Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1896-08-12
LOVE IN THE CIRCUS.

LOVE IN THE CIRCUS.
TWO ROMANCES WHICH TERMINATED
ON THE TRAPEZE.
How Sam Meyers Proposed and Was Ac-
cepted by His Annie-The Tragedy Which
Grew Out of the Love of the Rowland
Brothers For Jennie Dunbar.
"Ahp'
"Oh!"
All the spectators Of the giant leap
for life in the circus tent held their
breaths with terror while the 1.-the aero
bat plunged forward, released his hold
and shot through space, to be securely
caught in the firm grasp Of his partner,
who hung from his toes from another
treacherous trapeze.
Twelve thousand nine hundred and
ninety eight persons caught their breaths
again as the feat was accomplished.
The two remaining persons Of the 49,
| 000-a big circus tent always holds 13, :
900 persons, you know-watched the
proceedings with an air Of perfect nom
chalance, as if a swing for life was no
more serious matter than signaling an
electric car.
Well might they be calm, for they
were retired circus performers, and the
| perils Of the tents were old stories to
them, and then, as the show went on,
they began exchanging "reminiscences.
while the listening Journal man forgot
all about what was before him in his
interest in these yarns.
| "That jump reminds me Of the way
Sam Myers proposed to Annie johnson
ten years ago."
The Journal man noticed that the
veteran circus man omitted the "Sig-
nor" and "Ma 'amselle" from his con-
versation, so that Sam Myers and An
ME Johnson did not bear in private life
the names which adorned the circus
programme and the particolored itho-
graphs which infame the circus going
propensities of Young America.
'You see, Sam Myers and Pete Will
that season and did great act on the
flying trapeze, in which Annie made
ever so many jumps across the tent and
was caught by Sam, while Pete was
performing on third bar way up
above them. One jump after another
was made all right by her, and sudden
ly everybody was surprised to see Sam
~, fhn hn
and kiss her before she turned to make
the leap back to her own trapeze. Every
body wondered what it all meant, and
after the act was over they soon found
out.
SIT seems that Sam and Pete had
both fallen in love with Annie, and just
before the act Pete confided to his chum
his intentions Of proposing to the pretty
partner. Sam made up his mind that
he would not be left in case like this,
but he had no chance to speak for him
self until they began.
"When Annie made her first jump,
he started to pop the question, and the
proposal continued with Interruptions
as the. young lady would swing back
and forth and jump to and fro in the
regular custom Of her performance.
Finally the question was asked just as
she swung. Sam, hanging by his toes,
waited until she made the next leap and
as he heard her say yes he lifted her
up and kissed her with such smack
that it could be heard all over the big
tent.
Everybody congratulated the pair
but Pete. Somehow he had the impress
sion that he had not been treated square
ly in this proposal, and the firm broke
up then and there
''That reminds me of another team
| which was with circus that was per-
forming in a dozen years ago. The
Rowland brothers were doing double
trapeze act, with all sorts Of daring
| jumps, much the same sort as the one
| we just saw. In the same circus the
| leading rider was Jennie Dunbar, who
was the cleverest little woman who
ever jumped through a hoop, and both
the boys fell in love with her.
"She was really fond of both of them,
but when they proposed she accepted
Will and told Fred that she could only
be a sister to him. When Fred proposed,
we were performing up in Canada; and
the proposal was made just before the
! afternoon performances. When the boys
came up for their turn, we all noticed
that Fred was pale and nervous, while
| Will was just the reverse. Their act
went on just the same as usual, and
finally came their last jump, which was
the most daring of all Fred hung by
his toes, and Will made the swing clear
across the tent. We never knew how it
happened, whether Fred was so nervous
that he lost his grip or whether he did
it deliberately, but just as Will came
flying through the air Fred trembled
and dropped from his hold down into
the net, while Will shot through the air
and fell in the ring clear beyond the
edge of the net. When they ran to him,
he was dead. Jennie was almost crazy
with grief, and Fred had an attack Of
brain fever, from which he did not re-
cover for months.
"No one could tell whether he delib-
erately dropped to get rid Of his rival
OF whether he was so sick that he could
not hold himself longer. At any rate,
as soon as he got well he proposed to
Jennie again and was accepted. They
are married now and retired from the
business. Boston Journal.
Novel Advertising Scheme.