The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1902-01-10
GREAT FALL OF pumPY HumPy

| IAdt he sometimes SPINS a yarn OF the
| old days when he was in the circus bus
| mess with SImonides Patroclus Price
There amt any use going back to the
| particulars OF how / got in the show
| business further than so say that I sold
Up old Pap RockwelIs show for a feed
Dill he owed me, tried the game for
| three performances, and made so much
| money that ] turned the store over to
/ my brother and set out for a professional
circus man. Rockwell cut out and left as
soon as he'd introduced me TO his general
manager-Sim Price. Besides being man
ager Of the show Sim was the clown. and,
| by the way, TO this day I think he was
the funniest clown that ever wore grease
paint.
into partnership. We had a lot of
new posters struck of reading: Rock
/ well-Simpson-Price Great Triple Masto-
don Circus. Menagerie and Hippedrome.
, and with that Understanding title we left
Indianapolis one Saturday night and
struck into the backwcods for ten weeks
] Of one-dsy stands.
Sims morals were above reproach, and
/ his wife-s1lle. Du Barry. the eqaestr1-
enne and bareback rider-was the bright,
particular star CT the troupe.
/ As 1 said, besides being an excellent
/ clown, q good manager and a regular
martinez for discipline, Mr.. PRICE, never
/ called him Sim in those days-was al
ways ready with the cash TO help US out
+ Of a tight place. l used TO wonder at his
/ success in holding onto his money, but as
| his wife made big salary, as salaries
went, and as his earnings as clown al
most equaled my two-thirds of the profits,
! it wasn't so unacceptable that he should
always have ready money.
The only serious trouble we had at
I first was in keeping our troupe together.
(
mostly for drunkenness, I admit. but
always for something. I thought he was
too eSacting with the men. but IN spite
Of all I could say he wouldn't tolerate any
kind of looseness of speech, habits or
manners.
''Well, we were down in West vir-
ginia somewhere doing a one-oay stand
when the town marshal dropped in on
| Sim and me while we were at supper af-
ter the show. He said that one OF our
people had fiim-famrned a number of the
townsfolk right in the shadow Of our
main tent. Sim was furious, Of course.
| denied that any of our people could
practice such fraud, but Price solemnly.
declared that he'd investigate the whole
troupe fer himself. AND sure enough
that night, when the vans were all load
ed he rounded up the whole company,
read an awful lecture about the mar
oAlcA = CpiuJldlllL anu SdlQ llldL II Ie ever
caught any of his employees engaged in
any fraudulent games or even in any
games OF chance he'd spend his last dol
lar prosecuting the culprit. We knew all
of our fellows pretty well then, and l.
for one, didn't believe that any of them
were crooked. But Price was suspicious.
He used to stink around half the time
spotting the men, but try as he might he
couldn't get any proof against them. He
did catch Grif Whelan playing casino
with a bartender one night. and though
Grin was a first-rate elephant man, Sim
discharged him without hesitation. The
worst Of it was that every town we
made after that developed some kind of
a complaint about the circus crook
who had cheated somebody.
1t got so that II was rfngmaster.
you know-I never could tell when to
expect Sim to gallop into the ring on his
trick mule. While We were all performing
in the ring he'd be outside somewhere
prowling after the swindier who was
following us or who was one of our own
people, so closely did he tag our trail
We had plenty of descriptions of him,
too; a half-dozen town policemen had de-
scribed him the same way-short, stout
dark hair and dropping, black mustache.
We had at least three men who came
near that appearance, but incessant
watching had failed to even hint of their
guilt. Besides. they were all acrobats,
trainers or riders. and the frauds were
always committed about the time we
were busiest in the ring.
well one day Sim loitered so long that
it was nearly time for the chariot race
and he hadn't made his appearance. I
slipped out to the dressing tent to see if
he was there, and sure enough. back of
the little canvas partition that he always
kept for his own and his wife's privacy,
he was smearing his face with grease
paint in hurried preparation for his en-
tree. 1 helped him onto his mule and was
buttoning up the back of his baggy pan
falcons when q stranger ducked under
the wall Of the tent and laid his hand on
my arm
Where did that fellow go that just
came in here" he asked me, excitedly
/ told him that nobody had come IN, but
he insisted that a bunko man had skin
ned DR.. Schneider out of 500 not five
minutes ago, and that he had seen the
confidence man duck into the dressing
tent within the minute.
We'll. sirs, poor Sim few into rage.
He was for jumping of his mule then
and there TO help find the long-looked for
swindler. 1 persuaded him to gallop out
into the ring by promising 70 do the
searching myself. and. aided by the off,
Ger, searched diligently.
" 2 were uClIR z INTee-QdY EFalQ at
that particular town, so Sim and I sat
up half the night discussing the scan
dalous doings of the bunko man, who had
now chung to our route for two months.
Sim was almost sick with anger and the
sense OF his Disappointment.
We'll. sirs, just TO show you the au-
dacity Of the fellow. the very next after
noon at the matinee, or rather just after
it had begun, he attracted a crowd Of
men and boys to a clear spot near the
very dressing tent which Sim had just
left TO enter the ring. and shel-gamed
farmer out of $40. When Sim heard that
I thought he was going 10 faint He
made up his mind TO refrain from his
work in the ring until he had caught the
rascal. and. as l was beginning 70 realize
the odium attaching to our names, 1 re-
luctantly agreed that he should not ap-
pear that night.
4 think that night was one OF the best
we ever had so far as the attendance
was concerned. I was obliged, al sins
solicitation, to announce that 'Dumpy
Humpy CHS ring name the famous
clown would be unable 70 appear on
account Of a sudden indisposiuon. Sim
was such stickler for fair dealing he'd
have returned every dollar taken "a i
the people had asked il. But it was a
good-natured crowd ana they stayed for
the show. We never had less trouble.
Every performer seemed to be on his or
her mettle and even the trained animals
did their tricks with extraordinary sue
cess. Mile Du Barry was just at the
climax OF her thrilling bareback act-the
piece de resistance OF the whole show
when I heard the familiar yell q Dummy
Hump. the clown, as he galiope1 furious
II into the ring. IN q fash I realized