The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1896-10-15

enough. The man had leaped and you
sd wealth .clared etaoin shdl shrdshh
had missed it.
A clapping of hands causes you to
look toward another ring where d
pretty woman has just performed some
daring feat of craftsmanship. She is
now bowling and smiling her acknowl-
edgements. You missed that too, but
no matter, here is a race between four
thoroughbred Kentucky horses. The
little Jockey in the red-streaked coat
is ahead. OF course ne will win. You
wish he would. He is a fair boy and
you admire his eager eye and flushed
cheek as he flashes by My, how the
horses fly! The little Jockeys horsr
Is failing. No he gains on the turn.
You lean forward breathless. Your
eyes are glued on him. But burst
Of applause from the crowd makes
you look away just long enough to
see two women contortionists retiring
from the platform, where they have
given their performance. You turn
back to the race, but it is finished and
nobody can tell you whether your lit
lie Jockey lost or won.
ie@ everything and yet you have the
md.stinct feeling that you are seeing
a great daal without being able to say
just wha WAS not this way with
the circus of other days when John
Lowlow ran away with John Robin
SON. In sheer despair you buy a five
cent ball OF popcorn. All, that's some
thing YOU haven't missed, but ten
minutes later, with sticky mouth and
dirty fingers and heavy stomach, you
wish you had.
Now to add to the confusion there
are half hundred men pushing about
among the crowd, selling tickets for
the "grand concert and minstrel
show, (which is to follow the perform
ance. ut us positively the finest and
most artistic concert ever given under
canvas" the man said (though thai
was not saying much), costing hun
dreds of thousands of dollars, but in
order that everybody may take adj
vantage of it, tickets are sold at the
surprisingly low price of ten cents
extra, with reserved seat thrown in.
Feeling that you had as well be
hung for stealing a sheep as for steal
/ ing a lamb, you buy ticket, keep
YOUR seat as most of the crowd passes
out, and then listen to the ''gTeatest
concert ever given under canvas" AT
ter listening for half AN hour to Nc
C4intv." after the Ball. "The Last
Rose of Summer" by the band; few
gray headed jokes and puns and some
good clog-dancing by the men on the
platform, you go home with head
ache You solemnly VOW you
will never go again, but you
do. You go just to settle
dispute you had with Jones
aDout a boaconstrictor; just to let
Johnnie see the animals he had been
reading about at school; just to show
people you are not such hide-bound
Puritan as to think there is anything
really wrong in a man Of your age
going to the show.
So you go to the greatest show on
EARTH again and come away as before
with a bewildered impression, prey
to a confused tumble of recollections
and again swearing that it is your
last.
Surely the old show may be worse
in some respects than the new, but in
others it is better. With all of it's
boosted glory and magnificence, There
are things in the new-beautiful wo
men in spangled tights, girls dancing
| like the houri of the East-that would
have run the staid folk of a century
ago mad with righteous indignation.
The circus yesterday was Raleigh's
| first show of the season, and it was
fully up to the standard of any that
has ever preceded it. There have beer
some here that were larger, but none
of higher grade of excellence in every
feature. Every performer was an
artist in his speciality, the costumes
were new, neat and costly; the horses
were in the finest order and training
And what is more the officials were ac-
commodating and the fakirs and pick
pockets were scarce.
The parade on the streets during the
morning was most creditable and the
performance last night was clean
bright and thoroughly satisfactory to
the great crowd that witnessed it.
The circus people left last night at
2 o'clock for Oxford where they show
to-day; they viii be at Hillsboro to-
r,ao1-t.oxv and paif1Svilla Saturday