The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-10-03
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SHOW WAS GOOD.
Barnum and Bailey Hold High
Place in Public Favor.
Acts Are All First Glass and
Thrilling.
THE DIP OF DEATH.
Not Quite So Terrifying as
People Expected.
Pavements Suffer Only
Limited Extent.

There are several things to say in IA
vor of the Barnum & Bailey circus: 1t
was the largest circus of the season, or
of several seasons. The horses were all
in good condition, and there was plenty
of them. No one has reported being
robbed by pickpockets or short-changed
by circus employees; the seats were good,
the acts were good, and last, but by no
means least, one of the leading lights
of the show was smart enough to an
nounce the evening concert" without
interruption.
Among the features on the bill of fare
are the"death defying, dangerous, daring,
etc. death loop in an automobile. This
stunt is not so much, and is a triumph
of gravity and machinery. 1t is not a
feat which a weak-nerved person would
care to undertake., but it requires no
skill on the part of the rider. 1t should
not be featured above the experts in
riding, acrobatics and other things re-
quiring skill and practice.
The clowns were not above the aver
age, and some of them featured the
comedy stunt invented by the late and
lamented Judy Plamondin,-that plat
ter of dishes on top of a balanced pole.
The clown who played the baseball
game was not the original "Slivers."
The Barnum & Bailey circus may al
ways feel that it was trimmed by the
excessive city license of $500. The best
the show wagons could do was to de-
stroy pavement estimated at about $125.
This destruction was the fault of the
city, and not of the circus. The city
allowed the gas company to lay pipes
and mains and shovel the dirt in on top
thereof, without tamping. AS a result,
even light wagon will cut through and
cause a depression in brick pavement
when it strikes one of the sink holes.
Heavy wagons with a circus are ne
cessity,-not a luxury, and when the
pavements are faulty, dire results may
be expected. They are all equipped
with unusually wide tires.
Topeka avenue, the route of the
circus in loading on the Rock Island,
contains about the weakest pavement
in the city. This avenue was cut to
pieces by the gas company, from one
end to the other. Over a year ago
circus cut large chunks out of To-
peka avenue, and the city ordered the
gas company to repair the damage
The gas company repaired in de-
sultory way, by smoothing down the
holes made by the circus, but doing
very little to strengthen the base I'M
der the brick. On part of Topeka
avenue the gas main runs along the
west side, and the piping to houses on
the east side leaves trenches across the
avenue. None of the Barnum & Bailey
wagons had to be lifted out of holes
with jack-screws, as were the circus
wagons a year ago, but it was by rea-
son of careful driving on the part of
the circus men. Between Fifteenth
and Thirteenth the pavement was
badly "sprained" in several places Be
tween Twelfth and Tenth where a gas
main Is laid on the east side, or right
side going north, the level of the
pavement was seriously disturbed, all
though it did not cut clear through.
This part of the pavement was al
ready in bad condition, the spot over
the gas main sinking to a level below
the gutter, and thereby changing the
gutter from next the curb to several
feet out in the street.
The greatest damage done by the
circus was at Fifteenth street and
| Kansas avenue, where the circus
crossed in the morning. (by order of
| the chief of police and street com
missionary. Here the wagons cut the
Kansas avenue pavement into chunks
and samples 1t is estimated that 500
worth Of damage was done in one rod.
| The wheels sank to a depth of lS
| inches, raising the bricks on either
| side to a like distance. 1t shows
shockingly careless and faulty pave
ment construction.