Arizona republican., 1908-09-29
THE GREATEST
 CIRCUS DAY Phoenix s Biggest Crowd Witnessed Wonderful Show Barnum x Bailey Aggre- gatiOn Redeemed Every Advertising Pledge.

7
 but 1t was only those WHO are in jail
 or suffering from locomotor ataxia,
 or those who are too old to go any 1 where, and most of them sat on the | front porch and saw the parade go by. It was, the biggest and best cir GUS that ever visited Phoenix and it
 was the best patronized of any simi- ! lar performance ever given in Ari-
 zona. The claim that it is the big | gest and best circus in the world is undisputed hereRDout. The main tent, | 500 feet long by nearly half as wide, ! is reputed to seat 1S,000 people. If that be true there must have been 1 17,0OO people present at the after noon performance for a survey of
 the benches left the impression that every seat was filled. If there were any vacant places they were small ones and well scattered. Another large crowd attended in the evening I The two performances represented
 more people than eil Phoenix by con siderable but there were many here
 from the surrounding country and it
 is estimated that at least 1900
 came down from along the line of the
 s. F. P. & P. railroad. including
 special excursion train that left Pres
 colt in the morning and arrived here
 about 1:1O o'clock pm.
 It was business all day yesterday
 from long before the sun rose until
 late at night, for both the circus peo-
 pie and the town people. A big
 crowd of boys camped at the railroad
 track the night before to be on hand
 when the elephant arrived. By sun
 rise practically the entire parapher-
 nalia was unloaded and by g o'clock
 it was all on the grounds and most
 of it in order
 And this brings up another thought,
 that Phoenix as a corporation Is mak-
 ing about her last stand against the circus. The present grounds are about
 the only available open space left
 large enough to accommodate a circ-
 us, and one more year of prosperity
 is apt to send later visitors of the
 circus sort out into the country for
 standing room.
 The parade was billed for 10
 o'clock and was only ten or fifteen
 minutes off the dot, coming nearer to
 schedule than any circus that ever passed this way. And speaking of
 parades, this was the best ever. It
 was the longest, the equipment was the most expensive and spectacular and there were many novel and in teresting features. The horse was of course the chief feature as the horse
 is to the circus what flour is to a
 bakery. The big team of twenty-four hitched eight abreast was something of a sight in itself. Then came all the other large and fine teams. the performing horses and the mounts for the spectacular riders, the floats, menagerie cages, band wagons, etc, etc. Finally the big herds of ele- plants and camels. It took the pro- cession about twenty minutes to pass a given point and it was a moving picture of an engaging nature. Had there been any previous doubt in the minds of the able bodied, the parade settled it and they began at once preparing to attend the circus.
 Shortly after noon the great army of amusement seekers joined the cu- rious crowd that had haunted the circus ground since daylight and even before the entrances to the sideshows and menageries were opened, the crush around the ticket wagons was almost discouraging to the visitor. There was one feature that would have been most regretful had the | show been anything except a circus. | The dust was simply awful, notwith- | standing the sprlnkling of the morn ing and seemed worse than usual | even at a circus, but nobody com | plained seriously for everything pos sible was done to keep it down.
 The circling of the menagerie tent | and then back across it's center was | time well spent by all for it was l most magnificent collection of wild | There were few things to | be seen that those of mature years | had not seen before but the best of every species shown seemed to be in evidence and the number and variety | was fully equal if not greater than any former menagerie visiting Phoe- nix There was a black bear that seemed to have outgrown his own kind. Three altitudinous giraffes caught the attention of all and the hippo was the best representative of -he "slob" family one could see any where The rhinoceros had grown his -NO UOTHS lOBtlHtT SO itllHtI COulu | 10 any damage to his enemy except 70 bump him. The prettiest zebra ever was on exhibition along with others less attractive. The infant )rodigies such as baby camels. a baby yak and others claimed atten- ion, the most popular of the babies being a six months old elephant. As inc specimens of lions and tigers as ,an be found in captivity were to be teen and scores of other wild ami nals of lesser rank either for prowess ,r beauty.
 It was scarcely possible for the 1000 "rubbernecks" to tear them ielves away and find seats in the Jig tent before the performance be- gan, which was promptly on time md started with the usual spectacu- ar pageant in which both man and ,east participated in a mimicry of oriental splendOr. It was scarcely nimicry either, except that it was for the contributing ele- nents were all genuine except Cleo ,atra and she was a mighty good imitation. Of the 110 great acts that orm the circus program one could lot attempt to refer to them only in general way. Dogs, horses and crobatics are the cardinal principles : f a circus performance and in that oU ,;r,,,eoe l;Iyo |