The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1898-03-07
THE OLD CIRCUS MAN.
HIS TALK ABOUT THE FIRST SOUvE-
MRS GIVEN By SHOW PEOPLE.

They Were Distributed by the Great Gil |
rsffe = A Thrilling Incident Which At |
tended One Performance-Howt the Peo- |
pie Stood ON the CRATES Shadow.
"The first souvenirs ever knew OF
being given out in the show business"
said the old circus man, 1--WE gave away
in our show at the time we had the big
10 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
1000 people at "a time line up long that
shadder and just stand along the edge
of it 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 wasn't
any shadder. Then they stare at each
other for minute, and then all bunch
up together again and look at the giraffe
till we took him in.
"We used to have line on the pro-
gramme saying that at 3 o'clock and at
8 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 in. The glasses
were marked, Souvenir Of the Great
Giraffe, and whoever got 'em could
keep 'em. The seats in our circus were
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.
cat 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 youngster 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 it come near this man with the
boy on his shoulder the man just lifted
him up SO that the boy could stand OIL
e 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. Heupset it lifting it out
! of the holder end scattered the water
4 all over everybody, but that didn Z
d count. He got the glass and was com
; ing down with it when his father, in
! stead of feeling him jounce down on hi
shoulder, felt his weight growing light
{; er, and the next minute he and every
body else saw the boy suspended in TIT
h air. When the giraffe saw the last glass
h 90, he lifted the holder, the way he al
, ways did, to clear the people before
a swinging it around and down to thu
: keeper. This time when he lifted it thu
buttons ON the outside of the cuff of thu
boys Jacket got caught in the wires
They were sewed on the way mother
1. sew on buttons. and they held tn
r youngsters weight easily. and whei
d the giraffe lifted the holder up he liftet
: the boy with it.
4 "Then there was a scene. We knew
D the giraffe wouldn't hurt fly, but i
r looked to the people as though he hal
% the boy in his teeth and was going T.
o sling him through the other end of no
Is where. The whole audience rose up ant
= . stood leaning forrard, watchin ant
e never sayin boo, but the giraffe swun
IS his neck around as gentle and easy a
q the arm of a crane and lowered thu
holder and the boy hanging to it SAT
into the arms of the keeper in the RIM
! The boy hadn't even dropped the tum
:, bier.
"Then the people did holler. and tn
s. giraffe walked off as stately as 20
;: please, the boy climbed back up to hi
s. pop, and the show went on. Nobod
= hurt, but when we run out of the tum
II blers we had ON hand we adopted an
10 other style of souvenir. New Yor
20 Sun.