The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-10-22

OF the greatest sources OF dificulty was that nine
out OF ven OF them wanted 70 throw away the cou-
| Hundreds Of them did throw these coupons on the
ground and three OF four men were KEPT busy
picking up checks and telling the stupehod poo
pie to keep them Her Is sample OF these Incl
dents
"Ye tore i in two, Why did ye do that from
the c.1 puzzled vIsit2I 49,, o,.. o, a
well, ,yc tore II in two yc can Just keel, the
other half then" and the countryman stalked
These ticket takers had trick which must
tickets were held up to them, they seized the hand
holding it with their own left hand, preventing
Then III With ,Rer own rsh, hand they tore of The
end of the ticket TO be dropped in the box In
spite OF this precaution the coupons would some
times be thrust into their hands and then they
simply hauled the man back and stuffed the checks
into any pocket that came handy;
Apparently the British conscience Is Just as
lecnient as the American one on the subject OF
childrsn.s ages Any number of extra sbilling s
the great show comes to town. Down at Swanse,
they wouldn't close school for anybody, at least
not show Thereupon the parents announced
and that frightened The school people 50 i much much
that they actually shut down for two days instead
pf one. II seems that tho allowance received
from thetiovernment is in proportion to tho average
attendance The havoc that the circus would
cut with that average was too appalling to be
Inside the tent there was vast array Of solemn
faces Not pcanut-monkey nuts they call
them here. was in the place Nor popcorn, nor
palm leaf fans. nor pop. nor chewing gum,
any Of he hings which, even hough we purch ased
them no.. made un part Of he circus hubbub
lea. The audience was Interested probably.
but they, concealed II leeously. woman near
true. The English haven the American knack
Of SEEING whn Is going on IN three rings and two
because there Is a iu In tho performa nce. but
because some especially exciting act Is going on.
Consequently II seemed as II they missed all The
Bu, they like The races Things tha, go on
Spcds over a here ' and when The horses came In
the people frightened perccptihly. They took
Tho rnces nretty seriously too especially the crowd
on the shilling seats
Bee We two" and so on. The amount OF money
That was wagered would have broken banks,
There are. no shilling ents when the grce. show
Is on soil but 1 are ssye hou
many Of the people here Than dollar means to
the corresponding class in America. The circus
asses Of seats at 25. 80 75 cents and 81 respect.
ively. instead Of so cent and 81 seats as at
home.
For America is still home to them all. The
Usher in our section said, "he guessed he could
stand itpver here another yenr. But II amt
10 good. he told us confdentially. Somehow
tho show seemed short Not because 1t was such
afternoon Of bliss that 1t all too quickly
gone. No. We seemed To be waiting for something
and so 1t was over before IL seemed TO have begun
What were waiting for the DASH the snnp,
the of the circus American soil with
Americans on the benches These were part Of
the show which waited for in vain. though
he programme was as long and as elaborate as
ever. The go was gone and tho big; big show
had homesck nir asif il pined for its old amiliar
friends But the thousands Of Britishers could
marvelling much at what they had seen and still
moro at what they had not seen. But, speaking
Of seeing, II they could have seen themselves as
we saw them. when they fell into the hands OF the
ticket takers. they would have laughed at
last
Just ono more example Of the way those ticket
takers handled the crowd. A group OF young
women had been suCcessfully--though with
lificuty-steercd through the gates into the
canvas rooted entrance way There they stuck
They stood staring at the canvas walls around
them with some interest and more bewilderment
One of the managers at the entrance caught sight
OF them and with n wave OF the hand he said mildly
Ladies. The show is inside"
They seemed relieved To find that there was
something more to he seen and gladly responded
TO the shove some one gave them. Without the
hint and the shove, however. they would prob
ably have stood in the canvas portico until II was
taken down. And OF such is the present audience
OF the expatriated circus.