The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1897-07-16
IT Is The GREATEST.
BARNUM & BAILEY WONDERFUL
EXHIBITION.
An Aggregation of Wonders that
Fairly Staggers the Imagination
A Magnificent Parade.

1t is an axiom that the public never
disputes or questions that, though
there be circuses and circuses on the
road, the only simOn-pure, dOuble-ac-
tlOn, undisputed monarch of the cir
Gus world is that which was founded
be the prince of showmen, Barnum,
and perfected amplitied and per-
petuated by the brains and energy of
Bailey.
Other circuses come and 60, flourish
for periods, and then sink into Sec
Ond and third rate affairs; but the
brOad-minded, liberal, fair-dealing
and far-seeing policy of the Barnum
& Bailey show continues year after
year, and maintains, unQuestionably,
what its title asserts it to be, the
Greatest Show on Earth
Barnum & Bailey landed in Man
kato this morning at $50 in a
drenching rain, but they enter
tanned many thousands in their
spacious and comfortable tents, and
entertained them with princely hos
pitality and Aladdin-like splendor.
From the parade, which is the most
gorgeous and extensively caparisoned
ever conceived, to the concert after
the big show, which is fine affair,
worth many times the cost Of admis-
sion, every promise made by the
management was kept, and nobly
kept.
The magnitude, in perfection of de-
tail, in the interest of the entire pro.
gramme, in the high artistic merit
Of the individual acts, in the careful
management, in the courteous treat
ment of visitors; in fact, in every par
ticular that can be singled out, the
show this afternoon surpassed any Cir
Gus that had been previously seen in
Mankato,
To begin with the parade, the spec
tacle Of forty horses driven by sim
gle man is one that the spectators
will never forget. The horses were
all dark bays and thoroughbreds, and
even unadorned by the beautiful trap
pings that set them off they would
have been brave sight. The Colum.
bus section was of a novel character,
giving an accurate picture of the days
Of Ferdinand and Isabella when Co.
lumbus returned in honor from the
new world. Some of the dresses worn
cost $500 each, and the whole effect
was one of the richest. Such cos
tunes were never before put out in
circus parade. And these two great
features are added to what would
have been without them the finest
street display ever made by circus in
this city.
In the managerie is the finest col
lection of rare animals possessed by
any travelling exhibition, and while
the collection is not as large numeri-
cally as those of the geological gar
dens it has larger number
the menagerie contain only Johanna,
the educated gorilla, and were the
menagerie the only thing in the show,
it would be still worth every cent
charged for admission. 1t is said that
no animal laughs, and that no animal
expectorates; Johanna does, both.
She does more. She sews: she makes
her toilet, brushing her teeth, comb
ing her hair, manicuring her nails,
and powdering her face; she eats with
knife and fork like human being;
she pours her own wine, drinks from
the glass and uncorks and recorks the
bottle; she smokes cigarettes, is fond
of strawberries and ice-cream, and
will eat Roman punches and sip
toddies by the day: she is fine
mimic, and will dress herself with
wig, overalls, jeans, jumper, SLOUGH
hat, and Guilty pipe, to initiate a
trackhand. Johanna is, in fact, the
missing link, and is a heap more in
telligent than many people. .'. ''.
There is also whole big show
given in the menagerie just before
the circus proper begins. Here is
Peter, the small, for whom a mans
hand is a luxurious easy chair; here
is Ella Ewing, a young woman from
Missouri, eight feet and four inches
in height; here are the Orissa twins,
two beautiful young girls, more
worthy of scientific and curious
attention than were the Siamese
twins; and here is Gerty Cochran, the
little mental wonder, who never for
gets anything, with fire eaters,
musicians, dancers and pres
tidigitateurs. In fact one could turn
back at the Threshold of the circus
and truthfully say that he had seen
more and heard more that is worth
seeing and hearing than he would in
the entire exhibition OF other shows.
And the circus programme. What
wonderful one 1t is! There is not
space to describe it. Aerial acts the
most thrilling. acrobatic acts the
most daring, equestrian acts the most
sensational A bad performer cannot