Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1898-03-26
THE OLD CIRCUS MAN.
HIS TALK ABOUT THE FIRST SoUvE-
MRS GIVEN BY SHOW PEOPLE.

HIS TALK ABOUT HE FlH0i oOUVE-
MRS GIVEN BY SHOW PEOPLE.
They We're Distributed by the Great Gil
rafYe = A Thrilling Incident Which At
tended One Pcrformance-How the Peo-
pic Stood on tho GirafTe's 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 tho time we had the big
IS foot giraffe. We never had al 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 tho
slightest little things. On clear days,
whom we were where we could do it and
tho sun was right for us, we used to get
the giraffe out il front of the entrance
of tho main tont 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 shaddor. Anybody'd cast
long shadder at that hour Of the day, of
course, but the giraffe shaddor reached
us far as you could see. And as soon as
one man begun to look ut it 40 others
did, and then you'd see em. Two seen
l, 900 people at a time limo up long that
shadder and just stand along The edge
of it down past tho main tent and tho
sideshow tents, just standing there
loolin at it, Tho giraffe was great, but
his shadder fairly staggered EN-. And
there they'd stand till tho sun dropped
down under the edge of the earth, and
the first thing they know there wasn't
any shaddcr Then they'd stare at each
other for minute, and then all bunch
up together again and look at the giraffe
till we took him III.
eve used to have line on tho pro-
gramme saying that at 8 o'clock and ut
8 o'clock tho great giraffe would hand
around leo water. That where the sou
venirs come in. We used to give away
the glasses tho water WAS in. Tho glasses
were marked, Souvenir Of tho Great
Giraffe, and whoever got 'em could
keep EN-. The seats III our circus were
divided into four sections. We used to
give away four dozen tumblers at every
performance, ono in each section. When
the time como, 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 a dozen
glasses, which no would take by the
handle in his mouth. Tall as he was, no
could reach easy to tho highest back
seats. It's astonishing how people used
to grab for those glasses 1t seems as
though the whole section would stand
up Oh tho seats and all grab for the
holder when it come near 'em. They'd
spill the water and get wet and have
the greatest timo 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 ono of the sections, there was
q man sitting on the fourth tier from
tho top who picked up his boy, a 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 tho
boy Oh his shoulder the man just lifted
him up SO that the boy could stand on
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 every body, but that didn't
count. He got the glass and was COM
ing down with it when his father, in
stead of feeling him jounce down Oh his
shoulder, felt his weight growing light
or, and the next minute he and every
body else saw the boy suspended in the
air. When the giraffe saw the last glass
go, be 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 tho outside of the cuff of tho
boys jacket got caught in the wires.
They were sewed on the way mothers
sew on buttons, and they held the
youngsters weight easily, and when
the giraffe lifted the holder up he lifted
the boy with it.
"Then there was scene. We know
the giraffe wouldn't hurt fly, but it
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 aroand as gentle and easy as
the arm OF Ii crane and lowered the
holder and the hoy hanging to it safe
into the arms Of tie keeper i'll tho ring.
The boy h;.dn oven dropped tho tum-
bier.
"Then the pcoc!o did hollcr, and the
giraffe walked CT az stately us you
please, tho boz climbed back up to bis
pop, and the shc.7 went Oh. Nobody
hurt, but when We run out Of the tum.
blers we had Gil hand we adopted an.
other style CT souvenir. u.
The Type In the Oxford Biblo.
Statistics have fascination for many
people, who will DO interested in learn
ing that there are 773, TAG words in the
authorized version of the Bible and
9, 500, 4S2 letters, including E's. These
figures says The Periodical, the monthly
iournal of announcements issued by the