Okolona messenger. (Okolona, Miss.) 1900-current, 1905-04-26

are TO be no more circus street parades Thus from
an entirely unexpected quarter comes the final en-
croachment upon our cherished privileges. James
A. Bailey apparently has deserted the small boy for
the auring prospect of greater financial gain held
out by the corporate organizers and he says that
the circus parade Is no longer popular. What
reasonable untruthI
II there is one thing that has survived the wear
Of time and the constantly shifting processes OF our
national development, 1t is the circus parade
What the glittering pageant OF strange beasts and
beauteOus equestriennes was TO our fathers and
their fathers, it fs to us OF the present day. We
don't always brazenly confess this. Those Of us
who go on child borrowing expeditions that social
legitimacy may be lent to our circus gong try to de-
lude ourselves that we are actuated only by philan
thrOphic motives; but we don't fool anybody, and
we know it,
OF al things that come and go on this terrestrial
sphere the circus parade is the spectacle that
never loses its charm. To be sure, the circus
parade has developed in elaborateness and beauty
as the years have passed, but this development has
only argued its own popularity and resulted from
an effort to satisfy tho ever-camOring demand for
more Of good thing.
Nothing could be more popular than circus pa
rade. Does it not bring forth almost the entire
able-boded population Of every city, town and ham
let wherein the tented mysteries spring up in mush
room growth during the silence OF the night Is
not the very apOtbesis OF the circus in ts magnif
cent procession Of weird wonders that stretches its
sinuous length through the principal streets; It's
,ges Of erOciOus beasts that add their blood curd
ling rOars and barks and reptlian hsses to the In
spiring strains OF GA Hot Timeu footed forth
in steamy staecat0 from the running cali0pe9 And
would any circus be complete without the well.fed
gentleman on prancing charger who, from time I'm
mortal, admonished an 0pen-m0uthed pODulace to
sthold your horses II ANTICIPATION Of the coming
Of The herd Of oilumbering eephantsf Who would do
away with the 'barker' on the first big cage who
announces in strident tones that the tfree exhibi
ticn" will Immediately precefe the afternoon per
iofmanoei
Speak softly. Here come the "sacred Knights Of
the Holy Grail, = in tarnished armor, and out from
the chain hoods peer gfimy faces strangely suggest
i've Of Hibernian stakedrivers. Anon the clown in
bis donkey cart, like transit star almost obseured
in nebul0us constellation Of American small boys.
Ahh-h.hl There is a tiptoeing and craining Of
neckss Tor behind the langud camels and the de-
iected sacred COW Is q dazzling division Of eQues
trIennes II lurtd dress and dancing plumes that
caused Wild and envious hart throbbings among the
demure school maidens on the side walks. TO be
sure, they are not happy appearing band OF W0m-
en-. There are all too many dropping lids and neg
leeted locks. Some Of them should long ago have
cast anchor from lies tfu turmoil in the harb0r Of
some Tor She aged, and there ara livid streaks oi
paint On Withered cheeks and fading brow But
what would We earel We know It ia al an allusion
and that behind the tensel and varnish and paint
and blare are wasted lives and world weary men and
women. But is a circus perade just the same,
and We enjoy It,
Z Is not popularf Bah, Mr.. Bailey, you are
wrong. Il ls the one popular thing that has re-
NAMED to link TO the past when the world vas
young and We we're boys and girls and trusts were
as scarce and as harmless IS the spotted elephant
and the baby girah. We appeal for 3 revision Of
your deesion Mr. Bailey, on behalf ol the American
small boy, and be it confessed eve have SONS salt
Of oar youth IN us.'