Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1910-09-02
RINGLING BROS. COMING,
Worlds Greatest Circus Soon to
Visit Great Bend.

With an entirely new outfit an
the hearty endorsement of New
York city to its credit, Ringing
Brothers Worlds Greatest Shows,
will, on Thursday, september 9Th,
give two performances IN Great
Bend.
Each season finds this circus
larger and better. The progress
that will be noted this year Is
exceptional. 1t manifests itself
first in the new pagan, built by
foreign artists and designers, at
the European workshops of the
show in StOke-on-Trent, England.
When visitors approach the show
grounds the size of the city Of
tents fills them with amazement.
The menagerie has been inereas-
ed and the main exhibition tent
is the largest in the world. 1t is
a labyrinth of stages, rings and
gymnastic and aerial equipment,
filling the arena from ground to
dome. There are 975 performers.
Over 300 of them are Europeans.
There are at least 80 sensational
acts on the long program.
There is an Introductory spec
tacle, built on a scale Of magnif-
icence never before attempted in
the past. In it 1900 people, over
half of the elephants in America,
and hundreds of horses are used.
The magic touch Of the Ringing
management is evident through
out every department Of the cir
Gus. New York City unanimously
through its newspapers, stamps
the show as the best ever seen
in Manhattan. The program is
delightfully."- fresh and new, and
varied enough to suit all tastes.
This is the twenty-seventh year
of the Ringing Bros. as show
men. On April 3, 1883, they gave
their first performance in the
public park of their native city,
BarabOO, Wis. The tent was one
home made. The seat plankS use
were borrowed from a neighbour
lumber yard. The boys made the
ring properties used and gave the
performance. They had but one
horse. They all doubled in brass.
1t would be impossible to begin
in a smaller way. They had the
right stuff in them, and they did
not know there was such a word
in the dictionary as fail"
During their first summer they
md not 60 many miles from Bara-
boo. They had to travel entirely
by wagon, and their one horse
was not equal to the task of a
long tour. The following season
they lad three horses, and some
times showed as tar away from
their home town as a hundred
miles. Today their one horse is
supplanted by a train over one
mile in length. In a single sea-
son they often go from Maine to
California and from Canada to
Mexico. Their history between
that one horse and their six hun
dren and fifty ShOrSSeS OF today
reads like a tale from the Arab
la" Nights.
There are five brothers in the
firm. Al Ringing is the equeS-
trian director. No circus direc-
tor or stage manage in the world
can equal him in the art of spec
tacular groupings, or in giving
style and speed to a performance.
Charles Ringing is at the head
of the pictorial advertising. 3
special cars, travelling ahead of
the show, do this work. Each car
has a force of twenty-five adver-
tisers and bill-posters. Otto Ring
ling is the financial director. He
is a marvel of system and knows
how to handle big things with
nerve and sure aim. John Ring
ling is the reuter- of the show. He
knows every city and town in the
country, and is well posted on
agricultural and mercantile con-
ditiOns. Alfred T. Ringing heads
the bureau Of publication. Every
editor and important newspaper
and magazine man In the United
States knows him.
See the McSherry Drill sold by