The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-01-04
Special Correspondence of The Tribune.


Boulevard that surrounds the old town
of Aries. The good people of the town
We're taking their evening stroll for al
though II was the middle of November,
the air, warmed by the breeZes from
the Mediterranean. was mild and pleas
ant. Across the way waving gaslight
tiickered in front of the tent of a stroll
ing company of acrObats.
A crowd of Ar,esians, happy, content
ed with the world and interested in
triiies as only the French people can be,
were laughing internationally at the
sallies of the clown (w3s ever troupe
OF acrobats without Il clOwn)? and he,
while amusing them, was always keep
ing before their attention the fact that
1t was rarely they had the opportunity
of seeing such an athletic aggregation
as they had that night. To lend truth
to this assertion he would punctuate
his remarks by trotting out the strong
men (there We're three of them) and
exhibiting their muscles.
Every persuasive word the French
tongue possesses was put In use TO
draw from the pockets of the thrifty
people ofArles their sous. The price of
admission was fixed at the extremely low
price of fifty centimes (ten cents) for
premires, and thirty centimes for sec
ondes.
DIX sous SeulelNent, he WOulu CRY
and the emphasis he put on the "scu-
lement' brought vividly to ones recol-
lection the dime museum mans cry OF
only dime. ten cents"
Meanwhile the band was doing its
little best to keep up the interest of the
crowd. This band deserves separate
mention. While not as large as some
it consisted of two comets and a bass
drum-it threw an earnestness into it's
work which is rarely equalled. Instead
of foolishly trying to rival the larger
organizations in the extent of its reper-
toire, 1t confined itself to one selection
and as the time for preparation had
evidently been limited it had only
learned about three bars of that, which
1t preservingly repeated over and over
again. However, by one mans giving
the other two Il start of a note or two,
and then beating them out at the finish,
they managed to vary 1t so that one
would almost, but not quite. think II
was another piece. The operator on the
drum was evidently man of parts. for
later, inside the tent, he showed his
versatility by playing the cornet also.
The Performance Begins.
When, finally. by exhibiting the entire
troupe enmaSSe the clown had induced
a sufficient number to enter the tent, the
performance began. There was eX-
actly $5.46 in American money in the
house and as the company numbered
twelve. it is readily seen that the
Thespian has as hard a time in France
as elsewhere. True. the clown would
now and then announce that as some
performer had done his or her part very
well, the management had kindly per-
mited him to take up Il collection for his
own benefit. But couple of francs,in
coppers was the most realized from this
source.
AS for the performance. it was the old
familiar show. with u few variations.
There was the man who balanced on
structure of chairs. the one who swung
on horizontal bar, and of course there
was the clown who tried to do 1t and
failed. and equally of course amused the
crowd as he has never failed to do. and
then finally did the act better than the
first performer. as he always does i'm the
end. The strong men of the show
strong men We're its main feature-were
very strong. and one of them--the
''management'-showed really sur
prising strength in his hands.
The Contrast Of Centuries.
At first thought. this all seemed very
modern. and q great contrast to this old
Roman city. Just across the way was
the tneater the Romans built, the
ruins of which are still standing, and a
little farther on is that amphitheatre
which Is second only to the Colosseum
itself and which would hold and will
still hold. 10000 people. The cities of
New York and Chicago are proud of
their Madison Square Garden and of
their Auditorium, but here is pro-
vincialcity of the Roman empire that has
an arena into which both of these could
be put and leave room for a couple of
ordinary theatres besides And 1t
would be very interesting to know
whether in the year $500. or sixteen
hundred years from now. these two
modern buildings will have stood the
wear and tear of time as well as the old
arena has that of the last sixteen hun
dred years.
When the Saracens held Aries, a
thousand years ago and more. they
built four huge square towers on the
walls of the old building, and now the
city of Aries is restoring the interior,
but it is too massive to be effected by
any changes of this kind. There Is
nothing that gives one better idea
of the powers and stability of the RO-
man empire than this structure in a
provincial city. 1t was to he expected
that they would build such in Rome
itself. but this building here in bar
barian Gaul shows that when they con-
uuered country they intended to keep
it.
Roman "Reminiscences