The record-union., 1899-05-28

the trained seals came on. Nothing
could convince them that these glossy
creatures with the snaky necks weren't
sea serpents, and their delight in the
wonderful performance of the animals
was tempered by an i'll disguised alarm
every time one of them wallowed to-
ward the edge of the stage ON which
they did their tricks
Their one abiding woe was that they
couldn't see all that was going on in
all the rings simultaneously, and they
We're constantly impressed with hid
eous fear least, no matter how fascin-
ating the performance might be, there
might be something still more entranc-
ing going on at the other end of the
arena. Nor could they agree as to their
ambitions. Jerry stuck to his desire to
be a clown. with bareback riding for
Second choice, and announced his in
tention of borrowing Paddy Norris
black goat to practice on, with or with
out permission, as soon as he got home.
seek since his little experience with
the autocrat of the ring, was inclined
to wearing long, shining boots and car
rying cracking whip and bossing mat
ters as a ringmaster, but he could also
ing thrty-five horses at once while
standing on the backs of two of them
like Mr.. William German, pleasantly
described as the Apollo Belvidere of
horsemen.
There was also food for thought for
both boys in the graceful performances
of the gentleman in golden scales who
partook of the physical peculiartes of
a snake and could weave himself into
all sorts of astounding shapes. Ger
tainly it would be a day of glory when
Seek and Jerry could make their en-
trance into City Hall Park walking on
their hands and each sitting on his own
head, as this gentleman did with such
conspicuous ease and abandon. They
thought that SoclIy Dolan, who had
been the center of popularity for two
weeks by reason of his ability to bal
ance a broomstick on the end of his
nose would retire into the depths of
obscurity as a performer. Again they
fingered their 81 cents and wondered
how much the timber person would
charge to give lessons But when the
Hanlons came on and, far above the,
heads of the spectators, flew through
the air like birds from perch to perch
the two boys were no longer in doubt
they would be flying trapeze perform
ers, and after they had got the hang
of it little would go and practice on
the underside Of the Brooklyn bridge,
where there are plenty of cables among
which to sport. Throughout the re-
madnder of the circus they never
quite lost sight of this ambition, though
there were other wonders in plenty to
distract the attention and the hippo
drome races offered opportunities for
bets which they were not slow to take,
with the result that Seek won Z cents
from Jerry by superior ability in pick
ing winners, and the reporter lost 8
cents between the pair of them.
After the arena part of the show was
over there were still the animals to be
looked at, and the comments of the
youngsters upon these We're matters not
to be found in the natural histories. The
camel, they decided. was a COW, zone of
dem tings yer get milk from" The
monkeys delighted them beyond meas
ure, and they named each one from
real or fancied resemblances to friends
and acquaintances of theirs in City Hall
Park. If City Hall Park had been there
to hear there would probably have been
multitude of trouble. For the hippo
potamus they had little praise He was
in the heavyweight class all right, but
was too fat for any sort of condition,
and they didn't think he'd get look-in
at the money in a fair scrap with the
rhinoceros across the aisle.
DE feller wit de spike,'' said Seek
astutely, "he'd uppercut him oncet and
he'd be out in a punch"
Thereupon Jerry offered to back the
wrestling bear against the rhino for 10
cents, but as there seemed to be no way
of bringing the two together this had to
be given up though Seek was quite
willing to back his spiked pachyderm
against anything in the show. The ze-
bra the boys took no stock in.
Dem stripes is painted said the
skeptical Jerry. II seen 'em do it to
goat oncet."
The lions and tigers fascinated them
because the big creatures happened to
be restless and were ambling uneasily
around their cages. Somewhere Jerry
had heard that lion was big cat, and