Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-06-05
POINTS" OF FREAKS.
How Some Of the Chief Circus At.
fractions Are Manufactured.

From the London Times.
1t seems strange that freaks, from the
legless wonder to the two-headed calf
should possess such a strange fascination
for nine people out Of ten, yet this is I'M
doubtedy the case. OF course, there are
many so-called freaks which have nc
business to he called by such an unpleas-
ant name, for if one argues from the die
tionary a freak is a monstrosity, and a
monstrosity. in the generally accepted
sense Of the word. is something horrible
The giant and the dwarf are interesting
and unusual. but certainly should not be
called freaks Indeed, il is libel of
the groSSeSt kind.
1t would seem that our forefathers were
not obsessed by the morbid craving for
the unusual and grotesquc which often
shows itself nowadays, or perhaps their
highly Superstitious ideas prevailed over
their curiosity. for any unnatural physi-
cal attributes were almost always put
down to the direct influence of the evi!
one. Hunchbacks were an exception to
the rule, for all kinds of powers were at
tributed to them. There are some very
sensitive people to whom the sight of
anything in the nature of monstrosity
is absolute pain, and women are fOrtu-
nately few and far between who fall in
love with a monster because of his mon
strosity as in the case of Victor Hugo S
"L'homme qui Rit.
The ordinary individual comes across
very few physical freaks, and one cannot
but wonder whence the showman's rank
and file recruited. Perhaps If the
truth were known. more than half of
the show freaks are fakes" There are
many good stories told of these sham
freaks, who owing to some contretemps
have given the show away" The two
following are good examples: Among
the freaks of a certain show was do
bills, and he proved one of the finest
draws the show had ever had. After the
performance no one could have recognized
the gorilla, as he then took the shape of
very quiet, ordinary little man. The
public particularly enjoyed seeing the 60
rilla swing from the horizontal bar by
his tail. an appendage which is very
slightly developed in the species as rule
This tail was a masterpiece of ingenuity.
1t was made of flexible steel, and so con-
trived that when it took a turn around
anything it locked into position until it
was released by the gorilla touching a
spring concealed somewhere near his
waist. The thing worked splendidly for a
his tail through the bars of his cage,
and lady standing by took hold of it,.
Well, the tail acted automatically, AZ
usual. and of course when she felt it
tighten around her wrist the lady
screamed. The gorilla pressed the hidden
spring to no purpose. To make long
story short. the men standing by came to
the lady's rescue. took hold of the tail
and pulled ii off! When the people saw
the leather fastenings and buckles they
cleaned out the establishment" as the
proprietor afterward remarked
The second story concerns h mermaid
She was no ordinary mermaid, but q
really high-class article" very hand
some young woman incased from the
waist down In blue and gold fishskn
The water In which she smoked, and
sang, and sat on a. rock combing her hair
was kept tepid so as not TO give her a
chill. and this was what gave her enemies
the beautiful Circassian girl and the
dwarf-a chance to injure her. They
were jealous because she attracted more
attention than they did, 50 they Matched
a plot. which the dwarf carried out sue
cessfnlly. One day he pretended to be i'll.
and got day off. and just before the
Iuermaids performance he hid himself in
the boiler ROOM After the man had been
down to see that there was not too big a
fire. the dwarf set to and stocked for all
he was worth. The mermaid soon felt
that something was wrong, but she stood
1t as long as she could. AT last, however,
she had to choose between being boiled or
giving the thing away. and naturally she
preferred the latter alternatives but, as
the Snowman put it, the public said things
that were very discouragng," and the
show had to move on.