The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-01-17

hands were discharged by the wholesale.
At last he discovered the hoodoo X was
side show lecturer who always wore an
alarmingly red necktie. AS soon as the
lecturer was discharged the circus pros
pered.
Phineas T. Barnum one season had a
hoodoo that stayed with him until his
employer was well nigh ruined before he
was discovered and discharged In that
instance the Jonah was a very clever
plate spinner. The trouble with the
hoodo Is that he does not imagine the
Ill effects of his mere presence In the
circus. Adam Forepaugh's worst hoodoo
was a cross-eyed candy butcher, and his
great circus had very bad luck until the
vender of sweetmeats was discharged.
John O'Briens hoodoo was a sweet-faced,
soft-spoken lady performer, who brought
him mighty bad luck until he released
her. Old Van Amburg made barrels Of
money and prospered travelling through
the country with Scriptural notices
painted upon the animal wagons. but all
that changed a. soon as he employed a
peg-legged colored cook. His ticket wagon
receipts at once fell off amazingly.
there was bad luck in the ring, constant
assertions from his company and several
valuable animals died.
Is not the hoodoo sometimes an animal?
Take, for instance, old Romeo? the show
man was asked
No sir not to the best of my l1nowl-
edge. was the positive reply | am per-
fectly familiar with the history OF the
noted deathdealing elephant Romeo, who
killed three keepers before being brought
to this country, where he succeeded in
killing four more. No, Romeo was never
anything else than a money maker and
a devil on four legs. In his day he was
the greatest drawing card a circus or
Why, the first clergyman / ever saw visit
a circus went solely for the purpose of
seeing the notorious man-slayer. Nearly
every circus proprietor in the country was
eager to get possession of that elephant
and anXously endeaVored to buy him, for
his value as an advertisement was some
thing enormous. l opened my decker for
him at $4,000, but others raised IL I'M
til the animal was finally sold for A7, 500.
Now, a red-haired girl or lady in the
company Is always said to bring luck to
a circus, the old Snowman Interestingly
continued, Call 1t auburn hair, II you pre-
fer. but the redder her hair, especially IL
she be a performer. the better the luck the
little lurid locks will bring. | have had
them more than once in my circus, and so
know whereof / speak. / recall one in
particular, Mile Germaine de Greville,
otherwise Eliza Butcher of Ohio, When
she Joined my company business at once
began to boom and continued to boom
throughout the several seasons she was
in my employ I presented her with a
magnificent, well-trained white horse, and
her hair was so dangerously red that
when performing upon her snowy charger
she looked like a rocket flashing around
the ring. My success while she was with
my circus was really wonderful and mysti-
fed the most experienced circus propri-
etors OF the country. / knew one of the
secrets of that success, but kept silent.
Liza, or Mile. Greville. IL you prefer
knew that she was appreciated by her
employer and, upon completing her turn
in the ring. was often presented with a
magnificent bouquet of flowers. That took
we'll with the audience, and kept her con
tented with her position But, despite my
thoughtfulness, l at last lose Lie. She
went and got married, and TO the home
lest man that ever drew breath. Wher
her boy twins were born she split my
name in two and gave each one half.