Evening journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1888-1932, 1901-08-12
.THEsCIRCUSf Habit.
INDIANS HAVE THE Widest CRAZE
FOR THE TENTED SHOWS.

the Performance, and Third Place
Is Held by Cinnamon.
''You may talk about your, city circus I
goers," said the old circus man, 'but j
the Indian. the wild, untutored red man |
OF the plains, has got them all beaten I
to death. There's no circus goer in the |
world like the North American aborig- /
I inc. He will travel farther, endure /
more privations and skimp himself /
harder to get the price Of admission |
than any other human being in the |
world What's more, believe he real |
ly enjoys the circus better than the ne
gro. though he doesn't make any'fuss |
over II.
''The negro, as every circus man
/ knows, will sell the family cook stove
/ TO get money to see the elephant, but
| the Indian will barter Off his papoose,
| his squaw or even his most cherished
! possession, his horse, to get a ticket
After the negro comes the Chinaman.
The Mexicans, too, are not slow in re-
spending to the toot Of the calliope. The
LATEST greaser on the Texas border.
who never paid a debt in his life, hobs
up promptly on circus day with his 90
cents, though nobody knows where he
got it, But the Indian is the greatest
circus fiend Of all.
an the west our circus is known
among the Indians as the heap big
brothers show It is the only circus
that attracts the red man, and he waits
for its yearly appearance as confidently
as he awaits the return OF spring. In
MissOula, Mon, one of our regular
stands, fully one-half of the audience Is
made up Of Indians. They come from
as far as 200 miles on horseback and
even on foot, starting on their long
journey days before the circus date and
arriving promptly on the morning Of
the day of exhibition.
ION circus day it is n case of every
man for himself with the Indians. The
lord Of the tepee brings enough trinkets
in the shape Of moccasins and bows
and arrows TO peddle around town and
I'm this way gets money for his own adj
mission ticket. His squaw brings will
low baskets and has to hustle for her
own ticket. They generally come in
couples astride of n pony, and If the
market is overcrowded with Indian rel
les they will sell the nag.
"When the show trains arrive in
these western towns early in the morn
ing 200 and 300 tents have already been
pitched by the Indians, some of which
have arrived the night before. Their
little colony is almost as interesting as
the circus itself. 1t is a veritable ba-
zaar of relics and papoose exhibitions.
. While the old squaws are getting
> breakfast the children are playing
games and the chiefs are taking their
lnickSnaclls to the market They are
the first ones after the doors of the big
tents are opened to land on the blue
planks. They fill a good part Of the
arena, and they never move curing the
entire performance. Applause is I'M
J known to them They make as little
, show of enthusiasm as their brothers
in wood in front of the white mans CT
gar stores. If the trick elephant were
to climb the center pole, they would no
doubt enjoy the performance, but they
n would make no more show of surprise
e than if they were nodded from clay. II
s the performing mule were to walk out
e on the hippodrome track and make a
II concert announcement in the Indian
!. tongue, they would only grunt.
.e "After the show is over the chiefs
Ie proceed to fill their skins with the
a white mans flrewater, and tn squaws
Il with the papooses wait on the lumber
a. piles till the gray streaks begin tC
re sprout over the hills, when the un
.e steady train winds out Of town over the
trail.
u "Along the Pacific coast the China
n men are among the firm friends Of the
n circus people. Like the Indians, they
IL are good patrons Of this particular
he show. In San Francisco at least $4,000
ID Cinnamon saw the circus one season
m Some of them came in coaches draw
by handsome horses, and they sat II
boxes. Monaghan merchants WORT
their millions gave matinee parties, TIT
er men wearing richly embroidered gowns
lie and the women clad in costly silk GU
n, not in the form Of dresses, but as
B. man wears his broadcloth. At on
% matinee given in the California cit
he 5000 Chinese and fully 1000 Japs at
er tended. The remaining few Of In
spectators were Americans. The CHI
of naman is as undemonstrative as tn
r. Indian. He expresses his appreciatio
as Of the performance by attending tim
a after time.
he probably the strangest mixture {
of people that ever attended circus wa
FER found beneath the tent Of our show on
20. day at Tucson. A. T., when Indian
nd AIexicans, greasers, Japs, negroes, Oh
namen and a few American cowboy
fairly packed the big canvas arena an
sat promiscuously mixed over the blu
II seats. Though the Cinnamon and Il
u dams are undemonstrative, the CO
T punchers, .Mexioans and negroes mao
Ia as much noise that day as was evl
made at a frontier massacre. The COY
ns boys yelped like a pack Of coyot
TX, when Nine. Noble rode the buckiI
OF horse, the Mexicans yelped at evel
lne act, and the negroes laughed at Il
90 clowns till the earth shook. That mig