
which forms an important feature of
Ringing Bros. Worlds Greatest Shows
which exhibit at San Antonio again
October 5, a strikingly successful eff
fort has been made to embody all that
was most characteristic of the thrilling
racing contests of old Rome, when Ju-
Illus Caesar was at the pinnacle of his
power. The great hippodrome course,
the solidly carved and highly ornate
golden chariots; the madly dashing,
gorgeously caparisoned horses, them
selves partaking of the excitement and
intensity of the holly contested and
perilous struggle; the seemingly reck-
less and yet infinitely skillful chariot
drivers, with TUNES flying, and whip
and voice urging the straining horses
to greater exertions; the picturesque
standing races, alike remarkable in
in man and beast; the Graeco- Roman
contests, by Herculean gladiators,
mounted on horseback; the gaily col
ored costumes, the waving banners,
the picture-like and Kaleidoscope COL
ors, indispensable to a scene Transport
ed from the days of Roman imperial
slender into the prosaic nineteenth CEN
tury-all combine to constitute a scene
of grandeur that can never be forgot
ten. The hippodrome features are
not, however, confined to the contests
of the Roman era. The best features
of the modern turf have been COM
bined with the reproduction of the once
famed Maximus. These embrace ele-
plant races, ladies' and gentlemen's
fiat and hurdle races, pony races for
the pleasure of the younger element,
in which trained monkeys are used as
riders; comical clown races; contests
in which fiet-footed men outrun the
swiftest horses; curiously evciting ra-
ces between whippet hounds, and many
other interesting contests of this kind,
never before introduced on a hippo
drome track. A striking feature of
all these races, and that which COM
mends itself to every lover of high
class stock, is the character of the
horses. In this essential Ringing
Brothers have also outdistanced all
competitors, and the racing stock
selected from the best of the 400 mag
nificent horses owned and used by the
show, has no peer in this country. An
inspection of these finely-bred, per-
fectly-trained horses, will more than
demonstrate the absolute justice of
this statement. Ringing Bros. World
Greatest Shows are now, beyond all
question or doubt the largest COM
bined circus, menagerie and hippo
drome that the world has ever seen.
The arenic features number over
hundred high-class performers, includ-
ing the wonderful Nelson family of
nine acrobats, the greatest act of its
kind in the world, and complete con-
gress of trained animal sensations; the
menagerie embraces three herds of
quadrille- and notwithstanding
elephants, including a troop of baby
elephants; the only living chimpanzee
in the United States, a monster hip
popotamus and more other rare wild
beasts than all other shows combined.
And the whole is preceded by gor-
geous reproduction of the Festival of
Olympus, the most glorious, resplend-
ent carnival spectacle ever presented
under canvas.