Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1901-12-11
CIRCUS CHILD'S SCHOOL.
NO LONGER A MATTER OF BRu-
TALlTY AND HARD USAGE.

The Little Performers Trained without
Either Correction or Coercion - Must
FIRST Get Them Interested in Their
| Work--Devices for Saving Life and Limb
Brutality was the characterizing
feature of the old school Of Juvenile
training among the showmen of the
past" The speaker was William Mar
tell, heal Of a well-known family of
ecrobatlc performers. "The new meth
cd is the opposite" continued the per-
former. i have accomplished results
that have delighted the public, and
never yet have | raised my hand,
either in correction or coercion,
against the little ones whom l have
trained to DO the most difficult feats.
In fact, in spite Of the prevailing con-
tinental notion that juveniles must be
hammered into shape, as it were, and
cuttings and blows are the necessary
lot of aspiring acrobat, | believe that
by the more scientific, and certainly
more approved, method, higher
standard OF excellence may be at
| tanned.
las for myself, | may say l was
hammered into shape, but by no means
as brutally as many that have known.
/ 1t may be that recollection Of the bar
barrie methods has made me more len.
lent, and at least more enlightened
in the training of Juveniles today.
cat five years of age l was a Ger
man turner. At the age Of ten l was
| so proficient on the bars and trapeze
that a Snowman Immediately offered
to train me for the profession. 1t
was against my parents wishes, but
the glamour OF the showman's life
encouraged me to win my parents con-
sent, and | was taken in hand by my
trainer for better or for worse.
at was some years before | became
accomplished enough to make pub,
lie move, and bitter years they were.
But with my first public performance
took on a new lease of life, as it
were. and felt myself on the high road
to wealth and fame.
when l was married and little ones
came into my care it was my one
thought to make them accomplished
acrobats, and to do this by method
radically opposite to those conceived
by showmen to be the only sovereign
method-infinite patience and pains
taking.
Children are marvellously suscep-
tible. The first thing necessary is to
make them interested in their work.
This is done by showing them the re.
wards of success and by inspiring abb
solute confidence. The confidence Of
child is a wonderful thing and well
worth cultivating.
by the old method, when child
made a slip he got a blow with
stick as we'll as a hard fall This
either took the courage out of him
or drove him to desperation so that
he made daring leaps and plunges
through sheer recklessness. By the
new method, to avoid accident is the
main feature. In all my training of jul
veniles | cannot recall a single acci.
dent of any seriousness, for the rea-
son that watch every move and take
every precaution, thinking of many
things at once. When a child learns
to stand erect on my shoulders as !
go whirling around in circle on the
high wheel, if l see that there is going
to be a fall l let everything go in
order to save the child. The little
acrobat soon learns that this guardian
eye is ever upon him, and he gains
confidence with every effort.
There are many devices for tho
saving of limb and life, of course.
These used in training. even when
there is reasonable belief that pro-
ficiency might be attained without
their use. One of these is called a
mechanic 1t is a sort of body har-
ness which leaves the arms and legs
free, and from which a rope extends
to pulley on the ceiling, thence along
some distance to another pulley and
down into the hands of strong manip-
ulator.
when the child is standing on an
others shoulder and whirling around
| in the three or four high as we
term the acrobat upon acrobat trick,
! If he wavers or falls the man at the
rope has but to pull the rope suspend
ing him in midair or letting him down
to the floor softly. The mechanic is
then very valuable aid to juvenile
/ training and aids in inspiring com
plete confidence in the young mind.
another safeguard in training is to
! have efficient assistants ever at hand.
Some of the tricks that are accom-
plished-for instance, the aforemen-
toned -four high'-are exceedingly diff
| fcult and dangerous.
"a fall would mean serious things
the breaking of limbs and, perhaps,
/ something even more serious an utter
loss of confidence on the part of the
child performer. After the little fel-
| low has learned to balance himself
aloft without calling too much upon
the man at the rope, the mechanic is
dispensed with and two trained help
ers follow the act around the stage
with hands ready to seize a wavering
| figure with the first sign of a fall.
| These helpers are never once called
I