The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-08-09
TOLD BY THE OLD CIRCUS MAN.
The Giants Fancy for Cunning and How II
was Turned 10 Account.

The greatest Of all giants, said the old circus
| man. did dearly love to go cunning; and the
| old man INDUCED him in this sport whenever
he could. He did this partly to please the
| giant. and partly for the sake OF the adver-
Using we used TO get out OF IT, When he was
making a dicker, in advance. for the grounds
where We were ginQ to show. or paying tho
first selectman Of the town for the license,
he would Just casually ask II there was any
good cunning around there. and when they
told him there was squirrel or quail or what
ever It might be, the old man would say that
the biggest man In the show was very fond
OF shooting. and he would like II II, when tho
show came along. somebody there In the town
would go out with him for an hour or two.
OF course they'd say they'd have somebody
do that, and they would have; and when this
man. waiting at some agreed upon point, to
take our man ont. saw the giant coming with
his gun. he never failed TO be a very much sur
| prised community: and well he might be.
Il have never yet told you how tall the great
| giant was. What's the use: you wouldn't
believe 1t II I did. and so there's no Use Of my
| telling how big his gun was in feet and inches,
but In a general way ] might say that II was
| a double barrelled shotgun with barrels about
| as big around and about as long as telegraph
| poles. with stock and everything else in pro-
| portion. Well, now, you know when the great
giant turned up with that sort OF q gun on his
shoulder, followed by a wagon loaded with
they didn't know what, though maybe they
| might have guessed. the whole town would
| begin to gather, and from that minute there'd
be a great crowd following all the time TO ace
the giant shoot. And he wasn't the worst
| shot that ever came down the pike. either.
-Of course the gun the townsman was carry
L. -. ttsa cum lAnE all gh. lt.,,.
, and Of course the townsman didn't, do any
shooting himself. When he saw the giant
and his gun he simply did what every one else
| did he watched the big man shoot He and
scramble the best way they could over stone
walls and fences that the giant would step
than he ordinarily would in walking, and when
the giant got a sight at anything he would
raise his gun and fire. and my g91odnessl II
sou lded like a cannon or Ike a blast.
There Is where the old man used % work
in a little more Of the advertising. or course
the giant could have carried his own amInu-
milton and loaded bis own gun ~ well as any
body cou.d. and that's what he would have
preferred 10 do, but II cost about 81 80 for every
shot he fired. You see. II took about a pound
and a half Of powder for a charge for each
old man was bound to get this back and some
| thing out Of II besides II he could. and that's
why we used 10 have that wagon 10 carry the
ammInition, and We not 9nly ca unpnIs the NJ ann
w bAA W Z" 'N't ~ '','a
along TO load the giants gun. -,
II the gian. was In n field. for instance, and
there were trees near him, we'd get hin 70
stand the gun up against a tree. Then one OF
those two men would climb the, tree TO the Level
y Of the muzzle OF tho gun. with the charge OF
rowder and the shot, aud drop them down the
barrel, she was q muzzle-loader. YOU under
stand: they didn't have brpech-loaders in those
| DAYS 20 much. And while nc was doing this the
, other londer would be climbing higher In the tree,
and he would receive and steady the upper end
Of the ramrod NJ II was passed up To him by tho
man at the mizzle. and help 10 ram the load
down.
III the giant was near some fence or stone
wall by the road when he fired. they'd got him
20 lay the gun down with the butt on the ground
and the barrels resting on tho Top of the fence.
with the m,z2ln ny In the air, out over N" road.
Then thoy'd drive the ammunition wagon under
that, and load right from the wagon; They had
In the wagon ~ the forwardgnd a skelron tower,
something like the tall framework. they have
on the wagons used nowadays by llncmen re.
pairing overhead trollevs, and the man used
Ia simply climb up on that TO reach The nluzHlr
OF the gun. Then. when you came 10 rainnlns ~
the wad, there was a teloscopic section, 10 INC
skeleton tower and We Just had TO raise that and
move the wagon OF a little and the man that
rammed In the wad stood on that with the outer
end II the ramrod. Then as he rammed the
wad home we'd drive the wagon In again TO-
ward the muzzle Of the gun, with a man at the
bn - Of tie tower lowering the. extension part,
/ Nhen the loading was finished he giant would
pick up his gun and start OF again.