The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1910-06-08
DESPERADO LAUGHS AT DEATH
Daring Frenchman Creates Intense
 Excitement in a Circus Tent.

Daring Frenchman Creates Intense
 Excitement in Circus Tent.
 The spectacle of a desperate man throwing himself from a great height and landing on his unprotected chest upon three-foot skid fastened to the ground is the latest circus thrill pro- ducer. It is a cure-fire sensation, an approach to suicide that fascinates themOrbid minded. There is no pon- derous rigging to hint at danger. The absence of any kind of a safety de- vice makes the danger of the act evil dent at 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 Bridgeport on Fri day, June "A, as the extraordinary fea- ture of the Barnum and Bailey Great est Show on Earth.
 2 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 appear ance of being lower down than it is, until Desperate begins to climb the ladder. When he mounts to his perch the realization comes to the audience that he is standing at a height equal to that of the roof of the ordinary five-story building. On the ground uII CCt1y OCl4Cd LII l1llh 10 lllc SkIC. It IS three feet high and made of small strips of well snloothed birch.
 Desperate slowly raises his hand high above his head. His fingers touch the canvas above him. This is the signal for all eyes to center on him. He leans far forward over the small platform. Ten thousand bodies vio- lently vibrate in response to the beat ing of excited hearts. The band has stopped playing and a death-like si- lence prevails. The over-balanced weight of the Frenchman's body has plunged him downward. There is nothing whatsoever between him and death but 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 like an hour. It is sufficient lapse of time to pie ture a horrible fate. The impulse is to avert the eyes and avoid the sight of a tragedy. But there is a fascina- tion to the rash spectacle that has never yet been resisted.
 Suspense tears at the heart and torture the mind. But it is over in an instant. The Frenchman's bare chest glides over the frail framework on the ground. The next thing the audience realizes. after the strain up- on their nerves has been released is
 
 set upon the grass, smiling and bow ing to them.
 Later on the audience is again sub- jected to another siege of thrills by the perilous ride of Jupiter. the bal loon horse, and the horrible feats of the Adonis brothers, while the remark able feats of Charlie the First. a chim- panzee bicycle rider and acrobat, fill spectators with amazement. The re- mainder of the program is given by 100 artists, who represent the best tall ent of the world. Never before has the Barnum and Bailey Circus con- tained the. sensational features that are this year thrilling the people of America. A fitting overture to the show is the new forenoon parade, re- established at a cost of over S1,OO0,- OOO In the menagerie there is sim gle attraction of more 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.