New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1911-03-26
TIE PLAYGOER
At the Circus for a Change, and
Some Reflections Consequent.

and puCnaCious farCcS 90 tho circus.
the best of it is that the circus brings
back 10 some of us memories of child
hood. q magic which the theatre en-
IIoys but rarely. Even a circus WITHIN
brick walls has good deal Of this re-
suscitatinc power lott Nobody pro-
tends. and tho circus fclk themselves
would nc lho Last 30 attempt the pre-
tcncc. that Madison square Garden, even
when the 2lorifcd ramc BarnUm Is at
tachod to the oTugcnt Bailey, cxerts
over tho vearied. ciuhcd brain any
thing like the witch"ry of the tented
field Canvas must cover tho sho" II
you would really live over again your
juvenile days at the circus. The Zip Of
the tents in thc wind. the insinuatins
rx..nborliness Of tho sideshows, the ora
to.v of the harkcrs. the shrieks of the
steam celiopc. the lines ol gilded
wagons. tho occans OF pink lemonade inc
rouch-ard-rcadv good spirits of ~"
populous camp. the circusy smell ana
the flare Of the old STYLED oqcn lamps
these. and how many moro familiar o.
scnces arc missed amid the skyscrapors'
Put the Greatest on Earth rs as sr"at
Is ever. over in New York. without these
familiar lows. What an organization il
is. what a bcvildcring array Of rushing
numbers, Ard. delight upon delight. no
body made a speech on the first night.
No COY author aching To he heard no
star bursting with q carefully prepared
oxtcmpcrc speech. no manager hungry
for an ovation. thrust himself upon the
savdusted out otherwise glittcring
scene But the sum Of achievement was
ss well worth a speech as if it had been
nut forward in Broadway playhouse.
Twas q Lesson i'm modesty and keeping
,oiIr-plaoo-in-the- world, a becoming oh
ecrvancc of the fitness Of things But
the corn ~ the superior beings behind
some curtains may not have II 50; al
though tho moro orator. tho greater the
pity.
Even The Loamv Ladies did not make
specchee End r ever performers We're
entitled ~ indulge IN oratory before
an audience The Leamy Ladies are thus
ireti6ed ANYHOW. ono Of them IS. But
the stars Of the performing armament he
r-aieed. she did not attempt ~ Now
The Leamv Ladies observe please. not
Tho sisters Leamy. nor the Lesmy
'rvoupe. nor vet The Leamys. but The
Ioar,v LADIES' arc wonderful persons.
Tho programme SAYS that their gym
rsstic performance was last winters
c~oWniuC feature IN Paris and Vienna.
Tho Leamy LADIES may he Viennese, or
Partisan or my como from the banks
of the Liffey. or from Oskaloosa, know
not: j never doubt circus programme,
Tor resist tho contagion Of its adjectives
but They arc the browning feature of
the Greatest SHOW on Earth--or ono Of
tlom is. q blond Leamy Lady. the most
agile and graceful being that ever foated
i'm tho air. Time was-a less pushful and
mechanical age than now-when poets
major, not minor-Would have written
sonnets to her flashing feet and undu
lating arms; and painters, famous, too,
would have portrayed her quivering like
n sunbeam on a awayng rope; but now
VIC are much too matter-of-fact TO celc-
hrate thus the poesy Of a ring, even Of
tho circus ring. Yet | would go again to
soc this Lcamy Lady suspended there
midway twixt roof and sawdust, a Great
ire of ecstatic motion.
Whether The Leamy Ladies. even this
bright. particular and blond Leamy
Lady. arc as graceful on what John
Stetson used to call terra Gotta as on the
flying trapeze. who shall say? l used to
see Blondin walking the pavement like
any awkward citizen. Half an hour
earlier he had crossed the tight rope like
Greek god, if it may be supposed that
Greek gods ever gave themselves to that
hazard But Of this be sure--the Greek
gods never saw any human gliding.
curving, swinging over their fair earth in
fashion more bewtching than this
Leamy Lady al Barnums.
The poise Of the horse Jupiter. as
standing on a board with his rider on
his back. he is hoisted 10 the roof and
then quickly lowered is a lesson in re
pose" which might be watched with
benefit by many players at leading the
atres in the town. Jupiter knows how
10 Dt sun at tHt proper IIiDHlSHlS, anu
he appears to understand why. There
are "stars" Of repute about whom less
can be said. And as for perfection in
their parts. where will YOU find perform
crs more absorbed in their work" than
The Gammons' dogs?
There are more than hundred items
on the circus bill. And all OF them are
sllilful or funny. or otherwise attractive
and yet ] can't find anywhere a ref
erence 10 art in all the mighty food Of
words that the Greatest on Earth writes
about itself, or that others write about
IT, Before such humility one must bow
with something like establishment if not
wholly with reverence. Perhaps you
have been inclined TO think that the
circus folk. in the tempe,t Of their
printers ink have always been inclined
10 claim too much. Revise your esti-
mate. III the avalanche OF spacious
wo diness which precedes and accom-
panios their annual excursion they are
heroically reticent men compared with
some that might be named.
There was a play in town the other
night given under auspices quite cX-
allied. Between two acts fifty minutes
were lost TO the audience. \ cruel was ;
of waits. If Barnum 6 Bailey were to