The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-10-25

the social advantages of the small town
 and his neighbors are an indulgent lot.
 In Ringling Bros circus train there
 are p coaches where the performers and
 business staff live. In that queer trav-
 cling town they speak every language
 from English to Hindoostani The inhab-
 itants on a Sunday run make 8 strange
 gathering, and only by a sort of universal sign language can they converse with one
 another.
 All in all they are happy family and
 discord is unknown. Is some one has an
 aggravating snore, the others accustom
 their ears to it. If the Mirze-Golem
 family enjoys Persian chafing dish mess
 in the evening, Miss Hadgini. the Italian
 rider across the hall closes her transom
 and forgets it. If Marno, the Spanish
 clown, plays on his mandolin after Il
 o'clock at night LaBelle Roche, the au-
 tomobile double somersault artist in lower
 5, buries her head in the pillows.
 Ringing Brothers have provided every
 comfort possible to their train, and
 about all it lacks to be a well-appointed
 suburban home is a lawn swing and a
 cistern. There is a library with we'll
 selected assortment of books and writ
 ing tables. Every car has it's cosy cor
 ner, hot and cold water and heating ap-
 paratus for chilly weather. A corps of
 porters attends to the making of beds,
 backing of shoes and the sending out and receiving of laundry.
 There are nearly 60 children with the
 circus, and they are all provided with
 special comforts. Many of these children
 are the sons and daughters of performers fin a sense born to the business. Others are the children of relatives of perform CTS. The children In the foreign acts
 are nearly all apprenticed, and often come from orphan asylums. The work, ap- parently, is healthful to these youngsters;
 the influences are much better than the public imagines, and as a rule the life is benefit rather than a detriment. The circus season lasts till about the middle of November. When the show closes there is a scattering in all direc- tions. The skilled workmen go back to their trades, wherever they may find an opening The laborers sink back into that mysterious somewhere from which 1 they sallied forth in the spring, some, 1 perhaps to wash dishes in restaurant l to hustle freight on wharf, to pick cot 1 ton to brake on railroad, to haul tim- Der in logging camp, to work in sail loft, to labor in a box factory, or to | become a porter, night watchman. a | crossing guard, or to work at most any other occupation that needs but muscle and stability for requirements.
 i Unless the foreign performers have eN- | elusive contracts with the circus manage ment, they are quickly booked on the 1 vaudeville circuits; and so also are many | of the American actors. However many | of the circus performers prefer so rest | during the winter, and if thsy have taken 1 care of their earnings they nay live in | ease.
 1 Some of these have homes, usually in l the country or in some small town. They l farm in the south, they breed stock, they l raise fruit for the market, or gratify some 1 hobby that keeps their minds occupied
 and perhaps brings in money.
 \ Charles Miller, the property master of | the circus is the proprietor of pros l porous piano and music store in Eau l Claire, Wis, which d brother manages 1 for him: Jules Furnour, clown, owns .l I wheat farm in North Dakota: Lewis | Jordan operates small circus every | winter in South America, A. l.. Webb, yhe , circus steward, owns a hotel in Winetka. 1 H., and George Hartzell. a clown has a photograph studio in Philadelphia.