Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1901-07-03

II - AAcAu ~
You may talk about your city circus
goers," said the old circus man, but
| the Indian, the wild, untutored red man
OF the plains, has got them all beaten
to death. There's no circus goer in the
world like the North American aborig-
Inc. He will travel farther, endure
more privations and skimp himself
harder 10 get the price of admission
than any other human being in the
world. What's more. l believe he real
| ~ enjoys the circus better than the ne
gro, though he doesn't make any fuss
over II.
1.-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 n ticket.
After the negro comes the Chinaman.
The MeXicans, too. are not slow I'm re-
spending to the toot of the calliope. The
LATEST greaser on the Texas border,
who never paid n debt In his life hobs
up promptly on circus day with his 80
cents, though nobody knows where he
got it, But the Indian is the greatest
circus fiend of all.
"In the west our circus Is known
among the Indians as the heap big
brothers show 1t 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 II is a 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
in this way gets money for his own ad-
mission ticket. His squaw brings will
low baskets and has TO hustle for her
own ticket. They generally come in
couples astride of a 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 I'm 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
| knickknacks 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 u good part of the
arena, and they never move during the
entire performance. Applause is I'M
known to them. They make as little
show of enthusiasm as their brothers
I'm 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
would make no more show of surprise
than If they were nodded from clay. If
the performing mule were to walk out
on the hippodrome track and make
concert announcement in the Indian
tongue. they would only grunt.
After the show is over the chiefs
proceed to fill their skins with the
white mans firewater. and the squaws
with the papooses wait on the lumber
piles till the gray streaks begin to
sprout over the hills. when the I'M
steady train winds out of town over the
trail.
"Along the Pacific coast the China
men are among the firm friends of the
circus people. Like the Indians, they
are good patrons of this particular
show. In San Francisco at least $4,000
Cinnamon saw the circus one season.
Some Of them came in coaches drawn
by handsome horses, and they sat in
boxes. Monaghan merchants worth
their millions gave matinee parties, the
men wearing richly embroidered gowns
and the women clad in costly silk cut
not in the form OF dresses. but as n
man wears his broadcloth. At one
matinee given I'm the California city
5000 Chinese and fully 1000 Japs at
tended. The remaining few of the
spectators were Americans. The Chi
naman is as undemonstrative as the
Indian. He expresses his appreciation
OF the performance by attending time
after time.
Probably the strangest mixture of
people that ever attended a circus was
found beneath the tent of our show one
day at Tucson. a. T., when Indians,
MeNlSanS, BTedseEs, JdpS, ntBIOeS' OHi-
nnmen and a few American cowboys
fairly packed the big canvas arena and
sat promiscuously mixed over the blue
seats. Though the Cinnamon and In
dams are undemonstrative, the cow
punchers, Mexicans and negroes made
as much noise that day as was ever
made at frontier massacre. The cow
boys yelped like a pack of coyotes
when Mime. Noble rode the bucking
horse. the Mexicans yelped at every
act. and the negroes laughed at the
clowns till the earth shook. That night
the cowboys and greasers turned the
town into a shooting gallery. emptying
their revolvers at the stars and mani
Testing their sorrow at the departure of
the circus by licking up all the refresh
ments in the town.-Cleveland Plain