Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1907-05-24

The old-time wagon show. like oul
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 mer
may go, like T~ennyson's brook, the
wagon show will so on forever. Eut
the main reason is to be found in tbs
action Of lawmakers, grave and seri-
GUS, at various state capitals and at
Washington.
The wagon show thrivcd 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
had sun while en- route across country.
The boys of the vicinity NO longer found
their opportunity, astride rail fclces in
the uncertain light of the morning.
when the circus struggled into town,
and 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 fierce. Great circuses could be
moved hundreds Of miles while the old
time show was laboriously creaking
along muddy roads, where the King
drag was a thing unknown.
But there is a movement toward a
revival Of the ~ show. Excessive
freight rates, the scarcity of rolling
stock and the legislation, by states and
nation, against the granting of rebates
or making any concessions to c~ircuses
or theatrical companies, no matter how
many people and animals and para
phernalia are transported, are respon-
sible. The managers of circuses can
no longer obtain concessions that make
profitable long jumps from one city to
another. The margin of profit in a
great show is necessarily close and I'M
certain; h~eart-holding acts are high
priced, competition is strong.
No less an aggregation of circus tai
ent, with millions of dollars at stake.
than Barnum & Bailey's, is consider
Ing his 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
he 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 oid-styie wagon show
may flourish as it did two decades ago.
Many Of the wagons will be propelled
by machinery, cunningly contrived, and
hidden away in their interior. Tut
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 institu-
ton in the world than a 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 a wagon
show, does not end behind the scenes.
though the bareback riders and the
acrobats, the contortionists and the
wild animal trainers mingle in ordi-
nary clothes, talk ordinary topics, such
as the weather, the size of the days
attendance, the latest bit of interna-
tional scandal. Quitting a circus is
Just about as small a job as getting an
army ready to go to Cuba at a days
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
q %sinecure, let him buy two or three
dozen head of horses, train an elephant
q few camels, give a monkey daily
practice In looping the loop strapped
In q toy automobile, show some fifty
negroes how to erect a tent so that II
will stay erect, manage 4 side show, q
menagerie, two rings and a platform
and hire a few cooks into the bargain
And the hiring Of the cooks is not the
slightest part Of the task, by any
means Imagine hiring to cool fol
125 men and women, hungry and peev
ish. three good, big meals a day, witt
the kitchen in a new place every day
After all, an old-styled wagon show
IL no small affair. Take, say, thirty
i've wagons, for instance. They hole
rs much circus paraphernalia as fifteer
railroad cars. One is apt to think Of /;
wagon show as a small affair, Of ont
ring, q dozen performers, a half dozer
or so horses. That was the wager
show Of yesterday, while the railroad
show f%lourished. but now that the re
turn movement has begun there are
wagon shows-and wagon shows.
There is a 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 t.
begin, the cook house is dismantled
four horses are hitched to 1t, and wiz
q rattle and bang, the cocks In theil
white caps and aprons Saeiferously
shouting out some last message and
he pans hanging against the side Of
ne wagon. while the aroma OF COTE,
and bacon greets the nostrils. the cool