Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1898-04-01

THE OLD CIRCUS MAN.
HIS TALK ABOUT THE FIRST souvE-
Mrs GIVEN BY SHOW PEOPLE.

They Were DistrIbuted by the Great o.
RATE - A Thrilling Incident which AZ.
tended One Performance the Peo-
pie Stood on the Glrafe'a shadow.
1.-The first souvenirs ever knew OF
being given out in the show business E"
said the old circus man, 1--WE gave away
In our show at the time we had the 70
IL foot giraffe. We never had i az
traction that beat the big .ai-.'ie' ino
people were just carrtd away win
him. There WASH { AZ. ching about him
but what interos6ed them, even the
sliphtest Et,,s things. On clear days,
vi ~ =, 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 II great sentry. People used to
stop and look up at him, and then the
first thing you know somobody'd dis
cover his shadder. Anybody'd cast a
long shadder at that hour Of the day, Of
course, but the giraife's shadder reached
M far as you could see. And al soon as
one man begun to look ut 1t 40 others
did, and then you ID see en-. I've seen
1000 people at IA 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 Mt 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 t
any shadder, 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 in.
"We used to have u line on the pro-
gramme saying that at 3 o'clock and ut
9 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 EN-. 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 a 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 Tsed
to grab for those glasses. 1t seems ~
though the whole section would stand
up OH the seats and all grab for the
holder when II 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 30 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
q 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 1t come near this man with the
boy on his shoulder the man Just lifted
him up So that tho boy could stand on
mis- shoulders He was going 10 get ono
anyway, and when the holder came
along the boy made o grab for It, There
was only ono glass left In 1t then, but
the boy got It,. He upset IL lifting 1t out
Of the holder and scattered the water
all over everybody, but that didn't
count. He got the glass and was com
ing down with IL when his father, in
Stead OF feeling him jounce down on 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, he lifted the holder the way he al
ways did, to clear the people before
swinging 1t 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 the way mothers
sew OH buttons, and they held the
youngsters weight easily, and when
bHo Bituho hIbou Jho huiloI up ub lIIJdu
the boy with 1t.
''Then there was scene. We knew
the giraffe wouldn't hurt q fly. but It
looked to the people AZ though no 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 AZ gentle and easy az
the arm Of crane and lowered the
holder and the boy hanging to II safe
into the arms Of tho keeper In the ring.
The boy hadn't even dropped the tum-
bier.
Then the people did holler. and the
giraffe walked Off AZ stately as you
please, tho boy climbed back up to his
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
SIM. --.--------..--------.