The Norfolk weekly news-journal., 1904-11-04
FINE YEARS WITH CIRCUS
MOSES MlHlLLs OF NORFOLK is
HOME FOR WINTER
HAD MANY wIeRo EXPERIENCES
only One Man Killed with the Show

Only One Man Killed with the Show
This Year, Which is a Remarkable
Feoord-For Him They Had a Fu.
neral in the Circus Tents.
After having Travelled for FIVE years
| with the circus which belongs to his
nephew, Walter l.. Main, Moses Mihills
of this city has returned to Norfolk to
| spend the winter at home with his
family ON Phillip avenue. During
! those five years, Mr.. Mihills has had
a round of experience with human
nature which could never be secured
anywhere outside biz circus.
During the year just passed there
were no serious accidents in the cir
Gus. Not one wreck occurred with
| the trains, which was considered quite
a remarkable fact for years run.
Two of the cages were turned loose
one day, liberating the animals, but
this only caused ripple in the every
| day excitement of the show. One man
was killed, which was thought to be
a very small number when the fact Is
considered that the company carries
$50 persons from town TO town many
of them doing dangerous stunts every
day of their lives, two times.
The man who was killed was a driv-
cr ON one of the big canvas wagons.
! He was ioltcd off his seat in the box,
! fell beneath the great, fiat wheels and
] ~ g. 10 EgiV VN
weight of the vehicle passed over his
| body. The show people held a funeral
that day for old Tom. as he was
known, and his remains were shipped
back to his old home in New York
state. THAT night" said Mr. Mihlls,
there wasn't. any mirthful concert af.
ter the show. True, the annex the
after-part-the best part of the show
was on the program as usual, but the
| ticket sellers didn't cry out their little
! pasteboards with so hngy a voice,
the actors didn't dance quite as joy
! fully and the singers had tone of
| pathos in their voices which was quite
! unknown upon general occasions"
And even the horses which the old
fellow drove, seemed to miss Tom the
next day, when he didn't appear to
| harness them for duty.
Mr.. Mihills was auditor for the show
and his duties kept him at the big
! show entrance, where everybody
passed in. At that post he was able
to get a view of human nature which
| aVnn tho nplitirion r,inLt AMY, H.,
saw the rich and the poor, the young
and the old; the handsome and the
! uGly-all went to the circus when it
came to town. in the same way. And
all seemed to enjoy the performances
about to the limit-for the Walter l..
/ Main shows put up good performances
afternoon and night
There were the liberal men and the
penuriOus who passed through the
| tented doorway and came under the
| Norfolk mans view. There was the
the man who tried always to beat the
ticket salesman down, and tried to run
his small boy in for nothing at all; and
then there was the big hearted, gen
erous fellow who didn't care whether
he saved his money or not, just so
| long as he had good time and gave
that to his family.
On Sundays the show would drop
into the new town early in the morn
ing and put up just enough canvas to
cover the people and the menagerie
On that day they all took a holiday
some of them went to the hotels for
their meals-a luxury unknown on or
dinary days-and some of them held
services of their own The actresses
| generally did their sewing on that day,
as it was the only day of the week
they had for that.
The day with the circus got to be a
routine affair-it was always the
same, and yet always different The
show went to bed in the cars at mid
night, woke up in new town, went
to the grounds and ate breakfast off
of the big fire. Then they dressed for
the parade and by that time it was
dinner After dinner the big show and
the kid" show went on, and there was
hustle everywhere to get into the