New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-01-25

AHa 4iEbc Not so the grocer. If conditions
N,:IE<rZ are not propitious, he can shove the can
Of tomatoes the box Of oatmeal, and the
Mound Of coffee back on the shelf. II competition IS
what's running him, he can st down ana wait '' ug III,
other fellow to move on or die. grocery stock w'll
keen IT,, different with the circus. The sho" must
bcvcn no matter what the odds aganstit And there
nothing 10 sell any day but that days tickets WIN
another set of White Tops in the same town or vicln-
itv it, scramble TO which gets the bigger snare
Of the local loose change Many OF the most interest
inc page, in circus history are directly traccable TO
tbi tqpc for the major portion Of the pois. There's
not a fftv-vcar-old resident OF the interior lmted
Ct,tcs but can tell YOU Of bill posters war. But
procervinen don't fight They don't have to.
That was precisely what Sam IIarkins was saying as
the train slowed down gradually to stop on siding
If he hadn't said it, | should probably have never
thought OF it.
Tom he said. its me for the Simple Life as soon
rs this seasons done y grocery, linen buster,
my own box of ve-cent cigars and plenty OF time 10 SIT
on stool near the dried prnes, waiting for customers
and watching the flies and dust give the mellow touch
Of age 10 the stock can you see me-
Outside Sans car the billboards, fences and barns
announced in screaming coors and cxtravagant English
the presence of two crcuscs in Texas. For weeks the
rival bill posters contracting agents. and press men had
been osting one another -sparring for wind, as 1t
were While there had been physical sctto, 1t was
only because both the Mighty llarkns outht and the
Wells Howe crew realized that the date for the scrim-
,,aoc WAS already fixed Each crowd overlooked no OPP
nortunv 10 harass the other but diligently saved its
wind and strength for the inevitable and impending
.niy1p sam Harkins knew all about this, he could
smell trouble as far any MAINLAND the thought OF the
turmoil through which he must staggcr in the next few
DAVIS was doubtless responsible for his downhe1rted
desire to become raisin-eating dealer IN fancy ana
staple cltablcs
@Forqct IT,, said The train had come to halt, and
the business Of unloading the hog the freaks the
ticket wagons and the rest Of junk was started
Come on, What YOU want is fresh air and cup OF
coffee. BE cheerful and maybe II give YOU one Of your
own cigars after awhile. Here's Rip now.
D Up was the youth who took care Of Sans rig, and
IN drove him to and from the train, out to the lot, and
wherever else he wanted to 90 in the tank towns We
were PLAYING in the Wild and Woolly Just as he was
climbing in Sam deserted youngser with papers, and
bought one
whoa yelled SAM shaking out the paper on his
knee "Look at that!
His trembling fist was aimed in the general direction
Of half-coumn article the first page. The heading
read:
SMALLPOX AND CHAMBERS
Mighty Harkins Show Due Here Tomorrow Said to Be
Rocking with Dread Diseases!
WHOLE STATE N DANGER!
Circus if Reports Are True Must BE Guaranteed for
Weeks Before Allowed to Go on
Under Mclrose dateline there followed what was
described as a special despatch to The Sentinel, IN
which. we'll sprnlled with 1T is alleged 1T is said,
according to trustworthy reports "rmor has 1t, and
other journalistic albis, the details OF the horrible
scourges were printed Our horses supposed to be
diving by the carload IN acrobat lately arrived from
south America was suspected Of having contributed
the smallpox which had spread fast that only half OF
the show could be given if the health officers per
mitted the performance to 60 on. However, the mag
native writer figured being well acquainted with the