The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1899-01-24
A GUYED REPORTER


out west, ~ got queer assignment
from the city editor of the Chicago pa
per that paid me wages. Frank Perley,
who's now the 'impresario' of trav-
cling comic opera outfit, blew into Chi
cago ahead of Barnum's show. He got
the thing going pretty well from the
jump.
'In the first place, he told all of the
city editors that the star panther Of the
show was going to have an liberated
tooth pulled out by local veterinary
sharp ON the Sunday morning follow
ing the arrival of the show in town on
Saturday night. Each paper sent a man
down to see this performance, and Per-
ley got gobs of reading space for his
show out of 1t.
1.-THE panther had an liberated tooth
all right and put up highly interest
ing scrap when the animal doctor de-
tached the molar, but the thing certain
ly did fit in mighty pat for ante-exhibi-
ton space grabbing all the same.
"Then Perley blandly suggested to
the city editors that it would be a good
scheme for each of them to send man
to the show for the purpose of writing
an absorbingly interesting Sunday spe-
cial on Circus Life Behind the Scenes. ;
All of the city editors side stepped on
this proposition except the city editor
of my paper, who thought it would be
good thing.
al was picked out for the Job. l
couldn't precisely see why should get
the assignment, for / wasn't notable as
spellbinder or a coverer of freak as
signments. found out afterward why
the task was poked at me. was very
humble quantity on the paper and
noted all around for the sweetness of
my disposition
There was to be put up job, and l
was singled out as good thing, not
liable to get mad and tear things loose.
az went to the show grounds with
Perley for the first afternoon perform
ance of the circus. Perley took me
around to the mems dressing tent and
introduced me to Nero. Nero was the
huge chap who took the titular role in
the big Fall of Rome spectacle that
preceded the show.
Nero asked me what kind of a
make up wanted for the spectacle. Any
old make up, told him. So he started
In to help me tog out as Persian
prince.
when he got through with me, /
guess 1 had on good $40, 900 or $50, :
900 worth of clothes and other gear; at
least 1 felt as if 1 had The long tapes
tryrobe I wore was incrusted with hun
dreds of large diamonds, sapphires, ru-
bies, pearls, emeralds and such. The
scimiter that swung from the side Of
me was jewel hilted up to the limit,
the tall, cloth of gold head thing that
Nero gave me to put on was also blaze
of jewels, and, finally, the kingly mace
that l had to pack around me as part
of my equipment-it weighed about 30
pounds-was so thickly studded with
precious stones that / wondered what
chance I'd have of getting away If /
bolted with the thing
''Now, an easy role In the spectacular
show was dished out to me. All 1 had
to do was to stretch out ON a gorgeous
gilded palanquin, with my head resting
gracefully on one hand, and be carried
around the tent in the grand, triumphal
procession by 10 Roman soldiers with
Connemara faces on them. There was
nothing hard looking about that, and !
breathed easier when found that, aft
er all, wasn't expected to hop out into
the center of the main ring and do a
limelight skirt dance alone and unaided.
"'An youse is got to do. said Nero,
who was, by all odds, the finest looking
broth Of q man that | ever saw in my
life, is t. lay still on de top O. de ca
lash an keep your head closed, see
Youse is got purity part. Don't grin.
Try an look as if youse had just been
t'rowed down by barkeep, an youse' Il
look ugly, all right.
when the moment arrived, hoped
aboard of the palanquin, the 10 Roman
soldiers got hold of the legs of the
same, and shot up In the air. Looking
down over the side, it seemed to me as
if was about mile up in the air, and
l shuddered to think of what would
happen to me supposing the IL Roman
soldiers decided to strike for more
wages while they had me in that elevat-
ed position on the palanquin.
"But the blare of the music and the
bowls Of the boys in the seats drove
these ideas out of my head. l stretched
out as per programme, with my huge
mace beside me, and tried to look as
savage as possible-for, you see, I was
supposed to be captive Persian prince,
swiped in one of the eastern raids OF
the victorious Roman army.
1.-The thing went pretty well for the
first part of the trip. The boys in the
seats threw it at me pretty hard of
course. They didn't like that recumbent
attitude of mine. They regarded me as
lazy duffer, lying there prone, with a
lot of husky men compelled to pack me
around.
Get out O. de wagon, ye dagc
dude, they hooted at me, AN give dem
Roman Mulligan sojers chanst fer der
white aley'
II didn't pay any attention to these
gibes, however, but the route around
the big tent surely seemed a long one.
But l didn't know what was in store
for me. About half way around TIE
tent was the press box 1 didn't know
this until-wel, until 1 saw my
friends in the box. There were about
$50 of them, guess.
"Perley stood right in the middle Of
the bunch. He had got EN- all to take
a part of the afternoon off just to give
me a send off on my debut as a circus
guy; also Perley had arranged that
there should be hitch in the process
sion just as my palanquin hove directly
in front of the press box. 1t must have
been very serious hitch, for my pal
Rnquin was in front of the press boz
for quite ten minutes. The IL Roman
soldiers were given the word to drop the
palanquip and take rest They didn'1
stand on the order of dropping it, but
dropped it at once with such suddenes'
that my feet shot up into the air ani
my jewel studded lid was damned
down over my eyes, and ] must have
been a sight for fact
"Well, while / was Strengthening
myself out my pals In the press box be
gan to bid me welcome. They gave me
an ovation. All of EN- had brought
along those big rafting things that yor
turn around on handle and horns and
tin whistles and things like that, an6
for the ten minutes that the prearranget
hitch lasted they gave me the creates
ovation you ever heard in your life.
"They leaned over the rail of thu
box and talked at me fsmiliarly, calling