Arizona republican., 1903-10-06
AN AGGREGATION OF WONDERS
Ringlings' Circus the Biggest and Best
 of All.

Ringing Bros. have delivered the goods. They violate no confidence the | public has reposed in them when they | advertise the greatest circus and men agerie of Inc western hemisphere, for its no eXaggeration of the facts. And | 1t IS not only the greatest but the best 1 conducted and cleanest amusement az | gregation that ever assembled under | canvas. In the old days the litho- | graphs that ornamented the bill boards were largely the result of imaginative artists. Everything was advertised and nobody expected to see in the show onehalf the features talked about. But when the Ringlings spread paper it relates not to imaginary wonders, but is faithfully descriptive of the per formance proposed to be given and of the strange and interesting animals that comprise the monster menagerie.
 Therefore when the Ringlings come
 to town everybody else comes to town
 that can get here. They know in ad
 vance what they are going to see, and
 there is always something they have
 never seen before together with the best features of the circus ring that have obtained from the beginning and will to the end; the things that make
 a circus different from a theater. zoo or county fair. In fact, the Ringing circus is all combined and
 more, for it contains as well a horse show that is worth the price of ad-
 mission.
 There have been circuses in this town before that called out large
 crowds, and the last engagement of | the Ringing show was well patronized.
 but yesterday put a shadow over ev- erything in the past. There may have been vacant seats in the enormous tent yesterday afternoon. but if so they | were SO few they could not be seen, | and all round the three rings and the two big stages in the center was a liv- ing, moving mass of humanity. And the evening performance attracted crowd almost as large.
 The best of order prevailed at all | times and there was an entire absence of the disgraceful scenes that ire quently occur around the entrance and the side shows. Every man in au- | thority acted like d gentleman and if | there were those of a different sort | among the vast array of employees they 1 were held in restraint to such an eX- | tent their presence was not suspected. i The oldfashioned idea that a circus | employe must be a half-drunkep
 wretch given to profanity at all times
 is bygone. No profanity is permitted
 and every employe is courteous and
 willing to oblige.
 ] By early morn yesterday everything was hustle and activity at the show | grounds, and at 10 o'clock the big tents
 were up and the parade was ready to | start. And such d parade. None bet 1 ter ever passed through the streets l of Phoenix and none ever created greater enthusiasm. The camel herd
 was the largest ever seen and among
 them was a colt that divided atten-
 tion with Baby Boo. the infant ele-
 phant. Forty elephants. most of whom
 were in the parade and the rest at
 work moving heavy peraphernalia. 1 The king of the herd was a monster
 beast, the father of Baby Boo, with
 about ten tons of meat hide and bone | to his credit. There was another near 1 ly as large and the rest were of vary | ing sizes. The gorgeous trappings of | the parade which reached the whole | length of the city and almost back
 again. the dozens or bands and the
 gaudy cages, floats. calliope, steam pipe
 organ and over 600 horses made
 pageant altogether too comprehensive for detailed description.
 | The performance. like every other appointment of the big circus, was
 never surpassed in this city, doubt | less never was anywhere. It opened
 with an elaborate extravaganza, illus
 trating the story of the crusades, in
 which appeared scenes from it's start
 ing place in France. at Jerusalem it's
 objective point. and showing mean
 while the knights of the olden time in l al tha:, al fr-ar Tn
 closing scene of this production which
 requires about 400 people, a ballet of
 probably 150 dancing girls appeared | before the throne for the edfication of | the king-and the people of Phoenix. l Attired in costumes of oriental splen- | dor and dancing with grace through | half a hundred evolutions the scene f was one of spectacular grandeur. 1 Then followed the usual circus pro-
 gramme of horseback riding, tum-
 bling, trapeze work, juggling. tight rope walking, equilibrist exhibitions.
 dancing horses. trained animals of all
 sorts and the amusing antics of forty
 or fifty clowns running here, there and 1 everywhere at any time and all the | time.
 In the matter of trained animals es-
 pecial mention of the seals should be | made. lne1r eQucdllOn IS HlarNeIOuS.
 Previous exhibitions of trained seals ! have been seen here. with musical and
 other tricks. but the performance yes l terday not only included the seal band
 but some very scientific juggling was 1 done The way a stupid looking and
 aWkward-looking seal would catch a large hollow ball on the end of his | hose. balance it for d time, repeated 1 ly throwing it up and catching it again
 without a miss, finally tossing it to an
 other equally as expert was most sur- l prising and no doubt marks the great est feat of animal training. Of the | tumblers. equestrians and athletes of
 all sorts only general mention can be
 made. for there were three rings and 1 two stages and something doing all tha l time. No man could see it all in one l day and unless he did he could not do l justice in its description.
 PRAYER MEETING EXTINCT IN | LONDON.