The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1910-10-22
THE EVENING STORY
A Circus Cheetah.
(By lola Forester. )

A Circus Cheetah.
(By Izola Forrester.)
"A cheetah," said Murray pleasant
ly, us the pet of kings and rajahs
and nabobs and the other classy gen.
try of the far east. Ever see one?"
I'm not sure" little Sammy Clancy
answered.
The two showmen were on the train
en- route to join others of the tent
family to show in Philadelphia.
Clancy was new to the circus bust
ness. He had appeared out of the
West without warning and had bought
out the Rawlings and Wells Oriental
hippodrome on wheels, so to speak.
Both Rawlings and Wells had decamp-
ed for New York without specifying
their intentions as soon as the trans
fer was made, and the new owner
had appeared simultaneously and had
picked up the reins on the runaway
outfit and stopped the danger.
He was a very polite, low-voiced
chap, about thirty, smooth shaver,
dark, with slow, boyish smile and a
steady eye. The show people liked
him at sight, and within a week re-
spected him. He did not yelf at them
nor use large language. AS Murray
expressed it after a personal expert
ence:
He's an ultimate conclusion. So
and SOS the case. and there you are.
and what are you going to do about
it? He's a wise little boy and he's
my boss and the rest of the shows
too"
There are several in this country"
went on Murray. Some of the parks
have them. But they all seem dis
pirited. I never saw but one live one.
You don't know any of the old tim
ers. do you? Haven't been in the bust
ness long?"
Not so very long" said Sammy.
This happened nearly eight years
ago, just about the time small cir
cuses began to lose their grip on ac-
count Of vaudeville packing the the
aires and getting the best acts. One
of the last to give up was old Pop
Atkins By jove, he trotted over his
old circuit with the same old elephants
and wagons and animals that he'd
been giving them for years. His wife
died that year, but he didn't care.
They'd trained the daughter, Glover,
to take her place, and she took bet
ter than the old lady"
Sammy evinced fresh interest.
Good locker? 2"
More than that, son, more than
that She was the $4,000 beauty all
right None of your little sawed-off
soubrettes! Slim and fair, she was,
and gracefu1-why, Lord Harry, you
should have seen her ride a horse we
she lifted her whip. But the cheetah
loved her best. Pop used to beat it
and poke it playfully with a hot iron,
and so on. Once when it didn't mind
him he stuck the lighted end of a
cigar on the tin of it's nose. Oh, yes,
Pop was surely playful"
Were you with him them" asked
Sammy.
ct was-up to two weeks before it
happened. Then Pop and I had a
gentlemanly difference of opinion, and
I went East. He used to whip the girl
the way he had her mother. She'd
fight back, but it wasn't any use, and
/ interfered. Well, he was her father
and there you were. And she was too
proud TO have him arrested and testify
against him. So after I'd pounded
Pop and relieved my feelings and
been declined by Clover, left the
show. She was working up an act
with the cheetah then. You know
what they look like, bigger than a
leopard and not so crafty. They train
them for hunting over in Persia and
India. This one was trained to hate
the hand that struck him. So 1t laid
who took care 2" asked Sam
"a kid Pop had sent for from the
show where he bought 1t down at
Coney Island. He wasn't good for
that animal like a tame kitten around
him. He and Glover had all the care
of it, for the old fellow was asleep
most of the time. One day it got loose.
1 heard about it from a pal of mine
who stayed on for the season. 1t was
about two, as the show was breaking
up for a new town, and the cheetah
got out and calmly strolled down the
main street in the moonlight. 1t
seemed amused and interested, but
when a principal citizen got busy
with a shooting iron it Jumped at
him and cfewed his shoulder. Then
this youngster went after it, but it
had tasted blood and was feeling
mighty airy. It only cuffed at the
boy, but it laid him out. and all at
once Clover heard the row and ran out
of her tent and down the street after
it. And say, she had her belt, little
elastic business with a pretty buckle
on it-you know the kind girls wear
and she put that around its neck and
led it back to its wagon. How's that +?
Plucky? Yes. While the boys were
hanging back with pitchforks and nets
and hots irons.''
Another time it had toothache and
they got a dentist in, and she made
him give 1t an anesthetic. Little