The representative., 1900-05-17

The circus Is a place where everybody has
to do what he is told and do 1t quickly. 1t
does not make any difference whether he Is
war elephant, so big that he can hardly
scrape in under the big door. or whether he
10 merely person who coats himself with
bronze and stands around in calcium light
and pretends to be a statue Except for the
men who roll up the carpets in the middle OF
the rings between times. 1t hardly ever
seems to the people on the seats as though
anybody were giving orders or taking them.
1t is easy enough to see that these poor men
have captain over them, and that when
he claps his hands they Jump and run as
though they were going to be struck with
. whip II they did not hurry. But for all
the rest they come out when there seems to
be an opportunity for them, and perform
until a bell rings to tell them that 1t is
time to give some one else chance AT
least, that Is the way things look to one
who has never seen what Is going on be-
hind the big folding doors from which all
the performers come and through which
they dash after their last wild whirl about
the arena.
Behind those doors Is a space about as
big as the inside of one of the rings. 1t is
not circular, though It is very narrow.
It runs across the back of the garden, and
at either end of it are the stairs by which
the horses come up from their stalls in the
cellar. In this space before the grand cav
alcade which begins the show comes out
into the arena are packed six great wagons,
each with six or eight or more horses, and
one Of them with lion roosting on top.
Besides these there 40 or SO horses, with
their riders, and two fourhor chariots
and two elephants. 1t is hard for any one
who has not seen all these animals and
things packed in there behind the screen to
believe that they could all be put into SO
little space, but there they are. Even IL
you could see them there waiting for the
bell to ring and the doors to open, it would
be hard to believe that they could all un-
tangle and unwind themselves and move out
without SO much as scratching a bit of
paint of q chariot hub. For, besides all
the living things and circus apparatus in
the place, there are pillars and supports
that must be avoided.
The bell out in the arena rings the band
begins to play, and the big-doors swing
open. The people out in the seats see a
column of horses four abreast. with riders
clad in glittering mail, come prancing out
as freel. and grandly as though they had
Just come in from the street and not as
though they had been as closely packed
against those doors a minute before as IL
under the lid of q sardine can.
In behind the screen the eight-horse team
that draws the lion cage is working back
and forth. drawing the wagon out from
among the pillars and heading 1t straight
for the doors. The noat on which Colum-
bia, all clad in red, white and blue, is
TO preside over the galaxy Of her sisters
I In the union. who surround her, is turning
? half circle within Its own length, 90 that
It can At into the space which the lion
b wagon has left. Columbia sits not in her
lofty seat during these evolutions. The
III entrance is AZ low a. q canal bridge. She
e lying nat upon -her face on the top Of
Il the car.
Nhef 4 procession IL 90 crowded in its
\ Beginning as this one II and 20 much de-
pends on its keeping good line it would not
At al f&rH8~ uhn hall 40
{1ront part Of the procession to come rush
1ng upstairs just before the bell rang, push
n s14g ana showing In an effort to reach his
Dlace II time to 30 out With the rest. It
ma not 20, either. for the driver Of the
&oE19 and eight-horse teams not Is 81