The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1898-03-24
saw FRANCISCO, CAL.
LOUISVILLE. kK. VIEW YORK. H.

having two tails, proceeded to impress
him with his presence by pinching him.
At this indignity the great beast becan z
furiou>ly mad and uncomfortable turned
upon the offender, knocking him down
and endeavoring to get him under his
feet. He escaped instant death by rap
idly rolling over out of the reach of the
enraged brute, which was fortuna tely
| chained by his foot to a stake. The ex-
citement caused by this incident xtended
| to the other animals, and lions, tigers
and hyenas joined in a noisy demonstra-
ton, much to the terror ofmany present
The keeper. assisted by others of the
show, succeeded in getting the insulted
Col. Columbo out and took him to the
woods near by to cool Off and get quiet.
| His tormentor did not escape without
punishment, however, for he had some
| ribs broken and was perhaps the worst
| frightened man ever seen in Henders on.
| 1t was said by his friends who were wont
| to tease him that in his slumbers he ad
visions phrenetc and hideous phantas ms
of the pursuing and enrayed elephant
accompanied by roaring lions and howl
ing hyenas. l hardly think he ever re-
| newed the acquaintance of Col. Columbo.
The excitement caused by the unpleas-
antness between the gen tleman from
Linbank and Col. Columbia having sub
sided, the performance was resumed and
things went merrily on until the act en-
titled the drunken sailor came Off Again
things took a lively and interesting turn
There was present gentleman OF much
wealth and intelligence who was greatly
respected by the people. He was very
large and OF commanding presence,
touching the scales at about four hun
dred avoirdupois. Hewent good style,
attended by a coachman and an out
rider to attend to his every want. He
had taken them with him to the circus.
Procuring large chair he seated him
self near the ring to en- Joy the perform
ance and keep order if necessary. The
clown came riding into the ring and
stopped to discuss matters with the
ring master, when fictitious drunken
fellow in the crowd called to him to get
down and let him ride some, at the same
time staggering up to the ring and fell
in. The time had come for the gentle
man with his attendants to assert his
authority and preserve order, there
being no police to perform that duty, the
town being to small to afford one He rose
from his seat and with excited emphasis,
commanded the drunken pest to, come
back and keep quiet. But the command
was not needed. Stepping up nearer to
the ring he again commanded the drunk
en- intruder to come out, but to no pur-
pose. Being man of determination he
ordered his attendants, who were stout
and vigorous colored men, to take the
dirty rascal out. Now a lively and ex-
citing scene occurred. The two men
tackled the intruder who resisted and
in the scuffle they all went down and
rolled over each other several times. The
gentleman of order ca lied on the boys to
take him out, but he was too much for
them. They couldn't perform that diff !
cult task. The clown interfered and pre-
vailed on them to stop, and with con-
tdential wink told the gentleman of |
order to let him alone that he would |
fix him. SO they returned to the horse
and after the terms OF the ride had been |
agreed upon, he was allowed to mount, |
the clown in high glee telling him the
horse would throw him and break his |
neck. You can imagine the situation, |
while playing drunk he succeeded in get
ting on his feet and proceeded to strip |
himself ofcoat, vest and pants, coming
out an elegantly attired actor, perform
ing many difficult feats, winding up the |
act by turning sOmersault, landing
safely on the horses back on his feet.
Jumping to the ground he bowed grace
fully to the audience and retired from
the ring. The gentleman who endeav-
ored to keep order being mau OF sense
the ludicrous part he had
played by his officious interference and
enjoyed the joke hugely, although it was
at his expense. Thus ended the perform
ance with much Joy and good feeling
Among the amusing incidents too nu-
to mention there was one other
that was much enjoyed. Agawkyyoung
fellow seated high up in the audience,
sucking a big red stick of candy was so
much absorbed in the candy and the per-
Torrance that he seemed to forget that
there We're other persons who wished to |
see. He would jump up and stand on
the seat in front OF a gentleman and his
wife obscuring their view. After being
Intellectually appealed to more than
once to keep his seat the gentleman, get
ting impatient, caught him by his coat
tail and pulling on it told him to sit
Town. The pull caused him to lose his
ootlng and he fell through between the
seats Oh the ground beneath The |
clown saw with ridiculous Joy this ,epi-
'ode and watching for the unfortunate
7oungster when he emerged from behind
he seated audience he called on him to
'ome near the ring and take a seat on
he ground where there would be no dam
ger OF his falling through.
Of course Simon edited the audience
through the entire performance never
Missing an opportunity to get in some
,ood laughing. VITO.