The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1904-10-07

The circus has been here and gone.
Hundreds, yes. thousands. of people
have spent their money and seen the
show. Some thought it very good'
others only fair; and many thought 1t
far below the standard Of a first class
show. But the conditions that existed
yesterday were extremely u~nfavorable,
and in judging the show this should
be taken into consideration.
The show reached town rather late,
and it was we'll into the day before
they got to work erecting the tents.
There was no parade, and this disap-
pointed thousands of people. BY lo
o'clock Front street was a swarming
mass of people eagerly looking for the
first glimpse of the parade. instead
of a parade heaving in sight q lone
horseman appeared bearing the dis
appointing tidings that there would
be TO parade. Disappointment was
written on the faces of thousands OF
people as they turned homeward.
The real disappointment came TO the
children. many of whom knew they
could not attend h show and had
been looking forward for weeks TO
seeing the parade.
MIR. John Robinson stated to a rep
resentative of The Messenger that the
reason the parade did not take place
was because the Oh the
Delgadc Mill wanted to charge them
for driving over a narrow strip or land
thai it was necessary they cross In or
der to reach the turnpike. He stated
that the owners OF the property said
they would charge him in the neigh
borhood of $50. This. he said, he
was not willing to pay for such d
privilege.
Mr.. Robinson stated that it had
been reported that the parade was not
held because the sand was so deep the
wagons could not be pulled out. Th1ss
he stated. was incorrect
The crowds commenced ~thronglng
to the show grounds Sy IL O'Clock.
The main tent has a seating a
of 1000 people. and it was very nearly
taxed to it's utmost capacity. Last
night there were about 1000 people
present.
Of all locations. none could have
heen worse h the n selected.
The sand and dust was something
=. fnarful. 1t cOulu III nave pCSh "OAo~'
and in the tent the people almost
~suffocated, The day was a warm one.
and in the tent it was exceedingly
warm. and this combined with the
dust, made it extremely disagreeaDIe
There were times when the perform
ers could scarcely be seen for the dust
and the horses could scarcely run in
the rings for the deep sand.
With such unfavorab1e conditions
-Inurc nnr16 NOT nave
given a c~reditable performance. There
were some good trapeze performers
hut they a to do their stunts amid a
cloud of dust and were greatly
handicapped.
The show was, all things being con-
sidered, fairly good. There were some
very pretty horses and the hippo
drome races very good. There were
a large nj. .nber of clowns. n they
kept the Ct ildren constantly laughing
The performance last night was
held under conditions new more
favorable. The inside Of the tent hac
been sprinkled and there was not 81
much dust as in the afternoon. The
rings had also been thickly covered
with straw, and this kept the horse:
from kicking UP so much dust ane
made it easier for them to run.
Tried to Evade Tax.
As is so often the case with shows
the one on yesterday absolutely re
fused to pay any city tax The CIT!
tax here is SIS FOR each performance
but they were not willing to pay eithel
the whole of this or a part
Some weeks ago, when the locauo
was selected. the advance agen
thought he had got outside of the cit,
limits. but Mayor Springer called hi
attention to the fact that the o
would b Elm the city and he said if tina
We're true they would pay the requires
tax.
When the tent was being put up yes
terday an effort was made to tell jus
where the city line ran and the ten
was erected. as the show men thought
outside of the city.
Mayor Springer had a conferenc
with city Attorney William J. Bellam
yesterday morning and he gave it a
his opinion that If any part Of the sho,
tents were inside OF the city limit
they would be liable for taxes. Actin
on this advice, Chief of Police Furlon
made a demand on the general manage
for the city tax and he refused to pa
the same, but stated that If a surve
was made and the show found TO be ]
the city, he would pay the tax. Cit
Engineer Matthews was found and I
and Chief Furlong surveyed the Ir
and found the menagerie tent extende
over the city line about four feet an
thirty feet long. When this fact =
established another demand was mac
for the tax, but again the manager II
fused, saying that only a few feet b.
ing in the city lie not constitute Il
entire how and he would not pay Il