The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-03-11
ALMOST READY FOR HEGlRA OF CIRCUS TO NEW YORK CITY Barnum 6 Bailey Organiza- tion Will Leave City End
 of This Week Annual Opening Tn Madison Square Garden Week
 From Saturday

 leave Bridgeport for New York city on Saturday morning. The, annual open ing of the circus in Madison Square Garden will take place on Saturday, March 21. At the winter home of the Greatest Show on Earth hundreds of workmen of almost every conceivable calling are hard at work making final preparations for the annual tour of the massive organization.
 Chief interest in the circus this year centers upon the monster spectacle, .sThe Wizard Prince of Arabia ' eThis is a. mystical pageant Of great propor- tions, with musical setting alto gether unique. The circus men are confident that the phrase greater, grander, bigger and better than ever,'' ; can be properly applied ta this feature of the big show.
 The tendency of the circus produc- CTS of late yeans has deen to discard the uhrillers of the ola days, such as Looping the Loop ~The Dip to Death" and other sensational achieve nents of but momentary duration, for f something more substantial The pa i geants, or speetacleS have been de- veIoped to a wondertru1 degree, until this year the Barnum & Bailey show management expects to eclipse all foreT1nners.
 K More than 800 people take part in the performance of terhe Wizard Prince of Arabia ; and of the 800 most of them are provided with musical in struments fashioned to conform to the historical and allegorical significance of the narrative.
 But the spectacle which opens the performance, is but one of a. host of brand new features. Harry Mooney, the elephant trainer, has three pairs of elephants who tango with all the enthusiasm of as many pairs of gay young people The menagerie is ann pIf1ed width a number Of new adult members, we'll two. babies, a Hon., Tack and the baby giraffe. Anna Louise,'' now just nine days old. of whom John H. Patterson is Justly proud.
 Horse trainers are busy with dozens of beautiful animals who are learning the final paces of their forthcoming perfornances. In the machine shops, elaborate devices for spectacular rig ging for aerial perormers are being completed, Seams dresses by the dozen are finishing the last Of the wardrobe orders, and completing comparisons that ~ represent fortunes.
 RedoIent Of fresh paint, the car barns are ready to release scores Of brilliantly painted cars of special de sign constructed to meet the peculiar needs Of transporting the circus over i it's 26,O9O mile tour.
 Hundreds Of draught horses. most
 
 scrubbed by Superintendent Tom Lynch's staEwart hostlers who take as much pride in theS magnificent horse flesh of the show as, a proud father does in a family of fine children ts While hundreds of employees are I hard at work perfecting the various departments of the circus for the biz opening. in the main offices in Nor man. street are gathered Sam Mo Craeken, the head of the circus organ ization, and his executive staff II They are ndt only show mem they are manufacturers. merchants, theat- rfcal producers, railroad men-in fact II they are the embodiment of almost II every branch of commercial activity. They build and rebuild cars, both j freight and passenger. they turn out wardrobes for the theatrical cornpa- nies; they buy and sell property when it is necessary for advantageous cir GUS sites, they trade in horse flesh more extensively than most wholesale dealers in horses
 f McCracken. with Charlie Huachin- son, Carl Hatheway, and other mem bers Of his staff who know the circus business like a youngster knows his alphabet, direct the destiny of the circus with as little apparent effort as i, the ordinary business man transacts the most minor details of his affairs.