The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-10-27
MANY CLOWNS WITH
BARNUM & BAILEY
Small Army of Funmakers
With Circus Coming Here
Next Thursday

A small army of clownr is coming
to this city next Thursday with the
Barnum & Bailey circus, the assurance
| is given, and side-splitting hilarity will
prevail during the performances To the
| boy and the older boy, his father, there
is nothing in all the varied catalog of
the CIRCUS that quite compares with
the crude and genuine mirth the white
face cut-ups provide.
| The clown is an inherent part of mans
attitude toward life. There have al
ways been clowns in the past; there
will always be clowns in some FORM
| The circus clown as we knew him in
the days of youth Us slowly passing.
What is left of him are scattered and
impersonal remnants of the old indi-
vidual jester. He has become medley,
a multitude of abstracts. a whirlwind
of unidentified comedy.
| The reason is quite obvious. The Bar
mum & Bailey arena is so large that
there must needs be a small army OF
funmakers in order to simultaneously
amuse the great audience; nothing can
stand out individually. Formerly one
clown was the cynosure of all eyes,
the privileged jester who could do alb
solutely as he pleased. Now he--or the
! vast band of him--is merely one cog in
great amusement machine. Personal
appeal ha& yielded to organization and
ensemble VI
| The fun okSAhe modern clowns lies in
their originah anceptions, their gro
tesque costumeA and their mechanical
effects, and it Is quite as effectively
and spontaneously uproarious as that
in the days of the one-ring tent. Dogs,
pigs and even "a kangaroo are their al
| lies; dummies and patrol wagons give
aid they dress like policemen, rubes,
young and old women, suffragettes,
Highlanders and giraffes; giants and
midgets walk side by side.
| Barnum & Bailey have ransacked the
world for its cleverest and most orig
| inal clowns Their comicalities are a
ceaseless joy of creation and burlesque.
Jim Rutherford. Art Jarvis, Flatiron,
Jim Rossi, Hart Brothers. Pierre Ker-
feyser, p. Jerome. Denver Darling, Carl
Milvo, Pat Waldo, Butch Siegrist Ern-
est Anderson and Jack and Tony are
among them. Their names are synony-
nous of mirth unrestricted wherever
the circus is known.
days if necessary to break them from
this life.
This showed clearly to me that the
| law should be enforced. At that time
| there was a strong sentiment with the
city officials, as had always been be-
| fore, that these places could not be
closed but l knew that 1t was my duty
| to close them. At the same time the
men and religion forward movement
| committee was calling my attention to
| my duty in words of truth that no one
| the dive and the brothel, the man who
| got his money from these places, and
the politician, who said let them. alone,
your job is at stake-and the good,
clean, decent Christian people, and the
home. and my conscience, and law en-
! forcement. 1 could not rest, and I made
! up my mind that I would do what my
conscience told me was right regardless
] OF what the result might be. So l gave
| the order, and l have never seen the
moment that regretted IT.; nor would
| the good people of the city return to
the old condition under any circum-
| stances. All we have got to do is just
| such places as we do other laws.
'No doubt some are honest in their
! opinion that. segregation is the only So
| luton of this problem, but medical
| science has long since decided that seq
| regation Is a failure from a health
| standpoint, no matter what precautions
might be undertaken. I have under
| stood that England, some years ago had
permitted segregated district near a
| large army post, with the physicians
! and examinations as has been advocated
Z In some of our cities as a preventive
of the spread of diseases resulting from
such vice. and after the suppression of
that district diseases decreased from
300 per 1000 to as low as 60 to 70 per
thousand, which Is evidence that segre-
| cation under the strictest regulation is
| not preferable to suppression.
Crime Decreases in Atlanta
1--WE have not had as many assignation
houses in the city of Atlanta since the
| closing of the houses as we had before
| and crime and disorder have decreased
also.
| "But what has been done in our city
has not been done in one year nor two
| nor three, but the work started about
four or five years ago, when the So
called segregated district was near to
some of our churches and schools, and a
petition was gotten up to the police de-
| partment to move them, and II was pre-
sented to the board of police commits
sioncrs at that time, and 1t ordered