Evening journal., 1910-05-05
7 HIS DESPERATE
LAUGHS AT DEATH
Dari nG FrenChman Creates In
tense 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-
ducerr It is a sure-fre sensation, an
approach to suicide that fascinates the
morbidminded. There is no ponder
Gus rigging to hint at danger. The
absence of any kind of safety de- |
vice makes the danger of the act evil |
dent 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 Wilmington on Fri
day, May 13, as the extraordinary
feature Of the Barnum and Bailey |
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 appear
ance of being lower down than it is |
until Desperate begins to climb the |
ladder When he mounts to his perch /
tho 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
directly beneath him is the skid. It
is three feet high and made of small
strips Of well-smoothed 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 plat
form. Ten thousand bodies violently
vibrate in response to the beating OF
excited hearts. The band has stopped
playing and a death-like silence pre-
walls. The overbalanced weight OF
the Frenchman's body has plunged him
downward. There is nothing whatso-
ever 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 like an hour. 1t Is a suf-
1icient lapse of time to picture a hor-
rible fate. The impulses to avert the
pyes and avoid the sight of a tragedy
But there is a fascination to the rash
spectacle that has nevr yet been re-
sisted.
Suspense tears at the heart and tor
lures the mind. But it is over I'm an
instant. The Frenchman's bare chest
ground. The next thing the audience
realizes. after the strain upon their
nerves has been released, is that the
man stands with feet firmly set upon
the grass. smiling and bowling to them.
Later on the audience is again sub
jected TO another seige of thrills by the
perilous ride of Jupiter, the balloon
horse, and the horrible feats of the
Adonis brothers. while the remarkable
feats Of Charlie the First, a chimpanzee
bicycle rider and acrobat, fill spectators
with amazement. The remainder Of
the program is given by 100 artists,
who represent the best talent of the
world. Never before has the Barnum
and Bailey Circus contained the sem
sational 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 s1OO0,O00. In the menagerie
there is a single attraction OF more in
terest than the entire exhibition of any
other show. 1t is the only giraffe baby
ever seen anywhere in the world out
side the African jungle. It is the only
one ever born in America.