The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-08-15
TALES OF THE TROUPERS-
CIRCUS FROM THE INSIDE
Being the Relations funate Who On the
Road With the Red Wagons.

show! oh. it was a sad one! He tried to
MI two rings and shippodrome Nth With apo nd
..The team that attempted the flying return
act had evidently never committed similar az
an hour-they had the whole top to themselves
they came down much to the relief OF the
house. The old man closed them right away.
of them and he kept closing them all the
way west There was nothing doing in the
way of business thru Illinois and Iowa,
on on acc account Of the poor advance brigade.
They Jumped the show from Neliegh, Neb:, to
Deadwood, s. D., and showed for dollar.
the old man shad that season. He took away
$40, 900 when the show left the Black Hills
and we around the show began to think we
would live the season out anyhow.
THAT was In June. We worked east from
the Black Hills by way of South Dakota and
Minnesota. Nothing doing. Those few who
with US and say You fellers oughter have
come last week. or There was big crowd
here the FOURTH and lot of stuff like that
you've all heard
The Ghost Only Hobbled.
I'VE went down thru Wisconsin and Illinois
into Indiana and Ohio with show running be-
hind every week and the ghost walking with
a limp. The old man was pretty we'll in and
the house that was furnishing the aavertisins
to do, so we took on car of grafters at
Cincinnati.
My. but they were a pretty lot. the six
sand dollars a week for having their car
hauled with the train and they did all the
fixing. From that time on it was a case OF
a fight every day and a duck for the car every
night Business in Kentucky was bad and
salaries began to get behind.
| I'VE jumped into Texas and met about every
got back to Tennessee last Of October the
show was sixteen weeks behind in salaries!
Think of that for record!
| 1--WE got into Chattanooga Nov. 1, those OF
| us who hadn't been able to get away. or who
figured that the show might pay up at the
close Of the season just as it had in 1892, and
then the big thing came of and the world s
record for great getaways was made.
I THE next town was Dalton, Ga. The road
we were using had a tunnel between Chatta-
nooga and Dalton and that was where the
old man fixed up his scheme to blk the
dressing room. ~. ,...[
when the show closed that night he came
| ing room will have to go to the hotel to-.
might because there's a tunnel on the ROAD
and we've got to send the sleeping car around
by another route. I've arranged t9r your lac acr
Transportation to Dalton on the morning
train. The treasurer, has charge OF the ar
arrangements.
I Then the Balloon Went Up.
Everybody bit, because they were glad to
sleep in decent hotel bed for once instead
as usually travelled. So We went to sleep
pretty we'll satisfied with ourselves
| THE f1rst thing remember in the morning
was hearing Charley O'Dell, the principal
rider, running up and down the halls and
pounding doors and shouting, at the top OF
gone up she certainly had
"Whiie we slept the sleep of the just and
|innocentSthe old man had gotten busy with the
| Louisvilfe & Nashville wires, had gotten 3
rush order from the chief dispatcher ano
when, we came to Mr.. Show Train-the whole
shooting & match-was going thru some place
/ in Kentucky and was making for the north al
the rate of about forty miles an hour. The
razorbacks and most of the other men hae
lbeen thrown off, too.
Well, l. don't like to dwell on the nex
few aays.5They are sad remembrance tt
a few miles up the road but that didn't d.
US much good. Some Of the boys hat
watches, I among them, and that helped
some Mine got me as far as Chicago which
was making time count. ~.
I'VE dubbed together and took care of tn
women and then most of us slept on bill
lard tables until we could make our get
away. '"Btl Red the trombone player, ant
some Of the other wind TANNERS Joined tn
they had. to- eat Il 1922
II never did know what became of some 0
the gang. Those; of us who got as far nortl
as winter quarters got nothing else. Til
show had changed hands, they told us, an
most Of us were wise enough to rustic TO
a job instead of staying around trying t.
collect 1 confess without shame that
i. worked in, dime museum that winter AM
was glad to get the place. -. . Az
After hearing which melancholy tale the so
ciety gang sang one verse of 1--WE Got a Plac
to Eat; We Got a Place to Sleep" and dis
persed. tGa.> .. 'r.."-- .d5E