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

travel months ahead, getting options on circus lots and billboard space and mak- ing many other necessary arrangements.
 There are route-riders, who travel through the towns, and go horseback over the country roads to see that paper Is al- lowed to remain on space contracted Tor. And there is the 24-hour man who pre-
 ceeds the show one day to arrange for food and provisions, water and wood. It
 is no small responsibility, and in single
 season he alone will spend more than
 s2OO, ,000 for supplies.
 The routing of the show is done by
 John Ringing, and the itinerary Is
 one of the profound secrets of the busi-
 ness. Three weeks of it is as much as
 an employe gets at one time. It is
 said of John Ringing that he knows
 every railroad water tank in America and has been in every city, town and village.
 To Al Ringing falls the task of put ting the programme together and add ing the finishing touches to the acts at reh earsals. Otto Ringing is the finan- cial operator of the firm; Charles Ring ling has the advertising in charge, and Alfred T. Ringling at the head of the press department has acquaintance in every newspaper office in America The makeup of circus embraces every condition of men. The canvas
 man has the heart of a rover. What he does in the winter time is a mystery even to the old circus boss. Among these men are painters, teamsters, bar bers farm hands, many sailors and factory workers. Some time during their lives they developed the wander l lust, and the circus or seafaring life | Is the only antidote. The circus has /! less of danger than the sea and is more attractive.
 | Everything about the circus has been so systematized that it is like great l clock. All sorts of obstacles are over | come with no boasting. Every day
 brings some new problem to solve, but
 when daylight appears the great can
 vas sea is undulating in the breeze, | the flags are waving above the city of l tents and everybody Is ready for the parade.
 Near Hamburg, Germany, there is a | great agency where Ringing Brothers
 buy many of their animals. But they 1 also have agents of their own, continu- l ally searching the jungles for some- l thing new, who send them their rarest specimens. The discovery of Darwin l the man-ape, and the finding of the | three giraffes, the monster hippopot- | anus and the big rhinoceros are in- l stances of the unusual enterprise of | these agents.
 l The draft horses are bred by Abe 1 Glee, in Normandy, and shipped to the l circus as needed. They are all Per l cheron stock and must weigh not less l than 1400 pounds each The ring and l display horses are bought by the
 trainers and Alexander Delivan, the | veterinary of the circus. who select l 4a, xryI,a hau m fh a nf buy them If they are for sale.
 It is true that of all professionals l none is more domestic than the circus l performer. He may lead the life of s l rover for good part of the year, but | like the snail, he carries his house 1 around with him, and he has many homely comforts that the ordinary | traveller cannot enjoy. He can arise ir | the morning and go to bed at regular 1 hours; always he has the same bed td l sleep in, and his own individual place 1 at the table, while his corner of the l dressing tent is always the same.
 The circus ground Is the town he lives | in From the beginning to the end of the | season 1t Is laid each day out in the 1 same way so 1t always looks the same to 1 him. The jumps from town to town are 1 made while the circus man is asleep, and 1 an instance may be cited to show how completely the idea of travel is obliterated from his mind perform CT once lost coin in the grass by his trunk in the dressing room He gave
 up searching for it until the next night,
 when. all unconscious of the jump made
 while he slept. he again began search
 ing about his trunk till finally it dawned
 ,lpon him that the coin lay in the grass
 100 miles behind him
 The circus mans house Is the train' 3
 there he has his own stateroom' nis
 n,svate pctures on the wall. his easy
 chair and his slippers He enjoys all