New-York tribune., 1907-04-17
ORPHANS AT CIRCUS.
Sir Thousand Boys and Girls Hare
Day of Pare Delight.

People riding On the subway or in the surface
cars in the direction OF Madison avenue and 2Sth
street early yesterday afternoon found them
selves engulfed IN svvarrns OF children These were
rows upon rows Of little boys and long lines Of
little girls all shepherded by anxious guardians all
soyously happy and vOciferously reminding each
other that 2Sth street was where they got Of. Am
balances, automobiles and carriages We're on their
way 70 the same point. with loads Of children too
little or perhaps TOO crippled be trusted the
cars. For It Orphans Day at the circus the
day when Madison Square Garden is given over 10
the fatherless 'and motherless who live in New
Yorks institutions, and all the members of
Barnum & Bailey's big troop from the trained
seals to the acrobats perform for the orphans and
Tor them alone
there and pair of arms at the service of the
helpless ones. The subway guards for once forgot
10 say step liveyr' At the Garden uniformed
attendants were waiting to help the teachers and
nurses who with the children, and the streams
OF boys and girls. more than GOO Of them all told
were got through the big doors with remarkably
little confusion.
Those who arrived early had time to see the fat
woman and the sword sWallower and all the rest
Of the freaks in the anteroom, but the real moment
of excitement for each child came when they
reached the big vaulted iuclosure where the three
rings lay, beyond the other. once in there.
with the fascinating smell Of sawdust in their
little noses, the children became exceedingly
solemn, as children always when they have
reached the very eve Of q treat they have looked
forward 10 for weeks. The grown people who saw
them felt a trne grave, too, but for another rea-
son There were many varieties Of defornity in
that audience of yesterday. one little chap was
carried IN strapped on a board, which the nurse
We're children with their heads in steel rests and
children who hoIDed along on little crutches and
ceived "A bag al the door.
of w won by- IL
policeman, who executed an impromptu tumble on
the ring he was crossing, just before the per
Look al Barnum's new Clown yelled one
small orphan. and the others laughed jovously as
We're stl further entertained when he bumped
face bs a small malefactor he was chasing But
they grew solemn again. with the big-eyed solen-
MY oI mlhsleo awe ana enjoyment, when the real
circus began. and the gorgeous pageant OF the
nations began 10 circle before them around the
The solensnity begin 10 disappear, ana there was
, Z YES Gl-lpiAs el s-naii hanos when the nigh
phants, camels and other obstacles" one athlete.
VINO capped MS teeJ together up IN the air
He's winldng with mis- feet" gasped one small
chap.
But it was the riding that went 10 the hearts of
the chdren-that and the tricks Of the performing
the cannon was Shot at him, iimped 70 The front
with white flag in his trunk, won their regard
danced in a ring holding hands" as one wee
orphan girl said-that Is, each one clasping its
horses and the performing dogs, as wei as the
monkeys that went riding "dogback,' TO speak,
set The children off into gales of delighted gig
giles. But for the trained seals, and especially
the preternaturally wise one that rode horseback,
the children wondered At them, but didn't love
them as they did the dogs. Seals were almost too
Ear from their ken.
Faster and liveer grew the music and the fun.
Sometimes almost too many things were happen
3ng AZ once CLAP, sammy clap. whispered a
10 a little lad from Gouyerneur Hospital
who trying TO take in, with one small pair Of
eyes, the sight Of a clown washing a property
baby side Of the arena. and the feats Of a
dear little trick terrier, the other and the
japanese jugglcrs the animated statues. and the
aight-rope performers, who filled the three rings.
There's SO many things guin'!' gasped the
child. ''Which'N ] clapT''
when the breakneck races around the track be-
gan-ROnEn ChaTiots drawn by horses that looked
n they We're going 10 dash straight into the
seats, but never did-that same boy burst into
tears Of pure excitement. But only for moment
and il Is safe say that those were the only
tears shed by the orphans yesterday afternoon
Si.ty-eight different Institutions and societies
each contributed their quota o. orphans to the
audience. From tile Dauach Home for Crippled
Children came twenty five little ones, who filled
your boxes. The School for Defective Children sent
seventeen. but the Hebrew Sheltering Guardian
Society and the Hebrew Orphan Asylum capped
the climax f.. point OF numbers with five hundred
children apiece.