The Harrison times., 1900-06-23
The Circus Prdde.

i
They were not anxious about the
"boxers" of China. They knew that
John L. Sullivan and Jeffries were
boxers and that was enough to know.
That was enough for any boys of
there age.
| The excitement was all among the
boys and the cause was not far to
seek after the advance man came
along and announced that it would
be only little while till the "p'raGe"
would be along.
And presently it came. Barnum in
his palmieSt days couldn't have
equalled it, in its line. He may have
spent more money on his circus. He
may have had gaudier autographs
of world renowend equestriennes,"
with exposed rawboned wishbones
He may have and no doubt did
spend more money on chariOts with
statuary of people who never lived,
and if they had would have been shot,
but the boys had thingsin the parade
that Barnum never did
There were flying banners of cheese
cloth tackled on plaster laths. A
shoe box nailed on a wagon repre-
sented an animal cagecontaining the
only 'maneating tiger now in cap
tivity." 1t was really Dyes tomcat,
but circuses are a matter ofimagina-
ton.
Joe Walton was clown attired in a
pair of striped bib overalls. Harold
Dye and Jim seemed to run it, be-
cause it was given in their barn loft
The drivers we could not recognize.
beng, evidently, employees.
One kid played the steam calliope,
which was a toy xylophone with a
range of halt an octave There were
footmen and horsemen, dragons
and lancers, automobiles and char
ioteers all afoot, and the assembled
multitude along the street looked on
in wonder and amazemenr
The wonder stricken crowds that
lined the streets consisted of Horace
and Homer Mullin, and they were
also lemonade dispensers. Edie.
Nate and Bessie Bovee, Clarence Cliff
ton, besides some who we could not
recognize in the crush
~ Sparade progressd malestically.
~ no hitch and no unseemly
HAr } mar the joyous occasion
ud O., u ,cred cow Lawrence Wat
terPees>< bdine made a break for
- -ssr- The sacred COW kicked
up its heels and ran like a locomotive
Lawrence ran too. 1t was hard to
tell whether the sacred COW was
leading the boy or the boy leading
the sacred cow
He didn't have time to debate the
matter. The awe-stricken multitude
stood in breathless silence. That's
the way TO do at circus parade that
you read about The sacred COW
had been imported from Missouri at
great cost. To lose her meant much
pecunIary loss 1t was a roam spring
calf and Lawrence went down the
street lively if he never did before.
We dldn learn whether he got back
in time for the 'exsabishan" or not.
The last we saw of them was the
calt's tail sticking straight up in the
air like lightning rod on a cheap
boarding house as they disappeared
aroun0 the corner.
We learned afterwards that the
calf had nothing to do with the cir
Gus. Indeed, it wasn't a circus they
gave but performance in Dyes barn.
The performance was entitled ROSS
Romance. And ont of the attrctions
was curtain that you could move
up and down
What parade has to do with per-
tormanee of that kind only the ju-
venile mind can comprehend. They
had thirty paid tickets at one cent
each, which would make the proprie-
tors feel like 80 cents" We enquir-
ed If the lemonade stand made money
and one boy explained that it didn't
because the kids didn't have no
money"
And the parade of Dye Bros circus
has gone down in history, but not as
fast as the sacred COW went down
the street.
And thus boys learn to mimic men
and ere long they will be the ones
who. if they do not run circuses, run
the politics, and mercantile lines and
the farms and workshops ofour great
and glorious country.