The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-12-09
BY THE OLD
i CIRCUS MAN.
The Giant Not Lazy, Though He
Spared Himself Effort
When He Could.

NO., I1C kIcdN BldHb Wdoh Y wa gDu u
call lazy" said the old circus man, -but
still he was a man who saved himself EFFORT
when he could. For instance;
Il guess you remember my telling you
about how the giant once played a bass
horn in our band? We had a horn built
specially for him of dimensions and strength
corresponding to his size and power, and
the giant used to march with the band
playing that horn in our street parades.
his place being at the left hand end Of the
rear rank in the band formation, where he
! and his great horn rose like a high tower
! at one corner Of a low square block.
-Thunders, indeed, the great giant evoked
from the giant bass horn, and he was not
a bad player, though such proficiency "a
he had he gained, Of course, as most men
have TO do, only by practice, and it was
in his preliminary practice that the incident
occurred that l was going 10 tell you about,
bearing on the question you asked me about
whether the giant was lazy or not.
The great horn was shipped to us from
the factory one winter while We were IN
winter quarters and the giant went TO prac-
Using on il right away In h house That
the giant lived in we had made a room "
sufficient and suitable height for him hy
taking out the floor Of the second story
rooms over a large room on the ground
floor, thus making one large room that ran
I'D through two stories. and which 40 had
height enough for the giant to stand mp
straight in with a fair o Of head room.
and then we had cut in one side of this room
a door leading out of doors that was high
enough for him, a door like the scenery
door of a theatre, 30 that the giant could 80
in and out without stopping
We'll, when the big horn came the giant
took to practising on i; right away; and
the blasts he blew on i; were certainly
something powerful, but we never, even
ourselves. living right there with him a.
we did. realized how much power there was
in those blasts until there wee forced on
US actual Tr1of of il.
This house that we had there was \
fat rooted house, with no garnet, the cell
ing Of the giants high room coming IN
right close Under the roof, and in about
a week after the giant got going on tine
he Tractised in his room, OF course,
as he could not very well practise OUTSIDE
in winter-we noticed that the roof on hl1
side of the house, over his room, had been
started up of the side walls, lust hftei
no by the powerful blasts frCm the giants
horn, and then we knew that, If he kent
en- improving in rover as he had been
doing in the asst day or two IL would he
only a question of q comparatively short
time before he'd blow the roof of the house
Oft. Then the old man. resourceful in
every emergency, got busy.
He had a hole cut in the ceiling Of the
giants room, and one through the roof
right over that, and through those two
holes we thrust the volcano end OF the big
bass horn, so that the crater. or bell OF the
horn, would be just above the roof, out in
the open air, where the blasts from II
wouldn't do any damage. OF course.
putting the bell through the roof, like that,
lifted the whole horn up somewhat from
below: but we Offset any inconvenience
that might arise from that by building
up on the floor of the giants room, under
it, a platform Of suitable height. and when
the giant wanted to practise he just steDpei
up on that platform, and there the horn
was as convenient for him as ever.
And this new arrangement worked as
well as could be; and the started roof gradu-
ally settled back into place and everything
went along all right till we had our first
big snowstorm; and then the big horn,
with it's bell open outside there above the
roof. filed up tight with snow
That was something the old man had 70
confess he hadn't thought Of; but that
didn'tb bother him a bit. In this emergency
he was as ready as ever with a remedy.
He had a cover made, a tight round
cover OF boards, like a circular cellar door,
and with a hinge on n side, attached to a
scaffolding built up on the roof around the
mouth Of the horn-a cover for the bell.
to be lifted up and thrown back 70 leave
the bell open when the giant wanted TO
play and to shut down over the bell 70
keep the weather out when he'd got through.
And after that, when the giant wanted 10
practise, he'd just step outside the house
and reach up and throw the lid back from
the mouth Of the horn. and when he got
through practising he'd just step out again
and put the lid down.
Now I'm coming TO what / was going
to tell you about. whether the giant was
lazy or not. and you may think I've been a
long time getting at il, but ] had to give
you all these details in order to make it
quite clear to you.
THAT trap door over the mouth Of the
horn worked perfectly. and you'd have
thought there wasn't anything more 10 be
done about il; but II seems the giant didn't
like the bother OF stepping out to lift the
cover and then stepping out again 20 put
IL back. and finally he saved himself that
effort by a very simple continuance that
was not only con ~ nient for him but that
was really as ingenious as il was simple.
Even the old MAJ said il was good.
The giant made a little pulley block fast
TO the top rail Of the scaffolding on the
roof. at the back or hinge side of the bell
cover, n through that pulley he reeved
n cord. the outer end Of which he carried
down and made fast to the outer or lifting
edge OF the bell cover. Then the other end
Of this cord he carried from the pulley
block down through the roof and into his
iOOHH' anu tucH lie ElBkou dHOtutT NOlu
running from the under side Of the bell
cover. 6nd attached also at its outer edge.
with this cord also running down through
the roof INTO his room.
with one OF those cords. you see, he could
lift the cover of the bell. while with the
other he could pull the cover over and
down. sustaining and steadying il. as he
lowered it, with the lifting cord, so that It
wouldn't slam down after he'd got II
started. n that's all there was 70 II.
simple az could be, but with this ontriv-
ance he could lift the lid of the bell of the
horn and put il back over il just by pulling
on those cords and without stepping out
OF his room at all.
This certainly did save the giant more
or less trouble; but still l don't think
you could really regard that as an ind.ca-
ton OF laziness. No. | should say, myself.
that the great giant was far from being a
lazy man, though he was a man who would
spare himself effort when he could