The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1905-12-15

the carpet which shows the power of
brain over avordupois, pa says
The regular keeper of Bolivar heard
he was OF the rampage, and he came
back on the run to conquer MIN, after
pa had got him back in the tent, but
Bolivar looked at him with q faraway
look in his eyes, as much Is TO say;
Seems to me | have met you some
where before, but Il new king has been
crowned and he took his old keeper
by the back of his coat and threw him
toward the monkey cage. The mon
keys gave the keeper the laugh, ana
Bolivar pnt his trunk lovingly on
pas shoulder, and seemed to say; "Old
man, you are 1t. from this time out"
Pa looked proud, and the old keeper
looked sick. The people in the show
are going TO present pa with a loving
emp. and | guess he can run the menag-
erie part of the show.
When the freaks heard Of pas brav-
cry, the fat woman and the bearded
lady wanted to hug pa, but pa waved
them away, and said he liked the Gle
phant business best,
May I'll used to think that il |
could belong to a circus. and go away
with it when it left the town | lived in
that it would be pretty near going to
heaven. | used to hope for the time
when | would get nerve enough to
run away, and go with a circus, and
wear a dirty shirt, and be around a
tent and wash OFF the legs of a spotted
horse with CASTLE soap, and when peo-
pie gathered about me to watch the
proceedings, TO look tough n tell
them in a hOarse voice way down my
throat, sort of husky from sleeping In
the wet straw with the spotted horse.
that they must go on about theil
business. and not disturb the horse,
| had thought if | should run away
and so with a circus, some day, when
| got far enough away from ma, that
| would up and swear, and be tough,
and when | came home in the fall, and
the ~neighbor boys would come around
me. | would chew tobacco and tell
them of the joys of circus life. Well,
maybe ] will some day, but at present
| am sleepy all the time.
We have showed six times the last
week, and travelled a thousand miles,
and it seems as though there is moth
ing doing but putting up and taking
down tents, and going to and from
the cars, and you cant be tough, cause
there is always some boss around to
tell you to look pleasant if you are
cross, and to tell you to change your
shirt or get out of the show, and II
you swear at anything you are called
down.
Pa and | put in a good deal of time
during the afternoon and evening per-
formances, in the dressing room, near
the door leading to the main tent.
That is the nearest to being in an
insane asylum of any place | was ever
in. The performers get ready for their
several acts. in punches or families
all in one spot, and they act serious
and jaw each other, and each bunch
acts as though their act was all there
was to the show, and If 1t was cut out
for any reason, the show would have
to lay up for the season. when in fact
each one is only a cog in the great
wheel, and If one cog should slip, the
wheel would turn just the same. These
people never smile before they go in
the ring, but just act as though toe
much depended on them to crack q
smile. When a bunch Is called to &c
in the ring, they all look at each othel
, as though 1t was the parting OF the
ways. and they clasp hands and go gu
of the dressing as though walk
, ing on eggs, When they get in thu
ring they look around to see II al
eyes are upon them, and bow to PEG
pie who are looking at something go
ing on in another ring, and who don
see them, and then they go through
their performance with everybody
looking somewhere else.
When the act is over the audience
seems glad, and clap hands because
they are polite, and it don't cost any
thing to clap hands, and the perform
ers turn some more flip flaps, and q
running out to the dressing room, ant
take a. peek back into the big tent al
though expecting an encore, but thu
audience has forgotten them and j
looking for the next mess OF perform
ers. and the ones who have just beef
in go and lie down on straw and won
der IL they can hit the treasurer TO
an advance on their salaries, so the.
can go to a beer garden and forge
it all.
An average audience never gets it
moneys worth unless some one is hur
doing some daring act. Pa suggeste'
that they have some one pretend to b
hurt in every act, and have then
picked up and carried out on stretcher
with doctors wearing red crosses o.
their arms, in attendance, giving medi
cine and restoratives. The show trie
q II at Bucyrus, O., and had seven me
and two women injured so they IA
ia be carried out, and the audienc
4 went wild, and almost mobbed tn
dressing room, 10 see the doctors opeI
I ate on the injured. II was such a grea
A success that next week we are goin
k to put In an automobile ambulance