Arizona republican., 1910-09-20
DESPERADo LAUGHS AT DEATH.
Daring Frenchman Creates Intense

DaTln9 FTenCnfndn STcdtcS iulCHSc
 Excitement In a Circus Tent.
 The spectacle of a desperate man throwing himself from a great height and landing on his unprotected chest upon a three-foot skid fastened to the ground is the latest circus thrill pro- ducer IL is a cure-fire sensation, an approach to suicide that fascinates the morbid minded. There is no pom derous rigging to hint at danger. The absence of any kind of q safety device makes the danger of the act evident at a glance.
 Desperate is the name of the mad man who conceived the idea and has the nerve to put it into execution. He will present it in Phoenix on Mon day, September 26. as the eXtraordi nary feature of the Barnum and Bail ey Greatest Show on Earth.
 High up in the center of the dome is a very small platform. reached by a rope ladder. The size of the great arena gives the platform the ap- pearance of being lower 'iown than # is. until Desperate begins to climb the ladder When he mounts tc his perch the realization comes U the audience that he is standing at a height equal to that Of the roof of the ordinary five story building. On the ground directly ben"dth hin IS the skid. It is three fooS wide an l made of small strips of wei. srloothed birch.
 Desperate slowly raises his hand high above his head His fingers touch the canvas above hirl. This is the signal for all eyes {" C. ater on him. He leans far forward ever the small platform. Ten thousand bodies violently Yibrate in r@Spunsc to the beating of excited hearts The band has stopped playing and I death like silence prevails. The .Narbal;tnccd weight of the Frenchman's body has plunged him downward. There is nothing whatsoever between him and death but a half dozen slender strips of polished birch. And what if he should miss that doubtful structure? The second he is falling through the air seems to spectators Ike an hour. It is sufficient lapse Of time to picture a norr. cIe fate. The .mprl'e !s tD avert the eyes and avoid the sight of a tragedy. But there is a fascination to the rash spectacle that has never yet been resisted.
 Suspense tears at the heart and tortures the mind. But it is over in an instant The Frenchman's bare chest glides over the frail frame work on the ground. The next thing the audience realizes. after the strain upon their nerves has been released, is that the man stands with feet firm ly set upon the grass, smiling and lowing to them.
 Later on the audience is again subjected to another siege of thri''s by the perilous ride of Jupiter. tine balloon horse, and the horrible fasts of the Adonis brothers, while the re markable feats of Charlie the First, a chimpanZee bicycle rider and acrobat. fill the spectators with amazement. The remainder of the program is given by 100 artists. who represent the best talent of the world. Never Circus contained the sensational fea- lures that are this year thrilling me people of America. A fitting over ture to the show is the new forenoon parade. re-established at a cost of over $1.000.000. In the menagerie there is a single attraction of moro interest than the entire exhibition of any other show. It is the only giraffe baby ever seen anywhere in the world outside the African jungle. It is the only one ever born in America.