The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-05-07
ANIMALS And ACROBATS
Thousands See the Performances
of the Ringling Show.
One of the Best Circuses That Has
Visited This City-Wonderfui Herd
of sixty Trained HOrses-A Large
Con.nuuy of Amusing Clowns.

Statements depicting the decline in
favor of that greatest of all American
amusement enterprises. the circus, were
given the lie by thousands who filled the
Ringing tents TO the limit yesterday
afternoon and again last night. All ages,
all races, all coIors, took a keen delight
in the brilliant attractions which go to
make up the Ringing shows. To say IT
is the best circus that has ever visited
Washington seems 4 trifle stereotyped.
but il aptly fits to the show which will
hold forth to large audiences again this
afternoon and tonight.
The general public usually gets its first
idea of a circus by watching the parade.
The procession of animal cages is sort
of barometer which gauges the excellence
of the attractions more allurfng to be
seen under the canvas roof. The parade
yesterday was a high barometer, ana the
show of corresponding high quallty.
There were few innovations in the per-
forrnance The artists were skillful in
their respective lines to the highest de-
gree Everything about the whole show
had an air of completeness and superia-
tiveness The performance opened with
the usual parade Of horsemen and horse
women generally described on the pro-
p
pageant" 1t was really brilliant in this
instance, and the immense audience
seemed pleased at such a good start An
excellent band provided the newest comic
opera music throughout the performance.
During the evening there was something
going on continually in each of the three
rings and on the stage, while overhead, at
intervals, were presented daring eXhibi-
tions of trapeze. horizontal bar. tight rope
walking, and kindred feats of acrobatic
skill. The sawdust rings and the beauti-
full horses which cavortsd therein were
the cynosure of all eyes. The children
were vastly amused by the laughable an
tics of as foolish a corps of clowns as
ever came to the National Capital with
a circus. In the brief intervals between
the acts these funUlallers swarmed into
the rings by the score and prevented time
from passing slowly.
To describe with justice all the varied
attractions and difficult feats of horse
manship and gymnastics which were
crowded into the three hours perform
ance would be well-nigh impossible.
Everything was good But then, of
course, there were some of the acts that
were accorded more applause than others.
The first two numbers on the pro-
gramme consisted of various acrobatic
turns executed with marvellous skill by
a score of performers. A splendid feat
of horsemanship was the exhibition of
John o O'Brien, who successfully put herd
of sixty-one horses through intricate ma
neuvres in one of the Sawdust rings The
beautiful thoroughbred animals obeyed his
orders with ain st human intelligence.
The contortioniSss with their wonderful
twists of limbs and body came next and
at the same time WarrenDerg brothers
did a unique juggling act. The tight wire
performance found its best expression In
the work of the Holloway trio. These
clever eQuilibrists did almost impossible
feats on the thread-iike footing which
they trod with the same assurance an
ordinary person would terra fTma. The
japanese presented the usual skilled and
finished performance peculiar to the aero
bats of that race. The next number of
the programme found the sawdust rings
filled with women bareback riders and
after that came acrobatic work of new
variety. Perhaps the most pronounced
and best was that of De Coma Family
who. clad in evening dress, presented a
number of novel turns.
Then for about five minutes there was
nothing but a continual roar of laughter
from the tiers of seats containing the
thousands. The troupe of clowns In every
conceivable ridiculous costume invaded the
circle. All the old gags that have made
reputation and money for the knights of
the powdered face were sprung with good
effect. and there were enough new ones
TO keep the fun from getting dry.
The climax Of the entire performance
was when three big herds OF elephants
ponderously tramped into the big tent
from the menagerie and went through a
wonderful series of tricks. They stood on
their heads and on their hind feet and
acted cleverly that one quite forgot
their huge size They even played musi-
cal instruments and succeeded in obtaining
quite a bit of harmony through the effort
After a splendid exhibition of flying ira
peZe performance the show closed with
number of novel races. Ponies, chariot,
Roman standing. and clown races made
an exciting finale for the most excellent
performance.