The age-herald., 1900-09-29
SKETCHES FROM
 EVERYDAY LIFE

. to see the circus. Birmingham looked like a small New York. Every street swarmed : with people, the Bowery as well aa Broad
 way. The constant shower of banana peels
 and grape huils thrown on the streets seemed like the grewsome confetti of some : mock carnival. Everybody was in town, and ] a frst-cass dime museum could have been 1 picked up from the sidewalks One ebony 1 belle was seen on the streets dressed in her l Sunday finery with checks as red as peony. Two queens of spades walked along
 the sidewalks tightly holding to each oth- CTS hands to keep from being lost in the l shuttle. They were dazed by the metropol-
 itan rush of Birmingham Then there was l the net-waist girl, the laced-waist girA the 1 woman with six children, and the usual l mixture of hay seeds, Johnnies and police l men.
 l Business at the soda founts. barrooms, lunch counters and fruit stands was im- mense. The depot was crowded with l cursionists, and the street falxrs had things 1 their own way One of them who had gilt l tering array of cheap knives arranged in l such a way that no one could ever throw | a ring oyer them, had caught a country ''coon and induced him to take a chance. 1 7
 bought many. When his money ran low he l tried to leave, but the fakir would exclaim 1 'Oh, you can't quit yet" grab the coon" l by the coat sleeve and sell him some more rings. This process kept up until Samlbo | took the bankrupt act.
 l But the circus itself! It can only be de- scribed by saying 1t was all that circus ought to be. The weather was typical circus l weather. To get to the show you walked through dust ankle deep. The sun beamed down with glad September smile. drawing l from the beer and soda Soaked multitude 1 faint haze, which was lost in the clouds of | dust and smoke.
 l The side shows were also up-to-date. l Outside in enormous posters were alluring l pictures of the Boer war, "the latest F'il- | ipino battle in perfect action," the rough l rider giant and bearded lady, while the l side show itself was designated as the
 ''Mastodon Outside Exhibition" | For half a mile before reaching the main l entrance one walked through lane of l lunch stands pink lemonade and fried l chicken booths. Here the pie men extolled their wares, while one spieler announced "eggs from the Birmingham hennery, laid | today"
 l The immortal Barnum, founder of the l modern circus as it exists today, said that l the public loves to be humbugged This is l true and is the only raison d'etre of the l side show It costs a dime to get in, and l an extra nickel to see anything that hap | pens to be inside. l have never yet been 1 fortunate enough to see performance in I a side show. There is apparatus inside | which would indicate that a performance l does occur some time, but it is usually just l over, or won't begin for an hour. The only | thing to see at all moments is row of | stereoscopes which only work when a nickel | is dropped in the slot. The pictures in all l are the same, but this knowledge is only l acquired after spending about 50 cents and l trying them all.
 l In the street outside was minglng of l dust and people come to see the circus In l the Womans Exchange all was quiet, l cleanly and orderly. The weather was in- l tensely hot and the breeze from the elec- l tric fans was grateful. One or two men sat eating their lunch. The door was slow l ly pushed open and a farmer with Populis- l tic whiskers entered.
 1 What hev ye got ter eat today?" "Muttcn hash, roast beef, salad, potatoes, I rice, coffee, ice cream" etcetera "Wael, I aint very strong at my stomach and thought I'd eat some oysters. Hey ye | any?"
 | NO. we don't keep oysters until after l frost Besides, I shouldn't think them 1 good thing for you to eat now if you don't l feel we'll"
 Wall, jst wanted some oysters. Reckon l I'll hev ter go somewhar's else.' l He went.
 Count Waldersee is still busily engaged l in eating his way to Pekin Certainly we l live and learn, and modern methods are an l advance on the old. Formerly a command 1 ing general was supposed to fight his way l to city, but now the army goes first and l does the fighting, and the general comes l afterwards and does the eating. This l brings up the question whether it is health l fer to fight first and eat afterwards or to | fight on full stomach. There is much to be said on both sides; but the general l rule seems to be to fight when you must l and eat when you can. If you eat before l fighting, the prospect of the battle may 1 destroy your appetite, and if you wait un- l til after the fight, you may be so busy | running, after the enemy of course, that l the dinner bell will not be runx The English soldiers, it is said, will not l fight unless well fed. Tommy Atkins wants l lot of beef and beer. He eats to fight l while some men would rather fight than l eat. This latter class of people, however, must live in a country where there are | poor cooks. Surely no civilized man would | prefer fighting to eating. And would it not be a good idea to provide good cooks | for all these turbulent fighters as the | surest way of promoting universal peace? l There Is one thing certain, and that Is that l Waldersee after his good living, will never 1 be able-to do any fighting when he reaches l China. He will be in too peaceful mood, I unless he should overdo the thing and l bring on an attack of dyspepsia, in which event woe betide the heather Chinese