Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1898-07-28
TnEOL CIRCUS MAN.
HIS TALK ABOUT THE FIRST SOUve-
MRS GIVEN BY SHOW PEOPLE.


rafe "A Thrilling Incident Which At
tended One Pcrformance-How the Peo-
pie Stood on the CRATES Shadok.
1.-THE first souvenirs I ever knew Of
being given out in the show business, I"
said the old circus man, eve gave away
in our show ct the time we had the big
Is foot giraffe. We never had an at
traction that beat the big giraffe. The
people Were just carried away with
him. There wasn't anything about him
but what interested them, even the
slightest little things. On clear DAYS,
when we were where we could do it and
the sun was right for US, we used to get
the giraffe out in front of the entrance
OF the main tent and have him stand
there like great sentry. People used to
stop and look up at him, and then the
first thing you know somebody'd dis
cover his shadder. Anybody'd cast
long shadder at that hour of the day, of
course, but the giraffe's shadder reached
as far as You could see. And as soon as
one man begun to look at it 40 others
did, and then you'd see 'em. I've seen
LOCO people ut a time line up long that
shadder and just stand along the edge
of 1t down past the main tent and the
sideshow tents, just standing there
lookin at it. The giraffe was great, but
his shadder fairly staggered 'em. And
there they'd stand till the sun dropped
down under the edge of the earth, and
the first thing they knew there WASH f
any shadder. Then they'd stare at each
other for q minute, and then all bunch
up together again and look at the giraffe
till we took him in.
1--WE used to have line on the pro-
gramme saying that at 3 o'clock and at
o'clock the great giraffe would hand
around ice water. That's where the sou
venirs come in. We used to give away
the glasses the water was ill., The glasses
were marked, Souvenir OF the Great
Giraffe and whoever got 'em could
keep 'em. The seats in our circus We're
divided into four sections. We used to
give away four dozen tumblers at every
performance one in each section. When
the time come, we'd march the giraffe
around the edge of the ring, and in
front OF each section his keeper would
hand him wire holder holding dozen
glasses. which he would take by the
handle in his mouth. Tall as he was, he
could reach easy to the highest back
seats. It's astonishing how people used
to grab for those glasses. 1t seems as
though the whole section would stand
up on the seats and all grab for the
holder when it come near 'em. They d
spill the water and get wet and have
the greatest time you ever heard of, but
nobody got hurt, and so we Just let her
buzz along. But finally something did
happen.
AT one evening entertainment when
| he was serving out the souvenirs, when
we come to one OF the sections, there was
man sitting on the fourth tier from
the top who picked up his boy, bright
| looking yoIngster about 10 years old,
who was sitting alongside of him, and
| sat him up on his shoulder. The giraffe
| lifted the holder up and swept it along
the seats with the people grabbing, and
| when 1t come near this man with the
| boy on his shoulder the man Just lifted
him up so that the boy could stand Oh
his shoulders. He was going to get one
anyway, and when the holder came
along the boy made grab for it. There
was only one glass left in it then, but
the boy got it. He upset it lifting it out
of the holder and scattered the water
| all over everybody, but that didn I
count. He got the glass and was CON-
ing down with it when his father, i'll
stead Of feeling him jounce down on his
shoulder, felt his weight growing light
er, and the next minute he and every
body else saw the boy suspended in the
air. When the giraffe saw the last glass
go, he lifted the holder, the way be al.
ways did, to clear the people before
swinging it around and down to the
keeper. This time when he lifted it the
buttons on the outside Of the cuff Of the
boys jacket got caught in the wires.
They were sewed on tie W. mothers
| ~" I'll puttOhs, 0Lu tuty utlu TIE
youngsters weight easily, and when
the giraffe lifted the holder up he lifted
the boy with it,
Then there was scene. We knew
the giraffe wouldn't hurt a fly, but il
looked TO the people as though he had
the boy In his teeth and was going to
sling him through the other end of no.
where. The whole audience rose up and
stood leaning forrard, watchin and
never sayin boo, but the giraffe swung
his neck around as gentle and easy as
the arm of crane and lowered the
holder and the boy hanging to it safe
into the arms Of the keeper, in the ring.
The boy hadn't even dropped the tum-
bier.
Then the people did holler, and the
| giraffe walked off as stately as you
please, the boy climbed back up to bis
pop, and the show went on. Nobody
hurt, but when we run out of the tum.
blers we had ON hand we adopted an.
other style of souvenir New York
Sun.