Los Angeles herald., 1905-09-03

Ohio was hoodoo for the circus business
and Kentucky got the whole bunch ready for
long stay at Dwight, Ill, but the agent rout-
ed us into Pennsylvania, and pa has had moth
ing but series of disasters since striking the
state.
Pa gave notice that when we got to his old
home at Scranton, where he lived when he
was boy, he wanted to sort of run things, so
his old neighbors would see that he had got
up in the world since he left the old town. So
the manager gave Pa about 400 free tickets
to distribute among his friends, and arranged
for pa to show off as the leading citizen in
the show. He was offered a chance to take
the place of the clown, the ringmaster or any
body whose duty he thought he could per
form. Pa selected the place of driver of the
Roman chariot with four horses abreast, in
place of the Irish Roman who was accus-
toned to drive the chariot in the race with
the female charioteer, muscular girl who
used to clerk in livery stable at Chicago.
The chariot race is fake, because it is ar
ranged for the girl to win, so the audience will
90 wild and cheer her. so she has to come
bowing all around the ring, The way the job
is put up is for the two chariots to start, and
go around twice. On the first turn the man
driver is ahead, and takes the pole, and on the
second turn the girls ahead, and she takes
the pole, and on the third turn the man is
ahead, and they begin to whip the horses, who
seem crazy, and on the last stretch the man
holds his team back little, and the girl passes
him and comes out a trife ahead, and the
crowd goes wild.
Pa Is Coached
: We'll the master Of ceremonies coached pa
about the business, and told him what to do.
They knew he could drive four horses, be-
cause he said he was an old stage driver, and
when he got in the chariot with the Roman
suit on cleaning with gold, and the brass he'll
met, and the cloth of gold gauntlets and
stood up like senator, gee, 1 was proud of
him, and when he and the female drove out
of the dressing room and halted by the door
for the announcer to announce the great Ben
Hur chariot race, [ got into the chariot be-
hind pa, and told him he must win the race,
or the people of Scranton would mob him.
For they knew these races were usually fixed
beforehand, but since he was to drive one of
the teams, all his friends were betting on him,
and if he pulled the team and let that livery
stable lady win the race, they would accuse
him of giving them free tickets to get them
in the show and skin them out of their money.
Pa said to me: "This race is going to be on
the square, and you watch my smoke Do you
think would let that red-headed dish washer
beat me? Not on your life"
The play is to have little boy kiss the male
driver good-by and a little girl kiss the female
driver good-by, as though they were taking
their lives in their hands. had climbed up to
pa and put my arms around his neck, and
kissed him, and a girl kissed the female, when
the gong sounded, and both four-horse teams
made a jump, before could get out of the
chariot, SO 1 got right in front of pa and
peeked over the dashboard of the chariot, and
gee, didn't we fairly whizz by the poles and
the audience looked like a panorama.
pa cot +he nO1e and kent If and we went