Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1901-07-06
THE FUN is A FEATURE.
Forty Merry Clowns EDIIven RIugIIng
Brothers Circus Performance.

Forty Merry Clowns EoIIven Ringing
Brothers Circus Performance.
Fun is big feature of Ringing
Brothers circus, which exhibits in
Davenport Friday, Jdly 10. There
are 40 clowns with this great show.
and the performance they give is a
constant succession of humorous sur
prises. The clowns are not intro
duced as ''fillers," but constitute an
important part of the show. There is
scarcely q moment in the entire pr
Torrance when there is not something
amusing to laugh at At times the hip
podrome tracks, the rings and stages
are fairly alive with these merry fun
makers. and every number on the
program has its accompanying mirth-
provoking little farce comedy. The an
tics of the clowns. interpreted among
the daring feats of serialism, the evolu-
lions of the acrobats and the whirlwind
riding of famous equestrians. keep
the audience constantly hucSuatiDg
between wonderment and laughter.
1t is the children's Wonderland, with
the familiar characters of the nurs-
cry rhymes brought before them in
living reality. There are the tallest
of giants, and the funniest of
dwarfs; giraffes. with the most
wonderful rubber necks, they twist
and turn in a marvellous and ridiculous
way; donkeys that dance and turn
someTsaults; funny fat policemen,
WITH mammoth heads and caps big
cough for hundred ordinary men;
dudes and tramps, Dutchmen and
Irish women, Pantaloons and fat boys
and any number of other laughable
characters. These merry-makers are
never idle, and often half dozen
roaring comedies will be enacted at
one time. At one end of the vast
coliseum track farmer clown. driv-
ing to market, is delayed by balky
donkey, impersonated by another
clown. The farmers friends come to
his assistance, but instead of helping
matters thev tie up the cart and sus-
pend the refractory donkey on the
shafts. This puts a quietus on the
donkey. he is Tundled into the
cart. and the far aer and his friends
trundle the amir al away to donkey
heaven" At te other end of the
hippodrome I Hstic clown is made
the victim of a practical joke. A
mischiefloving clown attaches al
package of firecrackers to the rustic's
coat tail and surreptitiously ignites
the fuse. The next moment the rus
tic is rushing pell NELL down the
trat k, the center of blaze of pyro- |
technics, and followed by the practi-
cal Joker. Another clown intercepts |
the rustic and in his excitement and /
anxiety to extinguish the fire, dashes
a pail of water into the rustic's face.
A big policeman oppo, tunely arrives
at this moment, the mischief makers
scamper away, aud the inof-
Tending victim Is uuceremonious-
ly bundled off to Jail. In the rings
aud upon the stages other clowns
are busy keeping up the fun. 1t may
be clown brass band, playing popu-
lar airs ridiculously out of tune; a
company of burlesque roller skaters,
or an old-time country dance. with
the fiddler perched on table that
finally collapses under his weight;
whatever 1t is, it is timely and laugh
able-a source of delight to the chill
iren. whose merrimenT aud happiness
Is reflected in the faces of their elders
Brothers circus has been so
vastly enlarged this season that it
not only dwarfs all other exhibitions,
but actually surpasses in magnitude
Ind interest anything ever offered
,ven by these up-to-date and pro-
yressive managers. The only giraffe
IN earth is a feature of Ringling
Brothers. menagerie this year.
4