El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-10-04

the year are the youngsters and the
children of larger growth more inter
ested. And of a variety of features of
the circus. certainly there is no one
individual among the performers who
| is more of an institution nor has be-
hind him longer line of history than
! the clown.
often Expert AcrObats.
The derivation Of the word is the
| same as that of clumsy" so il be-
| comes a piquant paradox that under
| the balloon garments and cornucopia
cap of this groteSque character is fire.
| quently concealed one of the most ex-
pert acrobats the circus can boast. At
| one time 1t was supposed that the name
/ was derived from the Latin word CO.
| lonus," a husbandman. and thus orig
I inally the clown became identified with
! the country yokel.
! However these things may be- it
| seems certain that the clown in the
/ character in which we know him is
! a development of the testers of the
! medieval ages, with a little of the cos
! tune OF Pierrot and something of his
| sportiveneSs. Then he took on the
| quality of the devil, who was an indis-
| pensible member of the cast in the
| miracle and mystery plays. No Won
2 der he has come forth very composite,
with Beelzcbub dominant one moment
and the tenderness of poor Tom, in
| Lear asserting itself the moment
after.
| History and literature are filled with
the adventures Of the jesters-Chicot.
4
stands alone. perhaps, but Shakspere
| has furnished forth a whole multitude
of jocund characters VINO may be called
Early Day Clowns.
The clown who engaged the greatest
degree of popular interest. however, is
the clown of the latter day circus. 1t
| is difficult to consider him properly
outside of his setting. 1t is a source
of a certain amount of patriotic pride
to realize that the United States has
ffe full a-r nTrrQ rTE he
Opment Of this unique Institution. The
gleeman Of England Travelled the couu-
try with dancing bears and horses that
in one instance certalnly-bcat ket-
tie drums. In the EliZabethan era
Banks's horse Morocco was one of
the wonders of the age. 1t was said
that he could not only tell how many
francs there were in a French crown.
but, in case ii was an old coin, knew
how to make allowance for abrasion
Towards the close Of the 18th century
the circus in England was really be-
ginning to take hometown and all
and it is but another evidence that
little under the sun is new when We
are told that one Of the features OF
the time was a couple of Cata'WDa IN
dians-both chiefsi
1t was the American van Amburg
who developed the menagerie ere
YOU ever afraid2" said the Duke OF
Wellington to the American who en-
joys the distinction of being the first
animal tanner. The first time l am
my pupils are not afraid of me, / snail
retire from the wild beast line
Jester Is Advised to Laugh.
Almost concurrently with the growth
of the menagerie and the Introduction
of indians and "tumblers, as the aero
bats were called for years, came the
clown. And strangely enough. one OF
the very first was also the SreateIsst-
He was Joseph Grimaldi He made MS
first professional appearance when ne
was less than two years of age, and
retired in 1928. He was celebrated TOT
his part in the pantom1ne OF "Motner
Goose" in which the British public
never wearied of seeing him. He wrote
his memoirs in two volumes and
edited by Charles Dickens. who had
known him well, and given to the pub
lie.
The story is often told how he once
went. anonymously, to a celebrated
London specialist and told the physi-
clan that he was dying of melancholla-
The medical man made light OF II, to
certain extent-tOld him that all ne
needed was to keep out in the fresh
air and the sunshine. frequent merry
company. and the Slile Above all.
night-and hear Grfmaldi." Alas. doc
tor" said the clown. Il am GrimaldiH'
The incident has often been cited to
show that the mirth of the clown and
the comedian are not as spontaneous as
Howes' Had First Clown.
One of the earliest American circuses
to employ a clown was that of HOWeS
and Cushing-realiy an Anglo-Ameri-
can organization. This organization
made tour of England, and the clown,
the jugglers and the mona gerie attract
ed so much attention that the Sangers.
who had the leading circus in Great
Britain. felt the need of securing lions
and lion tanners. As king of the lions"
they took Crockett. a consumptive mu-
stefan. from his place in the band and
rounded up few lions to compete with
the American circus, largely built
around the clown The Sanger lion
was so tame that he dozed at the feet |
of Nine. Sanger when she posed for a
tableau of Britannia.
But poor Crockett had other beasts !
to tame that were more ferocious- He !
proved himself Drawer than his own !
lions on many thrilling occasions.
Finally he dropped dead in Chicago as (
he was about to enter the arena during l
one of his visits to this country.
Thousands Laughed Mt Johnny LOwIOw
The greatest Of all American clowns !
was Johnny LOwlOw who won fame (
with John Robinson's circus in the !
period just after the Civil war. Rob 4
insOn himself had acted as a clown dur |
ing his DAYS of struggle towards sue !
cess, and his affection for Johnny Low |
low was deep LowlOw had been born |
in Milledgeville, Georgia, but ran /
away from home at an early age. The |
Bring in another horse" not only |
brought down the house or the tent. to /
be more accurate-but gave a phrase |
to the language of the time.
1t was one of his humOrs to circulate !
rumors of his death. and then. like Tom \
Sawyer, suddenly appear upon the /
scene of grief. Time after time he did /
this. and Joel Chandler Harris. as a |
member of the staff of a southern |
wrote many obituaries of |
his dead" friend which afterwards |
gave place to songs of rejoicing that J
the dead had come to life But at last /
Johnny LowlOw failed to make his Gus |
tomary appearance "and no man knows I
his sepulchre unto this day"
An Irish "Chiaamun.'
One OF the most celebrated English !
clowns who ever visited this country /
was Wallet, who afterwards wrote |
his memoirs. He had a circus of his |
own and displayed all the ingenuity |
of his craft 1t is related that on one |
occasion he decided that it would be an /
excellent idea to include a, Chinaman |
then more rare than now in the Occi- l
dent-in his great congress of ma
tons" The only available member |
was an Irishman (then using an Italian /
name), but the son of Erin had too l
much esprit de corps to refuse to be 1
shaver on his crown and otherwise /
tricl1ed out as a Chinaman
After the performance such of the |
Celestials as lived in Dublin. where the |
initial performance was given. de- /
sired to have a personal interview |
fhofr oil 7f1-r-r Is