The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1899-11-04

44lAh ouAAN9HsAg EgRlNSsu htlt AGHtAAAtAAsN
Jester Of the Rice type and the clown Of
to-day ls merely On incident Of cir
Gus, a fller-in on the programme a
tickle shadow Of the brilliant substance
of the Rice days. But Rlce's talents
were not confined to the clown special-
~. BE was a trainer. Of animals, horses
being his speciality. His trained horse
Excelsior was one Of the most intelIi
gent animals that ever bowed to the
beck Of It's master. Excelsior was as
blind as a bat. Certain words from his
master meant certain tricks. The feat
Of training a blind horse vas regarded
as sensation in those days and would
be just as much Of a sensation to-day,
for that matter Rice's trick stallion,
Stephen A. Douglas. graceful Arabian
steed. was another of his pet trick
animals, and he was almost as big a ia
yorite with the public as old Excelsior.
Few New or Striking Ideas.
81 have often been asked II the circus
OF to-day Is much Of an Improvement
over the shows Of the Dan Rice days.
Well, suppose the circus business has
spread and multiplied in Its various de-
partments along with every other en-
terprise in this great country Of ours.
But In the growth and progress Of the
circus have failed to observe many
new or striking IDEAS In bulk and
volume, in the number Of attractions.
and the size of the canvas we make the
old-tIme circus look like a mere side
show. There are more animals md
more freaks, but the trained animal
features are not retained, while the old
fashioned feats in bareback riding.
which, to my mind, should never have
been stricken from the list Of circus
attractions. are regarded by our mana
gers of to-day as back numbers. The
talking clown or Jester has been relega,
ted to the shelf, and the so-called up
to-date acts. such as trick bicycle rid
ing and the newest thing in acrobutics,
are featured in the programme and
have become fixtures in the circus at
fractions, which shows that the circus
Of the past fifteen years has drawn on
the variety and vaudeville stage for
many of Its acts
'4Thc three-ring circus came with the
Increase in the size OF the tent. In 80,
ut Louisville. KY. Adam Forepaugh
found 1t necessary to add a middle
piece to his tent and put in another
ring. w. w. Cole. who was Fore
paugh's biggest rival. showed his nc.
customed enterprise by adding ring
to his circus. and then came Barnum &
Forepaugh with their three-ring affair
Homer Kingsley's Great Act.
"There will come time when the cir
Gus owners VIII get back and revive the
old bareback and trick riding acts. One
Of the greatest sensations in the history
of the American CIRCUS was the feats OF
Homer Kingsley. the most daring rider
the world has ever seen. Kingsley was
brought out by the late S. Q. Stokes.
father Of the beautiful Stokes girls, the
most graceful female riders OF their
time and the idols OF the public, King
sley's act was one OF the most original
and novel ever offered the public.
Kingsley was made up as dazzling
brunette and was known on the play
bills as Ella zoyaEO. His horse vauIted
over hurdles six feet high as he sped
around the arena. Kingsley dove
through balloon and executed broad
jumps through hoops and barrels: and
his act, despite the danger attached
was marked by grace and finish and
certain refinement of manner that sug-
gested the woman, The illusion was 50
complete that he fooled many an old
Snowman In his tours through England
and on the continent. Kingsley. while
on tour of the world. died of smallpox
in India.
1.-THE first circus to make special
feature Of animals was the old vdn
Amberg show. In 1863 Jere Mabe and
Van Amberg purchased eight or ten
cages of animals and the investment
was a good one. as the 200 feature was
big novelty for those days. Some of
us have queer ideas about animals.
Harmlessness of Lions.
"You often hear the spectator at the
circus wonder at the nerve OF an ami
NAL keeper or animal trainer. And
that reminds me of the escape of two
of our lions at indianapolis, the winter
quarters for the old Doris show The
driver of a cage containing two lions
backed up to one Of the entrances of
the building. and the keepr drove the
animals from the wagon without plac-
ing a runway from the platform to the
vehicle. The animals Topped down be-
tween the cnge and the platform and
wandered on to barrel of fat and be-
gan to feed OF the provender. The
| I.cnnrr yvnR the proDrIetor OF that fat