Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1902-07-19
THIS IS RINGING Day
Big and Popular Circus Pays
Its Biennial Visit to Mar.
shalltown.
Hard to Realize That the Pres.
ent Aggregation Grew From
Show First Here.
Something OF the Circus and
What 1t Costs for Its Daily
Maintenance.

Old residents of Marshalltown VIII
remember the city as a small town, an,
who can look back to the days of Wagon
circuses, had a hard time today in real
iZing that the mammoth aggregation o
Ringing Bros could possiblye be thu
outgrowth of what they saw the frs
time they witnessed the brothers per
Torrance called circus here The frs
with wagon show. One elephant con.
Istituted the herd a few smaller animal:
went to make up the menagerie and the
brothers themselves We're the perform.
ers. including the Wire, equine and hip.
podrome acts and even the clowns
| Today a parade twelve blocks in length
gave thousands of spectators only 6
small idea of the magnificent aggre-
CATION owned and managed by Ring
ling Bros.
| Altho the weather was threatening
this morning. and there was nothing
that resembled the king of the heavens
lin sight, hundreds of boys and girls
and a great many grown people, arose
early to witness the sight of unloading
True all had probably witnessed the
work many times before, but there is a
novelty about circuses and circus un-
loading that never fails to attract
AS early as 4 o'clock the first INSTALL
ment of sightseers arrived at the Great
n ,l- ~
| until $50, when the first of the three
trains arrived from Waterloo. The re-
naming two came in sections one half
hour apart. The work of unloading
was begun as soon as the. first section,
bearing tents, cooking apparatus, ETC.,
arrived. Two of the trains were I'M
loaded at Third avenue and the other at
Second. The pilgrimage to Finllle's
park was made via Main street, in or
der that the pavement might be taken
advantage of. The cooks had breakfast
ready to serve by the time all the
trains We're unloaded, at o'clock, and
by 10:3O everything was in ship shape
for the parade.
Thousands Witness Spectacle.
The street parade, which put in its
appearance at First street at II, was
witnessed by thousands of spectators
who lined Main street solidly from
First street to Third avenue, in
tiers five and six deep, to
say nothing of those who were
scattered here and there east Of
Third avenue, and those who witnessed
the spectacle from second and third
story windows. The parade is nothing
more or less than a free performance
and is the real beginning of the enjoy
ments of circus day. T;ingling Bros.
have always attempted to make feat
ure of their parades, and the manner
that they are conducted is highly COM
mendable. 1t is big show in itself,
and perhaps a better idea of its mag
nitude can be obtained when it is
known that before the last section had
rounded the First street corner, going
east. the first wagons We're we'll in their
way to quarters at Finkle's park. In
fact, the congestion was such in getting
the big heavy wagons into the grounds
that the parade had to come to Il stand
still between First avenue and Center
street The horses form one of the
many features of the parade, in fact of
the entire show. Ringing Bros. have
always been noted among circus men
and the circus-going publicgenerally as
owning the finest lot of horses ever
with any aggregation. Two hundred
and seventy-one horses, besides thirty
eight Shetland ponies, We're in the par
ade, and each one was Well groomed
and furnished with the finest harness
money can buy. The wagons shone
even without the sunlight in their bril-
liant gold and silver finisaings, and the
trappings highly polished and as clean
as if they had not gone thru the rain
and mud of Friday at Waterloo. Other
features of the parade We're the four
bands. including the clown and mount
ed musical organizations, the camel
section of nine beasts of the desert
and the elephant section of eighteen
members.
What Circus Costs.
Few people have any idea what a
circus like Ringing Bros costs, and
Will undoubtedly be surprised to learn
that the management pays as actual
expenses each day, including
railroad tonnage, the sum OF $4,000.
The people alone with the circus
would make a small sized army. AT
present there are 1.007 ON the pay roll. |
Of these $50 are performers and actors
and the rest tentmen, horsemen and
helpers. AT noon today The entire num-
per was fed on The grounds under a |
large tent. The workmen also eat
breakfast and dinner--the Ringlings
serve o'clock dinners-on the grounds, |
while the actors take these two meals
at the dining cars on the side tracks |
All day the cooks have been busy and |
rs fine pastry is prepared as could |
oe found at any bakery. The bread |
vas bought from the city bakeries,
800 loaves being consumed each day
It may also be interesting TO know the
AMOUNT of provision used in a day by
his company. According to the chief |