The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-10-17
BIG CIRCUS IS HERE
IT COVERS ALI OF ToDD's SHOW
 GROUND.
Thousands of Montgomerians Waited Tents sunday and Saw showmen At Rest-Hour and Route
 of Parade.


 The largest circus that ever visited Montgomery Is spread out in Todd's field and on adjacent vacant lots. The press agent and the heads of the various departments made this state- ment and thousands of visitors to the grounds yesterday confirmed it.
 Cenrtainiy so far as appearance goes the statement is true. There Is more to Forepaugh end Sells circus and 1t covers more ground than any circus that has played in Montgomery. The biz show reached the city in detachments. beginning at an early hour yesterday morning. It came say that they had most trying ex. perience.
 Tt was the deep sand" explained Captain Shoemate, the tall Kentuckian who has charge of the 67o horses belonging to the big show. We new CT encountered such sand before. IL had been dry In Pensacola as 1t has been here and the soil Is much sand fer Why. the wheels of some of our wagons sank in the sand above their hubs. For xhe first time in many years we had to resort to the ele- plants for draught purposes. To one wagon we had forty horses and two elephants hitched to get to the depot"
 Captain shoemate is one of the many interesting characters who make up the circus. He had been a horseman since his boyhood. He Is Confederate veteran. having com manded company of Kentucky sol- diers. He Is now at the head of the small army which looks after the horses of the show and there is enoueS of them to mount a regiment Their total value would represent several fortunes.
 Their was no haste or hurry yester- day in pitching the tents and making arrangements for the Montgomery stand of the circus. It was Sunday. Managers. workmen and performers had ample time and chance for rest that comes only once a week In tho hurry and hustle of circus mans life Sunday means more than to any one else.
 Only the work that was absolutely necessary was done yesterday. This included the pitching of the big tent for menagerie, the various stable tents as the horses are carefully look ed after as the men, two dining tents, one for the performers and one for the workmen, the cook tents and the farriers tent and the tent for the side show.
 The Todd show grounds in them selves were found inadequate for the staging of the big circus. On the show grounds proper are the main tent, the animal show. and the side show. Room for the other necessary tents were found in lots close by.
 The circus carries two immense wa. tering carts and the first work done was the thorough sprinkling of all the streets leading to the circus grounds. Thousands of people visited ths grounds yesterday afternoon but they were not troubled with the dust. An other thorough springkling will be given the streets today. There will be no dust near the circus grounds. The interior of the tents will be equal iy as we'll sprinkled.
 The dining tents and the cooking tents were in position at noon yester- day and the first meal was served in the early afternoon. According to GUS of departments went to the hotel for the day. This was no reflection up- on the cuisine of the circus, but it was due to a desire to get all possible rest on Sunday.
 One of the first things accomplished yesterday was the establishment of the animal tent. The utmost care Is taken with the animals. They repre- sent too much money to permit them to run any risks.
 Look at that herd of elephants" said J. H. Davis. the veteran circus and theatrical man who is serving the big circus as press agent. There are sixteen of them. immense animals they
 
 carry such a collection of elephants. dare say you have never seen so many camels in a circus as are lined up there. We have in all twenty seven. Those three baby camels were born since the present season began"
 ''The black leopard you see over there has a bad reputation. That Is the animal which escaped from the cage in New York city and killed the attendant who had forgotten to fasten the bars of his cage. He Is shut in fast enough now"
 The management Is proud of its many special features. Diavolo who does the famous Loop the Loop act is the originator of that particular act and strange to say that although three OF four of his imitators have been killed at 1t and a number of others hurt. he has never yet had an acci- dent. Porthos. or rather as the bills say "Prodigious Porthos." is a wiry, muscular downeaster, who conceived and executed the Loop the Gap act. one of the most sensational features ever put in a circus. Tn practicing 1t he had a number of falls but after he went before the public he performed the act 250 times before his first fall at Lexing ngton. Ky. Since then he has suffered several falls, but none of his injuries has been serious.
 Lew Sells, the sole surviving brother of the famous family of showmen is along with the show and is giving 1t his personal attention.
 The parade will leave the show ground this morning at 9 o'clock. It will reach the business part of the city between 9:30 o'clock and 10 o'clock The streets which will be taken in by the parade are Sayre. Catoma, Bibb. Commerce, Court and Dexter Avenue.
 For the afternoon performance the doors will be opened at 1 o'clock and the performance will begin at 2 o'clock. For the night performance the doors will open at p. m. and at 8 D. m. the performance will begin. The hours are so arranged that at least one hour
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