The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1908-01-21
BEATSTHE RECORD
Midwinter Attendance Is Third
Larger Than Last Year.
Show Bigger and More At
tractive Than Ever.
MOVED UP EARLIER.
Vaudeville Will Begin at 3
O'clock in Afternoon.
Many Unique Features Are
Shown This Year.
MOVED UP EARLIER.

Nine hundred and f1fty-three last
year on the opening day of the Mid
winter.
Thirteen hundred and thirty-two this
year.
Popularity of the Midwinter EXPOSE
ton waning, Ell? Well, hardly.
Beautiful weather, attractive exhibit
lions and real sky scraping vaudeville
are working together in such hearty
fashion that the attendance in 1908 BIDS
fair to break all the records of seven
previous years. But talking about the
weather, Ralph Brigham, manager OF
the Midwinter is singing its praises
with his fingers crossed In order TO
ward off bad luck for it might storm
and blow a blizzard all OF sudden just
out of pure preverseness.
This is fine weather but would like
to have it just a few degrees colder,
said Mr.. Brigham
A change has been made in the vaude-
Vile performances, that is the hour at
which they are given, in the afternoon
it will be at O'Clock instead or $50
and in the evening 8 o'clock instead OF
$3.50 For those who want to go nome
at an early hour the above arrange
rnent will meet with particular favor.
The vaudeville features this year are
stronger than they have ever been
There is not weak act in the four that
are on the programme and it is d1ff1cult
to pick out the most popular, IoT az
bristle with cleverness. Antonio Flirl
whose chin balancing act won MIN
hearty applause last evening was louns-
ing at the Auditorium this morning.
F.I am not the man I was seven
wears ago" he said 81 was balanc-
ing a blow and it fell and struck me,
breaking my ankle and laying me up
in the hospital for a long time.
thought for while that l would new
er get out and that I would die there.
I have never been the same since.
The plow that I balanced on my
chain last night weighs about 175
pounds and the big wagon wheel 500
I can carry 500 pounds, but that is
as high as I can get. L usually car
ry with me an organ ana piano
which I balance while my wife plays
on them, but I haven't got them with
me on this trip. The excess baggage
eats SO into what I make that L left
them home this trip. I used to be an
acrobat and then I drifted into this.
There are not many of these sort OF
acts such as I put on here.
From a peacock's feather to BIZ
cvcle on which his wife was seated,
peddling for dear life, is some of the
wide variety of the things that P1rrl
selects to balance on his chin, in
GLIDING of course the big wagon
wheel which takes four men to lift
and the pillow.
Les Jundts, equilibrists, have
4 caught on to the popular favor and
secured several good rounds of ap-
plause from the evening crowd. Inc
woman who is dainty and vivacious
and her husband make we'll balanc-
ed team They do some head balanc-
ing stunts that are good, one especial
", in which the woman balances her
self on her head while twenty feet in
the air.
or
al in his work, performs many a feat
that is harder than the crowd realizes
Because 1t passes without any ostenta-
ton and is not spectacular many fa1
TO realize the strength that is necessary
to produce such feats. Wheeler an6
Rosey who wind up the evenings vaude
vile offering with bicycle act are
far and away the best of any similar
acts that have been staged in Topeka
Both seem to be surer on wheels thar
the average person is on his feet. RoseI
rode a unicycle with a seat which wa:
elevated above the wheel at least si1
feet but he rode it with as much non
chalance as if he had detached one o.
the wheels from the ordinary bicycle
and was riding that.
An especial telephone directory ha
been issued by the Bell Telephone com
pany for the Midwinter. 1t is an at
tractive little booklet giving the mum
bers of the 81 telephones which have
been installed, one for every booth a
the exposition. The telephone com
pany has installed a private branch ex
change in one of the booths and tht
service is a complimentary one to thu
exhibitors.
1t is probably unfair to single out one
fair lady among so many that preside
at the booths but since this one is sim
ply inanimate and has such a remark.
able dress it will probably not be amiss
This lady is over in the educationa
booth of the state board of health. She
wears red skirt, n green waist and {
yellow hat. The color with which these
pieces of her attire were dyed was OBJ.
tanned from pop and candies which hat
been colored by coal tar products. Tht
color extracted from one bottle Of POI
which was obtained by John Kleinhans
state pure food inspector, and Louis
jackson, chemist for the state board O
health. dyed a yard of wooden cloth
In a decided fashion, too.
A Turn Around the Booths.
The booth of the w. w. Gavitt CO
as usual attracts large crowds at tn
Midwinter. This concern manufac
lures over 200 different drug, toiIe
and food articles, all of which ar
displayed by them. The Gavitt &C
is the largest manufacturers of thei
a" "