Kansas City journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1897-1928, 1899-01-08
CIRCUS HAD TO PAY
LUCK OF CURLY JOHNSON NEARLY
BROKE UP THE BIG SHOW.
Devotion to Six Spot at Faro Well Re-
warded-It Assists In Collection
of Wages for the Employees
of the Circus.

q " ZIG tAAlaAD 4ultt &
THE warmest card that I ever rubbed up
against in the circus business said an
oldtime boss menagerie man, was Curly
Johnson, who played the cornet and ran
the band of a one-ringer and one-nlght-
stander that / was mixed up with back
in the late los. Johnson had been a trum-
peter in the regular army. had served as
cook for any number of southwestern sur
veying outfits. and had been broke in al
most every old place on this hemisphere,
from Alaska to Patagonia, before he drift
ed into the wind-jamming business with
this circus layout I'm talking about. He
was about 6 feet 6 inches high, weighed go
pounds, could get under any wagon we had
and lift it clear of the ground on his Shout
ders, could drink more, sagebush whisky
than any six hobo tentmen. and. finally, he
could play the cornet SO that II sounded
like a woman's voice. He was aquiet sort of
a duck, johnson was, and he never had a
chance to prove what a genuine hot prop
osition he was until We struck Leaven-
worth, Kas., along toward the end OF the
summer of 1873.
The show got into Leavenworth from
Topeka over the overland wagon trail, LOT
the two brothers, who owned the outnt
didn't waste any money on railroau sa hS,
wagon moves. The show had been making
money right along from the beginning OF
the season. and yet when we got INTO Leax-
formers to tentment. were nearly TWO
months in arrears. We had got together IN
partments of the outfit on several occa-
sions since the owners of the show, Tor no
apparent reason. began to skip pay Gays,
conned to a standstill by the two pro-
prietors. who were smooth people and no.
torious in the business as salary forget
bers OF the kick committees and paid the
rest of the outfit off in promises. As the
three-auarter-acre tent was jammed right
along. at afternoon and night perform
ances. with Is and 50-cent and 81 crowds.
and no paper. we couldn't see any excuse
l ugly tn Wh paS it fa Began saghe to look ada ike sV We were
being skinned. But the season was almost
over and most of us needed the ride back
quarters. and SO we stuck on with the hope
that the owners would tumble to their dirt
mess and come to taw along toward the
windup of the season.
No Money at L~eavenworth.
There had been a big row at Topeka,
several of the main performers refusing
to go on at the afternoon performance
without some of the long green with which
to wipe the perspiration from their hands.
They rumble a heap when the E-btll act
was worked on on them by the proprfetors.
burnley but they s sSnse1ted pr to 20 on to T sstals tine ia f fTi1
when the show struck I~eayenworth. The
employees were pretty ugly in Topeka, too,
and there was a WQOl6 lot Oh Idlk among
them about turning the animals loose and
Sitting the tent into ribbons If the owners
didn't cough up at Leavenworth, the next
stand. i hadn't had a drink of whisky nor
smoked a two,fer for a couple of months.
and so / shared the general restlessness.
Now. this Curly johnson. the band boss.
whole outfit over the backwardness of sal
aries. He had a bad lot in his band, and
the men came to him with hefty kicks two
or three times a day, but he told 'em he
wasn't any pay clerk for the outfit, and
that he'd like to ave the price of a shave
and a shine himself, which he hadn't; Al,
together there was a pretty furious lot OF
sawdusters in the morning parade In
Leavenworth, and as soon as the parade
ing of all hands in the main tent that look
ed like trouble and a whole lot OF 1t for
the two oily members who owned the show:
"You never heard such a aw-bacon Of
a time in your life as went on in that tent
for fifteen minutes or SO. The two BROTH
ers, each Of whom was known to be worth
mouth YOU ever saw. said they neither
OF 'em had personally the price of a beer,
and the show had been dropping $1,000 a
tried their derndest to make cheap talk
like this stick. Then they put their heads
together, disappeared for a couple of min.
satchel lugged between EN-. they declared
a 81 dividend until the night performance,
when they swore there'd be a proper set
Element for all hands.
Curly JOhnsOn'1 p lnvestment.
when Curly johnson got his 81 bill he
walked outside the tent, looked at it for q
minute refiectively, and then. turning to
one of the bapdsmen. he said:.
I'D like to knock OF working for these
two con men. But I can't make any place
that's worth living in on this two-spot
can r.
Might go to oskaloosa on the two.
,aid the bandsman, Oskaloosa being then
x egarded as the FUNNIEST town on the
lobe.
tJohnson thoughtfully stuck his 81 bill
This vest pocket, and, as 1t was only II
u-tock in the morning, and he had a
couple Of hours spare time before the
afternoon show began, he hit the pike fol
the town. He didn't stop to take a drink
or get a shave, but he made direct fol
the Bon Ton faro bank on Shawnee street
which was then run by a nervy sport from
Denver named Colonel Jamison. / hap.
pened to be down town myself buying ur
some chuck meat for the animals, and
saw Curly when he was entering the Bor
Ton. L Joined him and asked him where
he had made a raise to hit up the bank.
I'm going to see IL / can't make enough
of a winning oil this two-spot to buy {
ticket for some place or b,
choice, If the box treats me right he re
piled.
Better stake yourself to a square feed
a shave, a clean collar. and a smoke. Cur
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