Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1899-06-01
FIRST IMPRESSIONS.
The First Circus is Always Looked
Upon As Best.
Col. Peter Sells Describes tho Difference Be
tween the Old and New.


cause he is one Of those men like Bar
mum, who do big things, who has had al
interesting and extraordinarily success
full career, ana is at the same time MAJ
of culture and refinement.
1alklhS to representative of tn
journal recently, Col. Sells had some in
teresting things to say of circus life
There is something" said he, "of a 70
nance and mystery surrounding and un
alterably connected with circus peoplt
that enlsts the attention and interest O
all classes in every part Of the clvilize,
world. What often becomes tiresome Il
the circus man are the questions with
which he is piled by people who are
prompted by curiosity ana a desire tc
fathom the. unfathomable. The same
! questions will be asked day after day
and they run something like these:
| How much hay will an elephant eat in
a day? Do the animals get acquainted
| with their keepers and lose their ferocitv
| by being Gagged? How did you happen Ia
| get into the show business? Where Is
| Dan Rice now? Is Barnum really dead
or was the story started for advertising
purposes? Don't you get tired Of tray
|
and teach them the business? Why don't
you retire? ana so on al infnitum Thes..
questions only show the interest the pub
| lie takes in the circus business, ana arc
not intended to be nor are they at all
considered impertinent.
| I'VE often hear people say the first
circus they ever saw was altogether the
best; that the old-fashioned circus was
better and more pleasing than the modern
| one. The truth is, first impressions are
| always strongest, ana naturally the first
| circus will seem to be the best; but the
| fact remains that the old-tme circus OF
| forty years ago is as far behind the cir
| Gus Of today as the numbering stage
coach is of the Pullman palace car
| Il remember the feelings of envy that
| possessed my soul when | gazed for the
| first time upon the brief but spangled
| garments of the boy performer in the
circus i thought his condition was the
| nearest approach to paradise that any
one could hope for in this world. ana
never dreamed that | should ever become
| intimately connected with business 50
filled with mystery and glorious charm
| My feelings were an admixture of admi-
| ration and awe. AS | grew older the
| gaudy barber-poled clown struck my
fancy. Talk about greatness-he was
| greater to my mind than all the kings
| and potentates of the whole world. ana
none stood too high to pay him homage.
| He was an enlarged edition, gilt-edged
ana morocco bound, of the boy perform
er | used TO love so much
And when my heart began to yearn for
a companion Of the opposite sex, which
invariably makes its appearance in cal
low youth. the scanty-dressed angel who
was escorted into the ring by that ency-
clopedia Of learning, that Chesterfield Of
politeness, that Beau Brummel Of dig
nifty. the ringmaster. who took her dainty
| slippered foot in his hand and with one
bound set her upon the back of the fiery
ana untamed steed, ana when the band
began to play the horse gallOped and the
| sylph-like fairy danced and prouetteI
upon the cellar-door-siZed pad, while the
. musicians who sat perched upon their
frail platform blew out discord until
their eyes looked like a job lot from some
misfit opticians ana their cheeks like the
. red toy balloons that our Italian friend
have a corner on, then it was that my
cup Of JOY began to slop over.
And then, when the speed Of the
horse was slackened to a walk and the
. tarlataned fairy took her seat on the
very edge of the pad, her toes pointing
downward ana feet gracefully crossed
the rngmaster in his austere ana
7. naughty official dignity commanded the
clown to wait upon the little lady ana
: see what she wants my heart thumpec
= against the inside of my roundabout ano
Il | was lost in a very whirlpool of ecstacy
t Whenever fellow gets clean gone II
> that way il takes a pretty big SHOW
thereafter to fill the bill or to reach th'
, | measure of his expectation. 1t was abou
X that time that Cupid's arrows were sen
from their culver by the armful an,
= struck the bullseye of my heart with Z
laree-siZed dun thud. These first expert
ences are hard 10 eradicate and the fur
;. | Their we get away from them as we jour
i | ney along toward the sunset Of life, n
e brighter they CLEAN ana glisten through
the mist ana haze of our memory. III
= hoarv-headed clown inflicted, in the nam
IS Of Wit. chestnuts that have never sine
;. retired from active service. How funn'
| il all seemed.
"In those days | remember the clrcu
-, parade 1t was not an avalanche of gold
en- splendor,' as the modern circus BIZ
would state it. 1t formed on the road
side at the edge of town. The caravan
N which Travelled overland. would halt an
e improvise a dressing room, and the WON
d on. men and children belonging theret
would doff their street clothes and ARA
themselves in spangled dresses noun
IN their horses and follow the band-wago
II through the principal streets TO the sho'
grounds There We're no massive tram
p of special cars, no magnificent sleeperS
N none Of the modern comforts for oircu
e, people in those days. After ride of per
n hans twenty miles over dusty or mudd
S roads begun in the early hours befor
l.. daybreak the people were not feellns d
fresh as they do when parade is mad
. now.
y when the old man goes TO the clrcu
II is TO see an old friend; and old friend
rs 10 him. who has the unmelted SHOWS 9
81 three score years perched upon his prov
u sarve as a warming cordial, glad Vislo
of merry. Joyous days which, like love
first pang and pleasure, are never To IT
" turn. So it is that the first visit 10 III
10 o;rcus like the influence OF aneiei
craece comes down the years OF life, &
,l.t from