The Paducah sun. [volume] (Paducah, Ky.) 1898-1906, 1898-12-22
OLD TINE
CI4US MAN

"You mlghtfcve thought" said the
cid circus ND THAT II would put us
10 some conAJetable tt6btie aha "a
pehso 20 provide umbrellas for the
great giant, whose actual size l have
never dared 70 tell SOD Tor fear yod
wouldn't believe IL II did, trusting to
those things that have told you about
him from time 10 time 70 give you some
approximate notion of II.
"As to the giants umbrellas, we
never had any trouble at all sim
ply used 70 use for that purpose the
tops Of our discarded balloons. We
never fooled With balloons, rot under,
stand; after they had become wesIs,
ened AZ all we used 10 put 'em aside
and put In new one; we heve+ took
any risks On balloons. Before The great
giant Joined ne We tsed to sell the old
balloons for Junk, and likewise we used
to cut up the old center poles Of the
big tent, when they showed any signs
OF weakness, for frewood; but after
the giant came we saved ell the balloon
tops for umbrella coverings, and the
old center poles we saved for umbrella
handles. We had our blacksmith get
out set Of ribs and fittings. and those
were good for . long time. wbshe1et
che covering OF the giants umbtsilh
got so worn that IL was Of no further
use as such, or IL looked bad when Il
was opened, why then we'd just re
cover the old frame. When we put In
4 REV handle we'd simply take the
irons of the old one on and put 'em on
the new one.
1--WE used TO make II a point to have
the giant carry the umbrella in every
town we struck, whether Il r,iurd or
not. He used 10 turn out end walk
with the show, and waikiki I.chind
him we always had ten men cas- wing
The umbrellas folled up and xi,il.I am-
brella case on II, these men walking
five on q side and carrying IL lying
along on sticks that they held by the
ends. This always used TO excite in
terest, because people always wondered
what the men were carrying but the
sight didn't begin TO excite the inter
est that was felt when they discovered
what II was and saw the giant raise II. |
This, Of course. be couldn't do in
the street, on account Of the trees; a.
rule the giant opened the umbrellas
in the public square Of the town. When
we came TO that the procession would
halt and the giant would step out from
II and step over the fence or the orns-
mental gateway or entrance or arch or
whatever there was there-if there was
one we always stopped so that the
giant would be opposite it-and then
the men would walk in with the UNI
brella and stand beside him. They
would lift II up on the carrying piece
as high as they could and then the
giant would bend down and take II.
He would draw OF the case that Gov
cred II, which was something like a !
only many times larger, and |
of course made tapering, and roll IL up l
and put it in his pocket, and that made
a wad as big as bale Of hay, but Il
didn't bulge out in his pocket enough |
70 Z you'd notice II. And then he'd
hold the umbrella by the handle with |
one hand, point up, and shake IL out
as anybody does an umbrella that's
been rolled up tightly, before they open
II, and then he'd set out to raise 1t with
the other hand in the customary man.
ner.
by this time OF course everybody In
the crown around would know what Il |
was, and IL was fun to see 'em look al |
IL; and | don't wonder. never alto
gether lost interest in II, myself; be
cause, when the giant held IL up before
opening II the umbrella was about thu
shape and size of church steeple. and
as a matter OF fact II was often bigger
han the church steeple that happened
10 he on the other side of that particu-
ar green. But when he came to open
t, and they saw the spread Of it
hmm; well, at one time and another
The show had a great many striking
features; but don't think we ever had
among our own minor Rttractions-ii
We did certainly don't recall IL at this
single feature that was
more striking than that."-N Y. Sun.