The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1906-11-10

/ well OF SNtn Us the klNBuNIl OF tlost
Here was the smooth politician cleo
tionee,lng with the farmer The wo-ds
and phrases flowed from his lips in a
steady stream and withcg. any seem
ing effort Ills whisle occasionally
ierked systematically. I suppose ocoss-
ioned by the promises he was making III
YOU will vote for me- Politics on a cir
Gus dag Is rather like the trade OF the
peanut and taffy man-plentiiu' AID
cheap. and mostly "tany"
Whole families. the dogs and-weH
saw no cats, were represented. Crowds
OF happy laughing school girls rushed
here and there. pushing and showing.
Understand did not push nor shove.
merely drifted along. looking for some
thing new. Some negro gi-ls, whose ar
ray brought TO mind the question "And
Solomon in all his glory was not ar.ayed
like one Of these" rudely jo.uei every
aasserby The quiet country negro gazed
Iawe-stricken at the mighty throng A
flashily dressed young fellow whose eyes
did not meet yours but for a moment
clustered through the crowd. would
not give fifteen cents for a purse " he
got chance at g. Then saw the sneak
thief who with furtive look cage -y
awaited an opportunity 20 ply his nefari-
Gus profession. The balloon vender was
liberaiiy patronzed by tine youngsters.
Squea0ing balls squeezed by noise-loving
boys helped the noise along. Gay cos
tumeg OF en- descriptions a1d oolors OF
the spectrum flashed her anj there.
rhe handsome tailormade Costumes Of
group Of society bellies looked conspicu-
GUS pleasantly so. among the shabbiness
, Of the crowd. sedate m itrons, taking
, the children 10 the ci-cus," moved slowly
along.
IA! ra, RAJ The buglas blared The
bandmaster held " his baton. Crashl
. And the pa ade wa3 here hled me
jown TO ms group Of country girls and
awaited Developments" They came in
i a hurry The parade Was on oh
: ookey yondcr at that there elephant"
'O-o-o" interlarded with questions
exclamations. JOS wonder, and all the
gamut Of human expression passed over
: thei- faces IA the few minutes the pa
, rade was passing. They were animated
interrogation points. The parade was
gone and they went around on the next
! street 50 they could see Il an again.
{ am glad they enjoyed that and some
, times wish / were young again so that
could see it all as they did and il
2 could all be utterly new TO me.
The crowd soon began to go to the
scene of the many widely advertised
wonders but before / tell sou about that
part Of It I must mention a funny little
incident / saw az the pacale was pass
ing. An old German frau, with three
buxom daughters, was in the crowd on
the sidewalk and was very much troubled
because they would persist In getting
near the edge Of the walk ana boxing
up the street. When the iuges blared
, and announced the coming OF The pageant
, the three girls Immediately c-aned their
necks as fa- out as the law OF gravity
would permit. The mother grabbed them
by the arms. saying You ch~7t gets
pack der sidewalk on. an I iorlp,c them.
, but TO no avan. Gretchen. Gretchen.
Wy you no mind go mudde ?" They Lad
- nothing bat eyes To- the parade and II
they heard her il was not evident The
+, OLD mothe- pushed her WAY 20 the front.
funucally urging them 90 get back and
when sine SAW tile elephants passing by.
pushed herself between tho girls and got
; squarey in front Of them. where with
!. arms akmbo and mouth wide open she
1 sta ed for AN there was 10 it. sha was a
4 .comical sight dressed as she was In
the traditional short skirts. basque.
woolen hood and handkerchief folded
4 around her shoulders. WAat stuck me
4 particularly was that ahe was very anx-
lous that Gretchen and the othe threa
girls should not get TOO rea- the street
and yhe when she got glimpse Of Il,
was tho most eager and the funniest
looking sight Of all
decided not to go 10 the afternoon
performance as everything looked more
"gllttery" and "circus ike IN the eyen-
ing 90 about 1880 / hied me 10 the great
tent where 50 many wonder. were 20 be.
An obliging manage took me behind the
scenes and / met an the iady performers
who were 10 do the stunt They were
very pleasant. and seemed quite cheer
ful ami happy but l could not but won
der n All the tinsel and glitter did not
get very old to them and II they did not
sometimes wish they had never entered
tie ci-cus life. I asked the question and
was told one that she said eve-y fan
she would never 90 back into the life Of
a circus performer. but that In the
spring when they began to get together
70 go on the road, some fa-cinatiOa drew
her back. II Is a Bohemian life. and a
Iie IN MAlch tAefe 81 nlth Altaih on
the nerves One little stunt onlg, PEE
haps. each night, but a s'ip o. a blunder
means either sudden death or 10 be
MANNED for ne.
81 was az last behind the scenes" ai
the circus and my curiosity MAS satcd.
! bad seen the whole show. Crowds So
Z the seats outside were anticipating Tho
sights they were soon 10 see. hut were
they thinains of an the work uo-
trouble. petty ieal1usies dange- that
( we're rearas ated to02
AS 20 me moral side " circus ~
1 was assured that evening that thcy were
(. q pretty clean set and aho the Old time
4 record. Public opinion has denandei
that ihia BE- theease and Il B t-ue alsq
4 n aii classes of hnusemeet compauies
AZ b good ~ world any paL
And specially ~ 81 clfcx aay.