Durango semi-weekly herald., 1901-06-20
THE CIRCUS.

The circus has come and gone and 4
it will probably never again make the
circle. 1t has a few commendab,.
,, features. but that it is on the graft"
no one will deny To be honest +,
is but right to give praise where prajsa
is due. In the first place, the mo.
nagerie portion was bum. In fac,
not worthy the name. but some of the
circus features were Of a superior or
der. Take. for instance, the wire
rope walking and balancing-they
could not well be improved uponAN
The tight rope walking dancing and
somersault work on same was with
out exception as good as anyone eyer
witnessed. The ladder act was also
good. There was no bareback rid.
ing and the clown features were moth
ing extra. Taking it all in all, it was
probably worth so cents. as we cannot
| expect Ringing Brothers shcw in
this section, where Transportation
lcharges are high. but charging so cents
| extra for reserved seats was eytor-
tionate. but as the performers play to
the reserved seat portion many prefer
to be held up in order to secure the
best accommodations.
While there We're no outside depre-
dations, it is quite evident the outfit
is on the fake business. for as soon
as the sideshow opened number of
fake gambling games opened to catch
the unwary 1t is well known that
the sideshow portion of circus is on
the bum and on this principle the man.
|
be easily worked, but Marshal Wick
line was not long in closing the games
and thus undoubtedly saved the gull
ible from losing many Nard-earned dol
lars. No reputable circus will permit
gambling games inside it's tentS-,but
the Great Eastern is not of this 6lassS
After the games were closed various
other schemes wer, pot in operation to
work the unsuspectmg.
One man. n Mexican. bit at some
game. He apparently won $25
prize. but the fakir said he could not
pay unless the man in question exhib-
tied $50 as an indication that he had
money to lose. The Mexican pulled
out a $50 gold piece. whereupon the
fakir snatched it and skipped out.
I
gambling would be allowed and the
guilty parties would be arrested.
Again in the evening. after the cir
Gus opened in the big tent, the rob-
bing games were re-opened in the side
shows. The usual number of boost
ers Were on hand. One laboring man
dropped $31.
Even the management was mp to
high-handed methods. One of them
stopped at the Strater and yesterday
afternoon he stepped up to the desk
Miss Mashburn being behind the
counter. He espied revolver in one
of the key boxes and remarked:
please hand me my revolver" point
ing to it. OF course Miss Mashburn
supposed it belonged to him and Of
once turned it over. She later told
Mr.. Stilwell about it. and come to find
out. the weapon belonged to Charlie.
the circus man not having left gun
in charge of the hotel Marshal Wick.
line was notified and the circus mau
turned over the gun.
There is no cause to spend much
sympathy on those who get rohbet
by circus fakirs and their games. The
Herald warned the people to beware
of the one here yesterday. But there
are those who will bite They would
not take chances at winning money at
straight gambling proposition, but
when they observe some fakir with
game that appears to them to be
cinch they cannot part with their
money quick enough to find out that
the cinch part was delusion and
snare.
The Great Eastern circus Is nothing
more nor less than for the purpose
of working the people. Necessarily,
some good features are given. but
when towns are visited where police
regulations are slack and the people
gullible. they get in their work in good
shape. But it is quite evident the
management did not take out much
Durango money. In fact. they left
some of the Doodle secured in other
towns. The leaders love to toy with
the tiger and in Durango they were
singed. Sunday night, it is said. they
quit little ahead of local games but
yesterday afternoon and evening luck
was against them and as conse-
quence one of pur sporting houses is
$1,000 ahead. while all the others laid
by goodly sums. Not only was the
local supply of cash blown in but re
sort was had to express money orders.
All the head push spent money in ad
dition to necessary expenses over two
days.