Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1907-05-22

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The old-time wagon show, 'llke our
fathers used to see," is to come back.
Let the trumpets blare and the bag
pipes skirl!
There are many causes for this. One
Is, that while men may come and men
may go. like Tennyson's brook, the
wagon show will so on forever. Gut
the main reason is to be found in the
action of lawmakers, grave and seri-
GUS, at various state capitals and at
Washington.
Inc wagon show thrived like the pro-
verbal green bay tree and was then
supplanted by the railroad show. jun
DO was no longer called on to hoist the
wagon out of the gully into which it
mad sunk while en- route across country,
The boys of the vicinity no longer found
tneir opportunity, astride rail fences in
tne uncertain light of the morning,
when the circus struggled into town,
ana We'd with each other for oppor-
tunity to carry liquid refreshment to
the elephant. Railroad competition
surely and by no means slowly proved
TOO herce. Great circuses could be
moved hundreds of miles while the old
Time show was laboriously creaking
along muddy roads, where the King
drag was thing unknown.
But there is moyemer. toward n
revival of the wagon show. Excessive
freight rates, the scarcity of rolling
stock and the legislation, by states and
nation, against the granting Of rebates
OF making any concessions to circuses
or theatrical companies, no matter how
many people and animals and para
phernalia are transported, are respon-
slble The managers of circuses can
no longer obtain concessions that make
profitable long jumps from one city to
announcer The margin of profit in a
great show is necessarily close and I'M
certain; heart-holdlng acts are high.
priced. competition is strong.
No less an aggregation of circus tai
emf, with millions of dollars at stake,
than Barnum & Bailey's, Is consider
ing this matter. 1t is proposed to
abandon railroads for motor coaches
and vans, to quit the regular steel rails
OF the steam roads for the wagon roads
over which the countryman drives to
the city with his produce. In huge. mo-
tor vans and cars, such as those now
used by large concerns to move freight
to depots and warehouses, it Is pro-
posed to move the show from city to
city.
smaller shows would undoubtedly
follow suit. The old-style wagon show
may flourish as 1t did two decades 400
Many of the wagons will be propelled
by machinery, cunningly contrived. and
hidden away In their Interior. nut
there will be plenty of shows which
from necessity or by rea-ons of econ.
omy, will depend on horses, as of wore
There Is no more Interesting ,inst,t,,l
ton in the world than circus. from
the lieutenant general in command to
the humblest stake driver in the rear
rank Of the privates. The picturesque
ness of a show, particularly wagon
show, does not end behind the scenes
though the bareback riders and the
acrobats, the contortlonists and tbe
Wild animal trainers mingle In ordj.
nary clothes, talk ordinary topics such
as the weather, the size of the dov,s
attendance, the latest bit of Interna.
tional scandal Quitting circus is
just about as small Job as getting nm
army ready to go to Cuba at doy,s
notice, and not die of starvation or be
killed because of inexperience the first
day out.
II anybody thinks getting an old.
styled wagon show ready to quit win.
ter quarters and take to the road is
sinecure, let him buy two or three
dozen head of horses, train an elephant
few camels, give monkey daily
practice in looping the loop strapped
In a toy automobile, show some fifty
negroes how to erect tent so that II
will stay erect. manage n side show. n
u =
menagerle, two rings and platform
and hire few cooks into the bargain.
And the hiring of the cooks is not the
slightest part of the task, by any
means. Imagine hiring one to cook for
125 men and women, hungry and peev.
ish, three good, big meals day, with
the kitchen in new place every day!
After all, IN old-styled wagon show
Is no small affair. Take, say, thirty.
five wagons, for instance. They hold
as much circus paraphernalia as fifteen
railroad cars. One is apt to think Of q
wagon show as a small affair, of one
ring, a dozen performers, half dozen
or SO horses. That was the wagon
show Of yesterday, while the railroad
show fiourished. but now that the re.
turn movement has begun there are
wagon shows and wagon shows.
There Is routine about the days
work that is as well preserved as
though the show were an army moving
on an enemy.
At 6 o'clock in the evening, two hours
before the evening performance Is to
begin, the. cook house is dlsmantled
four horses are hitched to 1t, and with
a rattle and bang, the cooks in their
white caps and aprons yociferously
shouting out some last message and
the pans hanging against the side OF
the wagon. while the aroma of coffee
and bacon greets the nostrils, the cook
tent disappears down the road toward
the town Of the next days stopping
The cook tent reaches its destination
early In the nlght-twenty to twenty.
five miles is the average daily jump OF
wagon show-and all is put in readI.
ness for the serving Of early breakfast
the next morning.
At 8 O'Clock the performance in the
big tent begins, and the crowds which
have stood open-mouthed before the
cages In the menagerle tent rush to
their seats to see the big show. I'm