The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-08-11
"HEY RUBE!" In. PORTO RICO.
ADVENTURES or A CIRCUS AMONG
OUR NEW Wards.
Their EaSerness for Education shown by
the Way They Rushed Into the saw
dust Arena Everything Else Educa-
tlOnal BEING Free, why Not This. Too:

tl0nal Being Free, Why Not This. Too:
The Tony Lowande circus got into port
yesterday on the steamship Ponce, from
Porto Rico, with the talent all battered up
and the elephant fidgety, and with story
OF fight in the mountains that didn't need
any tinkering by the press agent.
Tony has a press agent even il the circus
does hail from Mexico, and the agent has
real Broadway touch. For instance when the
show first struck the United States island
OF Porto Rico and pitched tents at San
Juan, the press agent let it be known all
over the island that the young daughter
Of Gov Hunt of Porto Rico had fed the
lions with her own hands.
But when the show struck Coamo, on
the great military road, where IL goes
over the mountain, the press agent didn't
have time to pipe anything. He had to
fight shoulder to shoulder with the lion
tanner to save the show.
This Expansion process
Chills me through and through.
For I've been up against 1t hard
Since met you.
That was what Tony hummed yesterday as
he came ashore from the Ponce and greeted
friend on the pier over in Brooklyn.
You see. the Constitution followed the
flag all right" he explained, land the
circus followed the Constitution That's
where we made the mistake of our lives
The circus was too soon 1t should have
waited politely and let few New York
cops go down right on the heels Of the Con-
stitution, and then after the cops had got
used to the climate and located all the side
doors, 1t would have been time for my great,
stupendous and dazzling outfit to have
ventured along the military pike.
why, I'd have given weeks gate re-
ceipts to have had few OF the Broadway
squad along when we struck Coamo. But
twas our own fault. We billed the show
as the great American educational institu-
ton. and the natives, who have got the little
acknowledgements notion hard
and fast, thought we had free graft for
them and that my one-thousand-dollar
an-hour acrobats and fearless lion tanners
were walking over their damn old mount
ain for their health,
Three hundred people, men, women and
children. came into Coamo from all the
little mountain villages near by to see the
show, and the riot began the minute We
asked the first native for so cents to 20
through the gate. We explained through
the only living Alaskan ice eater. who WAS
born down in Porto Rico and knew the
language, that that 80 cents entitled
spectator to box seat, but that didn't seem
10 mean anything TO them, and the row
was on for fair.
The ticket taker. who sometimes does a
turn at eating glass, was down and out on
the first rush of the natives. and he had
the best chance in the world TO bite piet
out Of that mountain while our country's
new wards swarmed along his back and over
his head barefooted.
THE first part of the mob got through
the flap of the tent without ripping any
thing. but the hole wasn't big enough
for all CoaTno to get in at the same minute
They seemed to be afraid they'd los,
some education Of they didn't get in early
so they tore out the sides Of the tent and
went in all together.
Jose Jeffries of Curacao, my contor-
ZIONIST wonder. and Rufino Busta m ante,
the lion tanner from Avenue A, New York,
got back TO back and tried to fight the crowd
both ways But that didn't do muoh
good / yelled TO Bustamante 10 make
the liors roar, and he yelled hack
"Cant, Damn things are asleep
"They are the best lions in the world
A lady could tame them, Why, while
wewere in San Juan, Gov Hunts Ga lighter
but that's another story A was saying,
the lion wouldn't rca" TO scare the crowd,
and when the elephant trumpeted, the
natives yelled with delight and thought
that their free education had begun fer
sure.
My oakewalk musical mules couldn't
stand the racket br oke away and ran
over the mountains, and the trained goats
followed, but, of course, leaped properly
from crag TO crag Everything is regular
10 my show, no matter what the hard ships
are.
1The crowd was everywhere. They got
into the ring, mussed the sawdust and
climbed into the acrobat life-saving net
to rest.
Il asked the (osmo police to do some
thing. and he Seemed surprised He want ed
TO know when school would begin.
Finally Elena Eugenia and Pablo Tejo.
my aerial wonders. got up into a trapeze
without anybody seeing them and dropped
together into the net. That did some
bust ness for us When the wonders struck
the net it sagged in the middle. and row
of Porto Rioan babies that had been laid
along the edges for a nap bounced up into
the air and fell on the sawdust. Their
mothers grabbed them and streaked for
the open.
That helped a lot, for with the women
out OF the way turned all the help loose and
we dubbed the mob away from the wreck
Of our great and dazzling educational
show. The Great Dane did lot of good ,
too, He got samples Of the hind quarters
of about twenty natives and Jacinto Ro-
manot, the glass ball crack shot man,
helped some by shooting into the air. He
filed the top Of the tent full Of holes, but
that didn't matter much, because the canvas
was ruined anyhow and from Goa mo on
the circus travelled under bare poles.
"Xenia Ohio, the only living siren, went
out on the mountain that evening and
charmed back the musical mules with her
voice, so we didn't really lose anything
but the tent"
Lowandss animals were landed at Brook
Ign and his performers at Ellis Island.