Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-05-14
BIG SHOW TN TOW N
PERFORMANCE AT BARNUK q
BAILEY CIRCUS TODAY.

circus this afternoon included too many
wonderful features to warrant mention OF
them all in detail. Acrobatic and riding
feats galore by ring artists OF international
reputation; educated and hgh-jumping
horses; clowns who have made millions
laugh, and, above all, the daring aerial dis
plays, which, In double and twisting eomer-
saults In midatr, were responsible for sew
eral sorts of thrills, that caused the i'm
mense audience to give vent to all man
ner of sound manifestations from high Z
shrek to a basso profoundo moan. But
nobody was hurt. and everybody recovered
nerve and breath at once. and went home
happy.
As everybody goes to see the circus ana
the long catalogue of wonders 1t is well
not to be too greatly astonished, however
astounding any one or many things may
be. for in going to Barnum & Bailey's big
show one enters the realm of marvels In
ad5ectives In acts and animals
Big Is the word. There are Synonymous
terms, such as immense, prodlgious, tre-
mendous, enormous. and. dropping. as It
were, from the main tent to the side
show, still others that suggest conserva-
tism and do not reach, such as large con-
siderable. extensive, comprehensive; but IL
it is desired to involve in one round sound
the whole abstract conception of many and
much and number and degree, and adopt
oping word, big" is the word.
Date of First Show.
So 1t may now be stated that yesterday
In the early morning eighty-seven carloads
of Barnum & Bailey's big show arrived in
town. If it is true that the year TIC B. C.
marked the date of the first Olympic games,
1t is also historically true that the Romans.
celebrating the Greek festivals. created the
" nj he Ga1w
linus. 1,S75 feet long and 625 feet wide.
with a seating capacity of liz, 600 persons,
which Caesar enlarged and Nero and other
amiable emperors used athletic arena
and giadiatorial slaughter pen was the
then greatest show on EARTH From that
day to this the circus. in forms and fashion
as various as the whims of men, has made
Its appeal to pleasure-loving humanity, and
ilized land, by rich and poor and old and
young, the high and low and grave and
gay.
Sunday as 1t was, there was much doing
yesterday at the circus grounds-but moth
Ing happening beyond essentials. To the
observer the most striking thing about the
tireless and almost ceaseless activities Of
the army of more than thousand employees
and performers Is the marvellous system
the watchword of the work-which reduces
every necessary or contingent movement to
question of minute, and every duty to
practically absolute accuracy in the division
and balance of responsibility. There is re-
sponsfbie head for every department. and
the departments are many. There is a cap
tain of the horse. for $50 horses are to be
worked and trained and fed and eroomed
and, with the assistance of three veterinary
surgeons kept fat and sleek and fit as thew
all seemed yesterday A commissary. with
butchers and bakers and cooks and walters
that serves 1900 meals daily and each man
doing the right thing at the right moment,
ianciudlng those who eat the meals. identi-
nf
GATE by heads Of departments is no small
family affair 1t Is like feeding a regiment
IN the army, except that the circus does 1t
peter than the army. In brief. there are
menagerle men. horse men, wagon men.
tent men. twenty-three advance agents.
iorty property men, bookkeepers. inter
prefers Red Cross department. with
physician and four nurses; secret sery-
ice department., to protect at once the show
ana the public-in fact, aids and helners and
trainers of every color and cline. including
the SHOWS own attorney, its own nostnan
anu It's own rain doctor in the office of pri-
vate weather forecaster. A show must he
Dig indeed that makes provision for COM
Iortabiy seating IA 1892 people.
Street Parade Omitted.
Nine cogent reasons from the viewpoint
.! the circus and the public are given by
the management why the street norod.
was eliminated. 1t is said that the sue-
OF the emperor Of Germany to Mr. RaiIev
when the show was in Berlin. that i9f ~.
management gives the parade on the
streets large numbers of Berltners will
NOT go into the tent" But the chief rea-
son for emitting the parade Is the Fat
that Its omission benefits the performance
IN that 1t avoids the exhaustion to live
stock and performers that surely results
from the long street journey, and a late
parade means a late performance Then
there are other good reasons but thew do
not count, as the management gave a free
outside show this morning from 10.30
until IL CLOCK, and an other from to $50
O'Clock. and will do likewise tomorrow
The first regular performance was given
at o'clock today, and there will be an
other at this evening. The hours for
tomorrows performances will be the
same.
The menagerie also Is as big or bigger
than the biggest-elsewhere, for 1T con-
sists of 216 rare animals, including twen-
ty-four performing elephants and Tour
high headed, hfgh-priced giraffes Yester-
day crowds went out to see the show un-
load and get in shape for action. Disci-
pine, order, system and perfected detail
were evident everywhere. Several years
ago one of the most distinguished states
men in America attended a Barnum &
Bailey circus performance here, and turn
ing to his party, said:
do you know that 1t requires more
real executive ability to run one Of these
great shows smoothly and successfully
than it does to conduct the government
of the greatest state In the Union?"
Before the parades were omitted 1t cost
the circus about $4,000 a year in dam
ages. chiefly from runaways by gill
horses as they are called, that on CATCH
ing a glimpse of the elephants and camels
would make for the country and the tall
timber, for there are "Rubes," say the
circus people. among horses as among
men.
When the foot phalanx of the menagerfe,
composed of long line of elephants and
canels in columns of twos, marched from
the train to their tent yesterday. preceded
by quiet. determined looking man on
horseback, who for more than thirty years
has been the animal autocrat of the ag-
eregation, one was reminded Of the pa
rade to Noah's ark. wherein, it is declared:
1.-THE animals entered two by two.
The elephant and the kangaroo"
Great Demand for C. & s. Ice Cream