The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1897-09-22

Explained A Veteran OF the
,s, Ring Relates Some of His In
terestinG Experiences
rbcre is n place in New York city where
Aha ocircus people" congreeate after the
- breaks up for the winter. Tho
o,yner of the establishment Is favorite
Nth the performers, aorobats, clowns,
,.',.,,lers bareback riders, tight rope walk
and others, who want some headquar-
.ass when they are Sin town" He has u
,or,e printing Office, where he turns out
.hn hinge, highly colored posters which
aacorote the boards and fences The pro-
sossion assemble in the outer room, gather
nonnd the big stove and swap stories.
ESQ YOU want to know what becomes OF
,he circus in the winters" said the vet
Gran well, the two big companies-the
Rornum and the Forepaugh-go into win
Tor quarters, one at bridgeport, Conn,
ard the other ut Philadelphia. Most OF
The performers are discharged, though
they may have engagements FOR the COM
inc season. Many OF the men ana women
40 NOT want to lie idle during the winter,
and so they seek engagements with small
o,rcrs troops that go south. Some of the
CHI
pica and Bermuda. Some of thom go to
the South and Central American countries
TO Brazil. Argentine Republic, Hon
arras and Nicaragua. 1.-THE circus makes
asnccess, the performers havea good time,
snend the winter in nice, warm climate
ord como home with some money in their
nockets and are ready for the summer
campaign in the United States.
I bova bnpp with the circuS In tho
tropics six times in my lifetime. can't
saw that my experience has been pleas
ant one. Four times the company struck
hard luck, and every one suffered even
the animals Ny first experience was over
90 wears ago, when l joined the p
company, and shall never forget it. We
went first to Havana, and there we found
a circus in full blast. They had the
patronage, while we played to empty seats.
After trying the city for about three weeks
the manager gave up and decided to pitch
his tents over on the island of Bermuda.
"Hcre we had another run of bad luck,
and we lost the good will of the English
people in n singular manner. You know,
the Englishmen control things in Bermu-
da. Now, our clown was an Irishman,
and he had an assortment of jokes that
would tickle an American audience
Somehow the clown made a bad break. L
do not remember the exact joke that
caused the trouble, but it was something
like this He asked the bareback rider,
Why did Richard III offer his kingdom
for a horseY' The rider gave il up. The
answer, think, was either Because Eng
land is only one horse kingdom, or Be
cause it was horse" on King Richard.
However, the English people were offend
cd and they kept away from our circus
They cut us dead, as they say, and in a
short time we We're ready to admit that we
werc dead.
My second experience was a better one
This time / joiicd circus which went TO
Mexico and 10 Central America. We re-
NAMED IN Mexico six or eight weeks and
made money Another bad experience !
had with a circus in the Argentine Repub-
lie. We showed for several weeks IN Bue-
nos Ayres, III the old amphithoator. In
stead Of holding on to good thing, the
manager of oar circus decided 10 go into
the interior oi tho country. That is whore
he made his mistake. We won't by boat
up the Rio Parana, about 80 miles, and
there We stepped. BAD weather came on,
the rain fell in torrents. and the river be-
came dangerous for navigation There was
nothing 70 DO but To wait till tho clouds
rolled by. The storm continued without
any real intcrmission for about two weeks,
ana meanwhile the expenses went on Just
the same The money made at Buenos
Ayres soon disappeared, and besides the
show was in bad shape. We were all glad
70 get back safely to Buenos Ayres with
loss OF $50, 600. l shall always remember
those two weeks on the Rio Parana.
j.
Perhaps the liveliest experience ever
hau with circus was about ten years ago.
when was in Venezuela. We landed in
caracas just about the time that an inter-
esting revolution broke out. The city was
IN state of siege; stores were closed,
houses barricaded and streets deserted ex-
sept by soldiers. 1t was no time nor place
10 hold circus. The revolution was "a cir
Gus IN itself and had more attraction for
'ne people than we could give them
what does it cost to form circus to
take south for the winter?'
It will take from S25, 600 to $50, 900 to
So1 'he performers, properties and animals.
vi course the expense depends upon the
size of the company"
now do these circuses that go south
Toilpare with the troops that travel in the
United StatesY"
some OF them really give a first class
I'or'aihihent, especially the troops that
nave the star performers of the big COM
panies' The truth is, taking circus TO
ene south American countries is big
sp'ouiatlon. The man who makes money
~ II deserves every dollar for his pluck
and courage
,,,o, 'ho manager has IA streak of bad
luz ,u0h' ho may DO ruined in two weeks If
, NO i'S made hit with the people, he may
80 a%"A NJ small fortune in the same length
,n t,lhe l have known the proprietor of
sos "iil'er circus TO clear SD, 600 in single
, Jason But it is easier to lose $40, 900 in
T 1%o venture than to make it. New York
Feat of "A Wire Wound Gun.
Ihats u big piece" said the man In