River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1906-04-05

Night and pas crowd of white trash
shouting, Bryan. Bryan! What's the
matter with Bryant" and the audience
got up on it's hind legs and yelled
that is the white folks did-and then
We marched around tle other way, and
yelled, Teddy is the stuff! Teddy is
dience yelled. Then my crowd me.
pas crowd right by the middle ring
where the elephants mad formed the
pyramid that closes their act, and the
Japanese jugglers were in the right
nand ring, and party of female tun-
Elers, with loW-neckel stockings were
standing at attention IN the left-hand
ring.
There was no intention of having a
riot, but when pa yelled, whats the
matter with Bryan" a negro in my
crowd yelled, 'That's what's the mat
ter with Bryan" and he hit pa over the
head with his Chinese lantern, loaded
with warm hornets nest as big as
football, which had taken fire from
the candle. Pa dropped his lantern
and began to fight hornets, and then
all the white trash IN pas bunch
rushed up and began to whack my
poor down-trodden negroes with their
Chinese lanterns. OF course, my fell
lows couldn't stand still and be
mauled, and the candles had warmed
our hornets nests SO the hornets were
crawling out to see what was the trou
bic. Then every negro whacked a
white man with a hornets nest and
the audience fairly went wild with eX-
element.
The hornets got busy and went for
the elephants and the Japanese jug
glers, and they stampeded like they
never met a hornet before.
The female tumblefs found hornets
on their stockings, and everywhere,
anG they gave female war whoop and
rushed for the dressing room. The
elephants got stung and they came
down off their pyramid and went out
to the menagerie tent trumpeting, and
switching their trunks. The negroes
and the white politicians were getting
.nto a race war, so the circus hands
rushed in and separated them, and my
negroes found that the fetty I had
them rub on themselves did not keep
the hornets from singing them so
they stampeded.
Then the hornets began to go for the
audience, and the women yelled muir
del and pulled down their dresses to
cover their shoes, and the men got
stung and the whole audience STAN
reded into the open air.
Then / met pa, and he was a sight.
and I never got stung once. The man.
ayers tried to get the band to play
some tune that would soothe and hold
the audience till an explanation could
he made, but somebody had thrown a
hornets nest under the band seats and
Tie horn players got stung on the lips
SO they couldn't play, and the band all
lit out for beer garden. Before !
realized it the show was over, and a
detective that detects for the show had
me collared and brought me up before
meeting of the managers. Pa was
The prosecuting attorney, and told
them that didn't run my politics fair,
cause | had brought IN lot Of ring
ers. The managers asked me how the
hornets nests came 10 be in the Chi
nese lanterns. | told them they would
have to ask the negroes for how was
| to know what weapons they had con-
cealed about their persons, any more
than pa was responsible if his politi-
clans carried revolvers.
They said that looked reasonable
but they believed / knew more abcu+
it than anybody, buc as we had to
pack up the show and make the next
town they wouldn't lynch me till tho
next day. Pa got me 70 put cod cream
on lis stings, and then he said, Hen
merry, you are the limit"