Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1915-08-24
SHOW-DAY DRAW
ING NEAR
Only Another Day to Wait for the Big
Barnum and Bailey Circus.

/
Barnum and Bailey Circus.
1t is not only the impatient youth
who is saying, ''only another day to
waltz as the Barnum and Bailey
circus looms up in the near perspect.
i've. 1t is safe to say that even the
'grown-ups" find themselves uncon.
sciously anticipating circus-day; the
blood runs faster, Imagination has
freer play, and, memory, with little
trick that is peculiarly it's own, brings
back other days, when the sawdust
arena was the fulfilment of dreams OF
an earthly Paradise, and the clown
was the most envied of men.
The circus has changed, just as the
men women and children who saw it
quarter of a century ago have
changed. The circus of our "daddieS''
would fall far short of pleasing even
the younger generation of to-day. The
man who sighs for the 'one-ring Cir
Gus of other days does not realize
how primitive the best of the cir
cuses was in those days until he sees
a slngle-ring, crossroads circus of the
present. Then he knows that his con-
ception of things has grown with the
growth of the modern ring show, and
that, after all, the circus of today is
best.
1t is d fact, however, that the best
features of the oid-time circuses have
been retained-at least in their gen.
eral texture. There is still the airy,
fairy lady rider, though her tarletan
has given way to long frocks and she
wears a picture-hat on horseback;
there are acrobats-and plenty of
pretty girls among them, too-just as
there were in other days-but even
ing costumes have, to great extent,
taken the place of tights, and the en-
trance of the modern acrobatic family
into the arena is dazzling revelation
of mOdish gowns and ravishing wraps;
there is the trapeZe performer, but he
is no longer content to show the
power of his biceps by hanging by
one arm for an incredible period,
while twisting himself into a thou
sand shapes, 'skinning the cat," or
risking tumble and brain-concussion
by suspending himself, head down
ward, by his toes. Nowadays, the
trapeze artist is an aerialist-a mid
air vaulter-who Qike the Siegrist-
Silbon troupe or the Imperial Neapol-
itans with the Barnum and Bailey
circus) makes long flights through
space, and lands upon the opposite
bars or in another's hands with the
ease, grace and certainty of the
winged men of mythology. And so
on, through all the varied acts of the
circUs-the foundation of the old
time show is there, but new super
structure has been built upon it.
The Barnum and Bailey circus,
which will be here in Wausau on
Thursday, Aug. 26, is, it is declared,
leader in this adaptation of old ideas
in the arenic world to the more SEN
sational demands of the present. This
is accentuated by the near approach
of circus day, and the interest that
the coming of the show has aroused.
This interest is undoubtedly vitalized
by the fact that while the acts of the
old-time circus that represent the sur
Vival of the titteSt will be in evidence,
there will, it is said, be so much that
is new and timely as to practically
constitute a revolution in arenic enter
tainment. "Lalla Rookh,' a magnifi-
cent spectacular pageant telling the
story of the departure of this
beautiful princess from the royal
gardens of Delhi. The latest
things in acrobatic, equestrian
and aerial endeavor; new things in
trained animal displays; races that
are really racing contests; sensational
departures in which daring women
shoot through space; daring cham
pions who perform impossible stunts
on the bare backs of swiftly flying
horses; Pallenberg's wonder bears,
Adgie and her ten performing lions,
the war elephants and statue horses
these are some of the modern things
that the Barnum and Bailey manage
ment promises to make known, and
which are calculated to show the
difference between the circus of men,
ory and the circus of fact.