Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1908-05-12
THE MODERN CIRCUS
Vast and Dazzling, 1t Is Really a
Very Simple Affair.
AN ANALYSIS OF A BIG SHOW.

Four Main Parts, Aerial, Ground,
Equestrian and Hippodrome, to
Which All Else Is IncidentaI-The
Actual Cost and Press Agent Figures.
While the performance of the big
modern circus is truly dazzling and
confusing to the average visitor, an
analysis will show it to be a very sim
pie affair.
The performance proper consists of
four parts-namely, aerial, ground,
equestrian and hippodrome. Every
thing else is incidental or adjunctive.
The menagerie, freaks, curiosities, ETC.,
make up the remainder Of what we
call 1.-The show"
If one will examine the programme
Of the circus performance carefully, it
will be seen that the ground acts al
ternate with. say, a jockey act, an
aerial act, an equestrian act, another
ground act, another aerial act, and SO
on for the entire performance.
The. performers are mostly foreign
ers, Japan furnishing the most Of any
particular country. France, Italy and
Germany give us the most of the ath
letic artists, while England and Amer
lea produce the equestrians. But the
Japanese furnish fully three-eighths of
| the whole entertainment. 8#&
The natives Of Nippon have never
been equaled by those Of any other
country for tricks Of the feet and
hands. The japanese, however, are
never found on the programme as
equestrians. trapeze artists or clowns.
With these parts eliminated they may
be said to give the greater part of the
performance. Cut the equestrian and
trapeze acts and the Japanese will be
found in almost every number.
A single Japanese troupe Of five or six
members, costing from $3.50 to $500 q
week, will thus furnish the most Of the
entertainment AS every circus goer
knows, the Japanese are especially
skillful in every feature Of juggling,
balancing by hands or feet, manipulate.
ing Of objects, wire walking, etc.,
which they have carried to such a de
gree Of perfection that their acts are
unapproachable by the people Of any
other nationality.
The first Japanese performer in this
country was small boy who came
with the first Japanese embassy to the
United States.
His performance created perfect
! furore Of enthusiasm, and he attracted
more attention than the novel embassy
itself. Little Cali Right" will be re.
membered, though the embassy and its
important mission has long been for
gotten.
4 The name was acquired from the cir
cumstances that the words "all right
were the only English words the child
knew at the time, and he used to sing
them out in his shrill treble as he fin.
ished what was then deemed a re-
markable feat, to the intense delight Of
the audience.
So popular was the little chap thai
his advent was followed by several
other little Call Rights" from the same
curious country beyond the Pacific un
til the Japanese performers here be
came an old story.
|
ing preponderance of foreign talent IL
the American circus lies in the practi
cal exclusion of children from the
r stage and ring in the United States
So many of the states have laws for
i bidding the public appearance Of chill
! dren under sixteen that theatrical man
ayers hesitate to produce any PLAY
xpif nh in, fhn Ac
: feats require early and severe training
the American is practically cut of
from this way of earning a living.
: In present conditions when Littl
Eva in "Uncle Toms Cabin" has be
come old enough to marry little "Al
Right" would be an impossibility, 70
not only do these laws prevent tn
training Of American children for tn
. stage and ring, but they prevent tn
+ appearance in this country of some o
4 the most famous family troupes of Eu
!. rope.
d Abroad the show career offers a be,
n ter means of advancement than tn
d trades, and poor parents frequently ar
l. prentice their children to those VIII
train them for the stage or ring. L
e this country we generously send ther
; to the cotton mills or the mines.
The American circus performer ha
gradually become restricted to th
= equestrian act, and in the act Of ridin
he or she is not excelled, even by tn
English, though the latter nation ha
produced some fine equestrians, haut
ecole and daring bareback riders.
Nine. Dockrill, wife of R. II. Doci
rfll himself one of the best high schot
riders of his time, was famous Amer
lean rider in 1874. She used to rid
four bareback horses abreast, her fee
! resting on the two outside horses /
Roman fashion. She also did the Ms
zeppa act and other thrilling barebac
feats Her pretty daughter Rose wa
I trained in the same act and afterwar
I became star rider