The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-11-28
SHRINERS TO GIVE
 BIG INDOOR CIRCUS
WILL BE PRESENTED AT SOUTH SIDE RINK AND WILL CONTINUE FOR ENTIRE WEEK-WHAT THE CIRCUS EMBRACES.

ming to have a big time in Birmingham in the near future. They are going to have a solid week of circus, and, incl dentally, world of fun.
 Arrangements have been made by Za- mora Temple. Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, with the Rhoda Royal circus. for a weeks engagement at the Southside Skating Rink, December 6 to Il. The committee in charge of the arrangements is composed of the following well-known members of the order D. J. Fox, Charles A. Moffett. F. B. Keiser, J. D. Matlock, James s. Vance, Tom o. Smith, Charles J. Geohegan, Dr. W. P. McAdory w. J. Rushton, W. H. Priegel and M. T. Stradford, chairman.
 The Shrine expects to realize quite a tidy sum of money as its share of the receipts. and will use whatever is made for entertainments for It's members and their families. All the Shriners (and there are nearly 700 of them in Birmingham) are selling tickets for the circus. and the week of December promises to be a gala one in the history of Shrinerdom in this city.
 The Rhoda Royal circus comes hero recommended as very high-class pro- fessional performance. MT. Royal is him. self a Shriner. and is the originator of the indoor circus.
 Rhoda Royal Is the first man to present a professional winter circus in this coun- try It was three years ago that he conceived the idea and the way he came to do 1t is an interesting story.
 It came at the close of the regular season of one of the biggest American circuses, with whom Royal had been identified for a period of 15 consecutive years as principal equestrian director. during which period he saved all his salary, which was a large one, and in vested 1t in ring stock" Each season he added to his stable.a half dozen thor oughbreds, upon which he put in count less hours of careful training.
 The Rhoda Royal High school horses, 40 beautiful blacks, all about the same age and size. became famous in circus history.
 They were In great demand as special feature, and every circus of note wanted them from April, when the season opened, until November, when 1t closed. But what to do with them from November un- til April, when the circuses were in win ter quarters, was another question.
 Horses. unfortunately, or rather fortu- natelv. in this instance, eat as many oats in the winter as in the summer. feed was very high. and 1t took just about all that Royal made during the regular sea- son to keep and feed his stable Of 'rorty blacks" during the rest of the year
 To hook them in vaudeville was impos- sible as the expense would be enormous. Something had to be done, however, and Royal thought until the winter circus idea was suddenly born He figured 1t that there were hundreds of other big circus acts in the same boat as him self. Acts which were compelled to lay idle for four or five months in the year, waiting from the close of one circus sea- son to the opening of the next. These acts, Mr. Royal reasoned, would be glad of an opportunity to go to work, so why not corral a half hundred of them and work both winter and summer. It looked all right, but would 1t pay? A winter circus was something new, novel and out of the ordinary, and by adding plenty of merit the thing ought to be a go.
 Following out his line of reasoning Royal decided to take the chance Friends many of whom had spent their lives in the circus business, advised moving slowly, and others didn't hesitate to prophecy a dismal frost" Once his mind made up, the snowman proceeded to astonish all circusdom by engaging a large num- Der of the very highest priced acts In the business, and announced few weeks later that the tour of the Rhoda Royal Two Ring Circus Hippodrome and Wild West would open in St. Paul. Minn.. the week following under the auspices of Osman Temple. Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. On the opening night every cir GUS magnate In the country was on hand to see the fireworks. Thanks to the enterprise displayed by Osman temple in selling tickets, the big auditorium in which the circus was given was crowd ed and better pleased audience, 1t is said, snever witnessed a circus perform ance In St. Paul. For the rest of the week standing room was at a premium, the Shrners cleaned up about s15,0O0 tho show was immediately booked for re- turn engagement, and the tour of Rhoda Royal circus, hippodrome and wild west has proven series of uninterrupted tri- umphs ever since.
 Last season, for instance, the show was booked in the Coliseum at. St. Louis by the Ehriners for a week, but remained two in order to satisfy the appetites for . good show which the St. Louisans de- veloped.
 When the Rhoda Royal show train ar rives from New Orleans via special over xhe 1,,t.xvty1o oa Mo chwf11A u>w< U,,uS . .