The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-04-11

under that broad roof Barnum and
Forepaugh died long ago Bailey is
dead. too. So are the four brothers
Sells. The properties and celebrity at
tached to those names arc now owned
by the five brothers Ringing. who are
using them for Barnum-Bailey and
Sells-FOrepaugh circuses. with two
thirds Of the United states apportioned
to them, while the other third, including
New York, is exclusive to the Ringing
Each is advertised as the worlds
greatest show" What the fact is about
that I can't inform you. Surely, the
one bearing the Ringling's name, now
having a spring possession of the Mad
ison Square Garden, is as big as any
that has ever filled il with 10000 seated
people and three rings, two platforms
and an eneircling arena thronged by
performers. The income during four to
six weeks Of twelve performances each,
with three lines of box chairs at $3.50,
all the rest of the level at s1-50 and 81,
and the prices dropping to a quarter
only in the furthermost heights OF the
immense structure, must De enormous.
You may see from this that the present
circus business is one of the country's
thriving trusts.
With all the ingenuity that must have
been squeezed and writing to force out
an original thrill for this seasons cir
Gus, nothing entirely original agitates
the beholder. The Ringing final exhi-
bition is a variant of the loop-lOOping
gravity-car. with a. woman in it. that
when it was a first sight made a Bar
num- Bailey tour the most profitable
ever. You may recall that a long track,
inclining at an angle of 40 degrees,
made the descending car strike an up
ward section at the base. and sent il
kiting across an open space of thirty
to forty feet. Later ones sent the car
with tremendous momentum up, over
and clear around d vertical loop. This
years descent is short, but very steep
about O. to 20 degrees-sO that the We
| hicle goes down with almost the veloci-
/ ty of a perpendicular drop; and when
| it strikes a sharply upward curve Of the
track at the bottom with tremendous
! force. it is whirled twice around at a
/ height of twenty feet making double
Isomersault and landing with a ferociOus
chug on a padded surface.
!
! Was there a woman in the car? And
was she a frail, pretty young creature,
who looked with scared eyes at the null
! titude, as she circled the garden in an
automobile, as though she We're Chris
] TAN martyr Oh tirI way " al 81 NAlo VI
Idevouring lions? To be sure. Then she
| stepped lightly to the ground and was
hoisted to a small platform at the top
/ of the incline. where she smiled sadly
as she seemed to wave final fond
adieu to life. For fact I don't believe
/ there is a safer performance in the
whole show. The mechanism has been
| calculated to d nicely, and even the
weight of the woman is exactly right.
| Several years ago. a too heavy woman
was hired as the Iooper, and she made
| them pay her $50 a week for the whole
! season, although she didn't once take
the ride. Probably this seasons the
/ La Roche who makes the descent in d
car that filings itself into the air and
turns two somersaults, has agreed TO
/ give up the job if she gains a few dis
qualifying pounds in flesh. She is so
ethereal now that she couldn't easily
upset the balances by losing any
weight. Men put her into the car, strap
/ her fast, pack her in with pads, and
during the two and a half seconds of
/ the glide and the whiris the high sides
of the enclosure render her invisible.
/ She is deliberately protected. So much
time is taken in the preparations, and
so much ado is made over the Are you
ready?" and the i am ready followed
ON al lIlGIAdl OL ~ tuLlAlEeo ClttAAlN
with the braZen band hushed-that ]
wonder if she hasn't been slipped away
and isn't in the car at all. However
| she is lifted out at the end of the trip
with not 50 much as her smile dis
turbed; and i'm making an exit round
of the garden in the motor car, she
proves herself an actress by shifting
the expression Of her pretty face to that
Of glad surprise at being still alive.
:. < y
The HippOdTOme always whOops the
f. circus section of its program while the
big all circus show is at the Madison
Square Garden. This time, it opposes
to La Roche a CDOra, a handsome
woman who "fiirts with death" That
is TO say. she rides motorcycle around
and around the inner circle of a biz
globe. at first on its lower space. next
higher on its sides, and finally straight
up to and over the top, with herself
and the machine too down. and de
scending the opposite side. As many as
twenty times she makes these circuits
at a speed so high that the centrifugal
force keeps the wheels pressed hard
lagainst the steeI-netted interior surface
of the great ball. If this were the frs
of the feats similar in principle. il