CanÌƒon City record. [volume] (CanÌƒon City, Colo.) 1883-192?, 1907-07-11

the religious element opposed then
on entirely different grounds. Betweer
the two the circus had a hard time
some times not taking away money
enough to pay expenses. The frs
circus l ever attended was we'll out.
side the town and it made profound
impression on me- l was about f1f-
| teen or sixteen years of age and was
greatly interested in the performance
of juggler at the entrance to one OF
| the side shows. He had a lot of long
bladed knives and was throwing them
about the outline of young lady sc
as to pin her to wall, against which
she stood. l stood there amazed at
his skill and audacity, but fully deter
mined to kill him if any injury befel
the girl, which l was constantly ex-
pecting l might be serving a SEN
tence in the penitentiary today If
anything had happened to the girl, for
l would surely have avenged her in
jury by killing the juggler."
j. F. Marr's mother took him to see
his first circus. 1t rained hard and
the tents leaked and he got under the
lions cage in an effort to keep dry.
His keenest recollection of the day is
the roar of the lions and tigers. The
circus was w. W. Coombs, long since
out of business
G. W. Bethel walked seven miles
to La Porte, Indiana, to see his first
tent show. 1t was dark when they
got out and Mr.. Bethel got tangled
up in the ropes. 1t was long after
midnight when he got home, but he
was ready for the next show that
came that way.
Harry Johnson saw his first circus
in Chester, Vermont. Everett Gould,
now of Victor, was his running mate
at that time. When they got out of
the show it was pitch dark and they
lost their bearings, though they did
not realize that they were lost till
they came to an old saw mill, then
they realized it, and knew
too that they had walked a mile and
half in the wrong direction.
A. Graft saw Dan Rice's Great
Show fifty-eight years ago. 1t was on
Hathaway Field, Cincinnati. Dan
Rice led the procession and announ-
ced that all boys who cheered for
Ian lNlSC Souiu 81 III IL &C. -AA. NJ uiA
cheered till he was hoarse, but the
cheers saved many boys the trouble
of crawling under the canvas, and he
has attended every circus that came
his way since that time.
Il went to my first circus and men
agerie back in Richmond, Indiana" :"
said G. V. Hodgin. Il was perhaps
about fifteen years of age and was
about the proudest boy in all Hoosier-
dom that day. l had gone to town
with number of other boys from the
country to see the show, which 1 re-
call, was Adam Forepaugh's. 1t was
one of the best shows on the road at
that time and always attracted a big
crowd. The glitter of the circus was
all new to me and l was amazed at
the pomp and circumstance of the
whole thing. l had purchased a new
watch a day or two before and my
only solicitude was that somebody
might steal it from me, as l had heard
that there was always lot of robbers
with a circus. Whenever l saw any,
body coming behind me l was sus-
picious that their motive was rob-
berry, and when there were two of
them l was confident that their OBJ
ject was robbery, and perhaps mur-
der. However, l managed to get home
without the loss of the timepiece and
for week afterwards dreamed of my
first circus"
At ST. John, New Brunswick, s. H.
Galbraith saw his first circus and men,
agerie. 1t was Barnums, and Mr.. Gal
braith thinks that there never was a
show that equalled Barnum's.
w. 7. Bridwell's first circus was
Orton & Olders. He saw it at Orange
Court House, Virginia, several years
before the war. There may have been
better shows travelling at that time,
but none pleased him so we'll.
Walter Black came in from the
Black Mountain country this morning
When asked If he came down to see
the circus, he replied that he did not
know that there was to be circus
till he saw the crowd and asked it's
cause. Mr. Black has not seen a
circus since 1880. He came down
then to see one that gave an exhibi-
ton down on Tenth street where the
lumber yards now are. Just as the
show got well started a storm came
up and blew down the tent. And he has
had no curiosity to see a show since.
And this show was Geo. Rockafellow's
first circus. He was on one of the
high seats, and as the tent went over
he Rra hhp6 a Quy rome and slid tn tho