Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1908-07-17

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the band ceasing to play until th
clown sang or got-off his JOKES. afte
which the rider resumed the perform
ance.
All riders In those days were 'chanl
pions" In the show printing. The pres
agent Invariably wreathed these cham
pions In laurels wrested from othe
champions, and ON the dead walls thei
breasts were adorned with rich medals
of superlatiye merit.
There were such champions a.
Charles w. Fish, MARITIME Lowande
William Demott, William Showles
Robert Stlckney, William Ducrow, jim
Robinson. Jim Melville. his son, Franz
Melville, and many others.
Among the clowns Of renown in the
earlier days were Jim Cooke. the
Shakespearcan clown; Johnny Patter
son, the Irish clown: Joe Pentland
Dan Rice. Billy Burke. etc. Their pay
was nearly rs high as that of the rid
ers. Clowns and riders were the only
seal expensive attractions OF the circus
up to the year 1870,
A year or two later P. T. Barnum
and his associates. w. C. Coup and Ddn
Costello, Introduced a hippodrone. and
that feature became fixture In the
circus performance and necessltated
the big tent The hippodrome sepa'
rated the audience so widely from the
performers that the old singing and
talking clown soon vanished.
His place was taken by the silent
funmakers of today From being a
chief feature the clown became a mere
pantomImlst. relegated to the waits.
The hippoirome multiplied riders and
cheapened them. so they, too, lost in
dividuality. The distance and multi
plicity of features enabled the show
men to run In mediocre riding acts In.
stead of the first class ones formerly
necessary. The sharp rivalry charac-
terlstic OF the one ring days was dead.
The hlppodrome. which furnishes
half an shour's entertainment Is itself
relatively the cheapest part of the per-
Torrance today.
When Maude Oswald was q hippo
drome rider, the races were holly con-
tested. So great was this rivalry al
times that the management had to In.
terfere. not because of tie danger to
the contestants, but for fear that they
might lnjure the Aorses or other prop
prty. The riders owned their indiyid,
ual necks and could be replaced at any
time without expense to the show.
Nowadays the hippodrome personnel
Is made up of the odds and ends and
costs little or nothing extra. A clown
Will become Roman" RIDER hia wife
will drive a chariat. Half dozen wo-
men, some Of them sewing girls in the
wardrobe department. make up the la
dies fiat races. An equal number OF
stable grooms will do the crack jockey
races.
A few dogs run around the track
once, and it Is called the ''whippet dog
race" half a dozen terror stricken
monkeys are strapped to pony saddles,
and their frantic fear sends the au
dience into commissions Of laughter.
The only really meritorious feature
Of the hippodrome Is that Of the fine
Jumping horses introduced In modern
days. Then come the chariot races. the
cheapest kind Of affairs, but furnish
ing perhaps the most thrilling excite
ment to the average country crowd.
There used to be elephant and camel
races, hut the brutal manner in which
1t was necessary to goad and prod
these unfortunates In order to get them
to run at all was SO repulsive to the
gentle hearted In the audience that
these races had to be eliminated.
The hippodrome as circus feature
is popular with showmen because
cheap and a good filler. Nobody has
TO be hired for it. The obligation Is
nut into certain contracts.
The harmless little press agent sto-
ries as to the tremendous outlay In sal
aries and all that which may seem to
conflict with anything here set down
may he RELOCATED to the fiction depart
ment. The real cost of running big
show is considerably less than any 9th
err business in like capitalization.-Bal
timOre Sun.