Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-04-26
sAwDUsT, sPANGLEs AND TIGHTS.
Immense Crowds Saw the Mimic
SpIendOrs of the Circus Yesterday.

SpIendOrs of the Circus Yesterday.
The circus is a Christmas-like occurrence
in its yearly visitation. aid brings almost
as much joy to the infantile heart as the
coming of Santa Claus. Only the circus
has far more reaching local effect than
Christmas in that it fires the interest and
enthusiasm in srown-up children who have
lcrg since been lost to the pretty Christ
mGstide myth. Washington shares with the
other American cities the disposition to
turn itself loose" when the circus comes to
town. and for the nonce all other subjects
pale into insignificance. The big Forepaugh
and Sells Brothers show attracted two i'm
mense audiences yesterday, the many rows
OF seats stretching around the great arena
OF sawdust and tinscl being banked with
humanity at both afternoon and evening
performances. So great was the crowd in
the evening that the reserved seat section
was soon sold out and many persons were
unable to gain entrance to the general ad-
mission benches.
Like all circus crowds the vast throngs
gathered without and within the tents of
the show yesterday were happy, without
cnre, and bent upon enjoying themselves
Unlike most circuses, however the one in
the city at present fully met all expccta-
tOns, and far from being disappointed the
thousands who poured from the exit after
the conclusion of the main exhibition were
=
tertaincd in great style. The order of the
District Commissioners prohibiting the pea
nut, pigs feet, clam vendors and other
varieties of moving merchants from
assembling about the circus. left the
mercantile field without the great tents
in full possession of the regular
dealers travelling with the show. The
result a magnificent success so far as
feature Of circus night was lost. The
side show. with its stretch of freak-pictured
canvas in front and queer humanity within,
did thriving business throughout the day.
In some cases the song of the barker was
weirdly unique. Outside q tent of dirty
gray were two men in oriental costumes
one beating tom-tom with his fist and the
other played a fageOlct. Tho men at the
to cease and then addressed the wondering
crowd: You see before you the black
tent We call 1t the black tent because
the canvas of which 1t Is made is black
Remember, We do not show you pictures,
but men cut down before your eyes, armies
destroyed and battleshlps blown to pieces!''
The side show canvases were gaudy and
alluring, but none of the others offered
quite so strong an appeal to horror-loving
humanity.
And now, ladies and gentlemen" said
| the ringmaster, we will open the show
with a grand, sumptuous and titanic spec
tacuiar. geological. hippodramatic elf-and
and equine inaugural pageant and arenic
carnival upon the great outer circle and in
the three arenas. A superb, sensational
and stupendous eye feast, and majestic ami
mated and iridescent illustration of the
holiday resources of this renowned aggre-
CATION"
With this announcement the old circus
goers felt really at home. They had passed
| through the menagerie; fed the huge ele-
plants with peanuts; enjoyed the sight of
the two little baby lions just twenty days
old. being coddled by their mother; had
gone the round of the zoo and explained 1t
all TO the juvenile members of the party
for whose sake the circus was visited, and
had then settled down on the benches to
let the children see the show.
There were thousands and thousands Of
people under the great canvas. There
were three immense rings and two stages
ed tier after tier of faces rising up to the
caves of the canvas roof. Overhead the
rings was maze of tight-ropes and
trapeZes, upon which dozen men and
women swung at a time. making the head
of the behOlder dizzy as the eye tried to
take in all their evolutons at once. Horses
and bareback riders in the rings: trapezists
in midair; jugglers on the stages, clowns
everywhere and the circus band keeping
up merry din all the while. Thus for
two hours and more the FOrepaugh & Sells
united shows entertained the vast throng
with all the stock pieces OF the old-time
| circus and with a variety Of novelties as
well.
One of the most interesting features of
the snow was the performance Oh a Scn0Ol
of trained seals and sealions. These clum-
| sy animals were made to do things with
almost human intelligence, and seemed to
| take a real delight in their feats of Jug
Cling and other tricks, which drew excla-
| nations of wonder and delight from the
audience. A group of trained elephants
| that danced the lancers also pleased the
onlookers. There We're q score of unique
| features some never before shown in wash
| ington. Among the feats of daring in the
| air was an exhibition of bicycle riding on
| a tight rope, and no less entertaining was
| the bicycle riding of two little tots of hu-
mainly on the stage.
The equestrian exhibition was unusually
| elaborate and attractive. Some noble speci-
mems of horseflesh were shown. and the
| riding driving and racing aroused the au-
| dience to a high pitch of enthusiasm. The
| young folks We're delighted by the antics
| of a large corps of clowns and the fnevita-
Bile trick donkey was in evidence.
| Another performance will be given to-
| night at o'clock, closing the shows visit
to Washington.