Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-11-02
BY GLENMORE DAVIS

hankered to see the world.
"'You're dead wrong, | told him, and meant it.
What YOU to do is stick right here in Steam
Corners, clerk in your pas grocery store grow up in
the trade join the church and the Elks, and become
power in the Y. NJ. c. A. After awhile the Old Man
will retire He'll leave you in charge of the business,
and before you know it you'll be the of the Blue
Front director in the Buldin' & Loan Association
the superintendent Of the Sunday school, and the proud
father of eight kids. You'll be punkins! You'll
be leadn citizen an every Sunday you pile your
wife, the cook and the kids your seven-passenger
an 60 out to Olentangy Crick for picnic. Don't
make mistake. Don't hook up with tent show.
Don't become inland sailor, cause that's all
Stick to Steam Corners and make for yourself
Get me?
"He said he got me all right but intimated that l
didn't get him. He strong for the rovin life. He
had been that way for three years, and felt that now
was the time to make the big switch. His sug
gested that the Windy Van Horn outfit looked him
like Old Mister Opportunity, and he told me he could
tell knockin when he heard it.
If that's the young Teller, says l, I've got to
change my talk An I've got to talk FAST cause this is
my busy day. Since you've decided to join out with
the White Tops why OF the things settled. But
want to warn you that you've picked out hard life,
and you don't look over strong When you start you
start at the BOTTOM people start in the
grocery business. There's bottom rung every lad
der and the bottom rng of the circus the bottomest
of em all. You've heard of p T. Barnum, Adam
Forepaugh Peter Sells James A. Bailey, John Robinson.
and Otto Ringling?'
"He said he had
"'Wel says 1, they all climbed up cause they made
good on the bottom rlng Can you read?'
"'Yessir,' says he.
"'Well,' says 1, L don't know whether you can
not, but III try you Do you that cage there?
All right. There's sign on it. What does it say?\
"'Wallace the Man Eatin' Lion says he, and was
right. That's exactly what it said You remember old
Wallace, Boys? Some tough cuss, wasn't her You can
bet he was
sol says to him. Kid says 1, there's the
thing that wears four legs. You talk about your
black eopards, your Bengal tigers, your water buffalo,
your pumas and your rattlesnakes until Steam Corners
becomes New York. but for pure unadulterated cussed
give old Wallace.
"'Talk about man eatinr saws l. There's the baby
what holds the record In Newark, N. J., two months
ago he yanked the right off little girl and ate it.
bones an ALL An what did he do in Cleveland week
latero Ate his keeper! Yessir Not 6ngernail, an
eye, wisp of hair left! Just gobbed him entire! In
London four years ago he swallowed two soldiers and
nursegirl! Yessir! We poke his meat to him with
seven-foot pole. Cause why? Cause we dasnt
the cage!'
Il looked at the Kid to how this hit him. His
eyes stickin out like pair of California grapes
an figured the time to go
"'Speakin,' says l, speakin of the bottom rung of
the circus ladder, that's 1.-THE animal cages. Not
of these curious an cantankerous beasts but what
stood Old Man Van Horn in thousands of dollars. An
Wallace is the valuable of the lot. Eight thousand
bucks he cost. If he wasn't worth ggoned much
we'd have shot him from distance long ago.
"'Ben valuable, says l, their health has got to
be preserved at the risk of money le and limb Their
cages must be kept clean they'll die It's up
body clean the cages every day. That's the bottom
rung,-cleanin' the cages. That's where Barnum and
Forepaugh and Sells and Bailey and Uncle John Rob-
inson and the FIVE Ringlings started. That's where
Windy Van Horn begun and if hadn't commenced
sweepin out the animal wagons wouldn't be where l
am now. Yessr, that's the bottom rung. That's