The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1904-07-08
A CIRCUS MANS TALE

! circus does Eol acludli9 cAAiDle-
Consequently. -Tody" Hamilton, tn
greatest of all the circus press agents
who dropped into Washing ton a eoupl
Of days ago TO see friends there OF tina
city, is beginning to age rapidly say
the Star OF that city.
Gosh, hope that idea doesn'
spread" he said,. in an alarmed tone
commenting on the measure before th'
Virginia legislature. Il do for faet
AS il is, if the bill goes through. | sup
pose the greatest show on earth, which
have the honor to represent. will have
to duck Virginia during the coming sea
son. The man who introduced that Dill
must want a powerful big so cents
worth. Great Scott. if They'd fine us only
$40. instead of 500. for each thing we
advertise and then don't show up with,
it would cost US about $4,567 ,S91-66 10
out I'D the tents in every town we struck.
Circus posters are not meant to be taken
literally. They're just pictured airy per-
sifage, as it were.
But they do take the posters literally
In the wayback regions. Most OF the
Hey, Rube.' battles between the merry
villagers and the circus men have been
caused by the circus failure to exhibit
features that were advertised merely
in a Pickwickian or if-such-things-
could-only-be sense. Before | had the
honor to represent the greatest aggre-
CATION of curiosities on the habitaDle
globe, comprising etc, ETC.. | did the
press work and the experimenting OF
the bill boards for considerably small
er circus. Well, the big show was then
exhibiting the white baby elephant. and
of course it was up to us to fix up white
baby elephant, too. We did. 1t went
with a rush for awhile, that baby ele'
plant, but. after about two months the
many thicknesses of white lead applied
to the baby elephants hide began tc
poison the poor little pachyderm pup W
some, and it looked so sad and done ur
over the closing up of its pores with
the paint that we decided we'd have tc
let up on him for awhile. We were in
rhe mindle OF Georgia when we reached I
this decision. On the day we failed tc
exhibit the marvellous white baby ele.
)hant, the pet of his imperial majesty
The shah of Persia, the plaything OF
princesses, and sacred to the high priests
If the great temple of La-loop, the fire
king, there was an immediate crouch
IN the part of the populace of the little
Georgia town that had dug up their two
,its to see the show. They demanded
he baby elephant In loud, raucous tones
Ind when the situation looked serious
he ringmaster had to appear in the
nenagerie and attempt to quiet the
rowd with an explanation.
''The ringmaster's announcement was
eceived with boots and jeers, and 1t wa;
lain that the situation hadn't yet beer
feared. There were loud demands fol
etails as to the nature of the marvellous
yhite baby elephant s illness. The ring
laster, quick thinker, thought he saw
chance to get in one on the crowd.
:" Ladies and gentlemen he an. +
ounced, again taking his stand on tor v
f barrel, the illness of the cherished o
ct of his imperial majesty the shah OF
ersia is due to the fact that last even.
lg, in an unguarded moment, while be. Il
lg loaded on the cars, the tender ami S
al, espying an open barrel of tar, par
ok of the same in such large quaint
es that his system has been thorough.
impregnated and soiled with the for g
gn substance, to which | need not say = :,
, was wholly unused as an article o! e,
ct. Nay, not only did the unwontet in
cal of common paving tar suffuse dis o.
trously the internal system of the pet. q,
d plaything of oriental princesses, bu' A
percolated throughout his entire sys E.
m to such an extent that at this yer,
oment the young and pampered ami
ais hide is as dark as that of any Other
the elephants connected with the
eEagerie, and the veterinaries in at in
ndance state that it will be some
,eks, or until the tar has been com
etely eliminated from the animal. =.
stem, before his coat will resume Its q.
ual milky whiteness.' m,
1T was bold play, that of the ring
aster, but the crowd still exhibited
epticism. They demanded to see the
imal anyway. with its tar-turnet
lite coat They didn't care If the shah'
had turned as black as a stovepipe
" declared, they wanted glimpse o. III
n.
The elephant attendant hadn't quit,
Ished washing the white paint off q 81
marvellous white baby elephant witt
iluted solution of turpentine, but tn,
'wd was impatiently demanding
hit Of the tar-transformed pachyderm
the elephant man led the dopy ans +,
'oping little four-footed chap out into A..
Enclosure. The crowd pressed for ~ IT,.
I'd to see him, and several of then ,ye
ght sight Of some remnants of whit, wa
4 still clinging to the pups long Az rem
VI ears. the
Fake! Fake! It's nothin' bu' IN
Mt! these rubbering individual, ner
vled, and then the cry was taken W "a a
over the tent.
Hey, Rube!' was the startling ant
lificant cry that instantly leaped ur !;