The daily democrat. [volume] (Anadarko, Oklahoma) 190?-1908, 1907-04-13
P0LENZ0, THE
CONTORTI0NIST

/ read OF IL In the papers. Dlu IL
tear you up much?"
It was Harry Gray, veteran circus
man, who asked the question.
Boston" was another circus man
who had just got in "off the road"
Well" answered Boston ut
wasn't much of a blowdown 1t was
more of a blessin than not, because
II rid us OF a pest that had been both.
erin us nightly for a SPELL
when our show started out on the
road last spring we were so short OF
performers that we couldn't give
whole show, and the old man was
lookin mighty hard for anyone that
! could do any kind of an old stunt in
| the actin line. One day he got
| letter from a guy what said he was
| the star contortionist of the west;
said he could just lay 1t all over any
! other contortionist that ever lived,
and could make the best Of 'em look
! like thirty cents worth of dog meat
| Called himself Polenzo, or something
like that. We called him so many
names after he came on that | forget
his real name.
We'll, the old man liked his letter
and wired him to come on, and he
joined the show the next week. He
hadn't no more apparatus than rab-
bit All he had was a green box
about % inches square, painted green
and with handles on the ends. Didn't
have a trunk or anything else. Talk
about rubes; why, he had all the
rubes that ever breathed skinned a
mile. He carried all of his wardrobe
in that box, and when he came to do
his act he dumped his duds out on
the ground.
"His sole act was to double up in
that box, shut down the lid and be
carried into the ring by two property
men. Then he would get out, make
his little bow, and scrape around a
little while, get back aud then get out
several times to show how easy he
could DO ii, and finally he'd get in his
little box and be carried out again.
Honest, Harry, 1t was the rottenest
act ever saw in all my life. and I've
been around some you know.
But Polenzo, or Pocahontas, or
whatever his name was, would bow
and smirk and smile TO the audience
like he was the whole show all by his
ownself The sassige skin!
"And he got ten a week and grut
for it, and the old man just had tc
t keep him on because, as said before
a we was short handed. All of the per
formers was sore on him though, an6
we used to sit up at night thinking
how to get rid of him. At last one
of the property men said he'd do the
trick. So the next afternoon when
Polenzo, or Pollywog. or whatever his
name was, climbed into his little
| green box, we all mobbed up inside
the dressing-room entrance to see how
the prop would pull It off.
3 Just as the props entered the RING
+ one OF them pretended to stumble anC
1 dropped his side of the box. O
+ course, when the box was dropped
Q Joan OF Arc tried TO get out and th'
r props acted as II they were tryinl
s to get the box Strengthened up, anC
8 every time Pocahontas stuck his heat
/. up they banged him on the head will
o the lid, Well, we thought that was
} hint sufficient, but the rube didn'
k mind IL at all Said he was used I,
Q such things. We was good and ma,
t about the way he YES staying on tn
show and we was talking II over on
3 afternoon while his nibs was in tn
II ring. Nobody had a good schem
Il and we were about to give up whe
C. we heard Big Bill, the boss canva
.. man. yelling: f
g Everybody to guy rope. Won
% en- take care o. themselves t
X Say, there was the worst storT
of comm | ever saw. You could see tn
h wind just a-tearin' up everything
10 sight, a reg'lar cyclone Just before
is struck us, though, the twister wer
10 to one side and We got Just paI
r. of the wind But that was enough
"The wind hit the big top an
ripped 1t straight across. The thin
was full OF people. but Big Bill
voice could be heard above ever
thing else telling the people TO b
quiet. And they just sat there,
when | saw that storm a comi
It was me for a guy rope and ever
other man jack Of us done the sam
had just put on a brand new Glow
suit, but It looked like a dish re-
when the storm had passed. Ever
| time a fresh gust Of wind wou
come the old top would heave al
slosh me down in a puddle of waite
When that storm was over look'
like | had been pulled through
sponge. .. .l..... r...
rWell, after the storm we all &
under the dressin' top and count'
heads Polenzo was mfssin'. We I
started a hunt for him and found hi
about mile from town, still In
tights and covered with mud,
said he didn't care about circus II
Q..Ht l.