The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1898-03-04
The Decline of Freaks.

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Museum freaks in New York are re-
quired to be in their places al nine o'clock
in the morning each day of the week ana
TO remain there until ten o clock at night,
with short intervals for dinner and sup
per They are subject to many petty
rules which differ with each establishment
and for infriugements of which small pen
alties are exacted says writer in the
Herald Their appearances '-they are
always "on exhibition as many
as the performances occasionally as ma
ny as nine in a single day. The ubiqui-
tous lecturer" with a predatory, And
now, ladies and gentlemen, direct your az
tention 10 the human waves his hand
The freak rises ana smiles, while the lee
turer, in grandiloquent phrase and with
many a pleasantly, if he be able TO turn
them-and therein lies his own value in
the sight of the proprietor-recommen
him TO the careful inspection Of the aud
fence" always concluding with, The
lady COR gentleman viii be pleased to con-
verse with as many as may desire
Meanwhile, the freaks read yellow COW
cred love stories; busy themselves with
their work" or cape and muse, looking
bored and ILL., Few minutes conversation
with amy one who may desire" are eager
" welcomed, for they afford a little re-
lief to the monotony and offer the chance
of the sale OF a photograph or story Of
my life" Moreover, ''conversing holders,
a they are called, are always wanted by
the managers.
The weary round, the living skeleton
wraps himself carefully in his greatcoat
and mufllers; the Circassian beauty-'ne
er better than she should be-" d tatcooed
lady told the Writer-dons her street COS
tune and joins her beau; the bearded Ia
dy's MISUNDERSTANDING to say, she never
lacks one-appears; the South sea Is
lander washes off his war paint and
losens his hair, so reducing himself sud-
denly to civilization; the moustroslues
who are unable TO help themselves are
prepared to meet the night air by their
parasitic managers-one and all hurry
away to their living places or TO their
anIusenents.
The friends of the museum freak, prop
erIy 50 called. are limited strictly to the
members Of his profession. However ig-
norant Of the worth oc his abnormaIity
he may have been when discovered and
first exhibited, he soon gathers a high APP
probation Of Indeed, no one has Il
higher-and becomes supeTciliOus to a de-
gree in his treatment Of those of the pub
lie With whom necessity forces him into
contact. a more potent influence, how
ever, is his realization Of the fact that
the people to whom his stock in trade
appeals, viii not pay 10 see that which,
with patience, they can see for nothing.
Thus he can not afford to cheaper himself
by pursuing cOmpanonship pleasure or
even health if need be that he pass fire.
quently through the open streets. He
spends his time at the theatre and at
home, cOncealing his identity as best he
can while going quickly to and fro.
In former years so carefully were the
freaks guarded from free exposure to the
public gaze that living rooms were pro-
vided for them in the museums. So ac-
commodated, they rarely passed through
the door from the first day of their en-
gagement to the last. While, with the
decline of public interest, these queer
places have been, for the most part,
closed there is still one to be seen in
this city.
It is situated in the topmost story of the
museum building, and approached by a
narrow. broken stair. Designed as a spa
cious curio hall il has been partitioned
off into a dozen or more straitened sleep
ing rooms, furnished as barely as dire
necessity VIII permit. The partitions are
implanted and Unpapered, and covered
IN scrawIng hands, with names and dates
and reflections, wise and otherwise; hard
ly an inch of space within reach is free
from such initials as &C. t." possibly
Charles Trip, the Armless Wonder, now
in Europe), and such data as Jan. ID,
1888. Western circuit next" to which have
been added. in other hands. remarks com
plimentary and the reverse-"The Bum
Freak" Good Fellow" and the like. The
ba Cd 70 70 70
the pains he might find written here
some memorial of every famous freak
America has produced--or nearly every
one" Passing from room 10 room. and
observing the countless marks with which
the four walls OF each were covered, the
boast seemed to be well made.
Night after night, ten years ago, these
little rooms were lively places, and many
q jolly supper was eaten in the adjoining
dining room by the queer people who ten
auted them. Fat women and dwarfs, 81
ants. skeletons, cannibals and all such
lived there together in great good humor;
met at the weeks beginning, parted at
the weeks end to go their widely diverg-
ing vays-on the Southern, Northern or
Western Circuit" with the side show, or
the big show. or wherever the best chance
offered to turn their misfortunes into
money. Here they met again. eventually,
if death overlooked them. to renew friend
ships and quaTrels, to eat and sleep. to
drink and gamble, even IS other men DO.
Nowadays one or other Of the rooms oc-
casionally finds a tenant for a brief lme;
but the dining-room is closed, and the
freaks prefer to live in lodgings, even
if it be more expensive. rather than brave
the loneliness Of the museums topmost
story. for the public's taste for freaks
1v--~,o. ONT