The Washington times., 1915-04-23
CLOWNS REALLY SAD,
THEY HAVE TO Be
Exert Themselves So Much
Thinking Up Fun They Nat
UraIIy Are Serious.

To the individual who sits on the pyra-
mided boards and seats about the saw
dust strewn arena OF a circus tent 1t may
not appear that there ia much that II
sensible and sedate beneath the pates
of the clowns who. urged on by the
giggles and laughter of the spectators.
are ighting a Gettysburg battle of fun
with siapsticks and blown-up biadders.
However. the clown is a very serious
minded person. He generally looks like
the saddest man connected with the
you will find out that it takes a good
deal of resourcefulness and fun inven-
ttvcness to make a fool of pnes self 80
that the populace may broadly smile.
The clown has always been and will
forever be one OF the standbys Of the
circus. He belongs to that eternal firm
FOUNDATION OF the canvas city--the ele-
phant the peanuts. and hmself. What
would a circus be without clowns? 1t
would be as the mint julep without the
freshly plucked green leaf. like the
Manhattan without the cherry. or a
baseball game without the bleachers.
1t Just cannot be.
Ringling brothers have always be-
lieved in the clown. and their big circus
has a representative from every voting
district in the rampant. rippiipg repub-
lie OF funland. This year they have half
hundred of the merry sons of Momus
and they tie a laugh to every minute
that passes in the running Off Of the
big show
Clowns From Every Land.
There are Americans and clowns from
| every land, most prominent among the
foreigners being the famous DeItoreIIis,
who have appeared in every country in
the world and who by special command
Of the Shah of Persia visited the pal
ace and made him laugh until his fez
almost lost Its tassel. The clown works
hard and leads a healthy. happy life,
generally has fine home for the win
ter and saves hts money. But like the
rest OF humanity he has a complaint.
Pete Mardo, one of the best known
, and funniest clowns in America says
that the cost of fun-making has gone
! Just as high In the air AS the cost Of
living. in fact he states that fun king
production now costs at least 40 per
cent more than II did in the days OF the
circus of our daddies.
We clowns must get together soon"
said Mardo. and get materials for
making laughter on new schedule or
: we will all soon be as ludicrous as a
| crutch For instance. the last few Con-
! gresses have put such a high tariff on
! lumber that slapstick now costs as
! mvch as champion hitter's baseball
! hat. while blown-up bladders are get
| ting as scarce as real elk teeth. and you
| know these are the GLOWING implements
of warfare when he gets into the battle
| of FUN. or course, there is still the
| seltzer bottle. which never fails to cause
| cold water into the eye OF a partner,
| but some of the towns In these parts
! are so dry that YOU can't even buy
| seltzer without a physicians prescrip-
tion. And look at all OF the white and
paint we put on our faces. Why, those
| prices have gone so far up that to
make yourself look really funny these
days IL costs almost as much as paint
ing house! Something's got to be
done"
Want 1t On Free List.
well said Ed Memo. another good
| laugh maker, why not let's all put
| on our war paint and visit the COM
mittee on tariff and. after a few stunts
to get them in a good humor. make an
appeal to put laugh making materials
| on the free list. putting smiling and
gigglng in the reach of the plain peo-
ple?"
Among the Ringing clowns is Al
Miaco, the dean OF the profession, who
, though seventy-one years old, turns a
back of the srhoolhousr. Then. there is
Al White. the female impersonator:
/ jules Turnour. the famous French pan
tommist; George Hartzell. one of the
oid-fashioned singing and talking
clowns; Fred Stellng. with his somcr-
saulting dog. and James Spriggs, whom
every child i'm the world knows as the
policeman of clownland. All OF the rest
are old seasoned hippodrome track fun
makers. so there will be plenty Of
laughter when the show comes to town
The big feature OF the Ringing
Brothers circus this season is the spec
tacle OF Solomon and the Queen OF
Sheba." which Is produced with all Of
the scenic environment. effects. and
gorgeous costuming of grand opera
With more than go characters there is
told in wordless play the dramatic
story of the wisest OF Israers kings
! This is followed by a glittering pro-
four premieres. In the arenic perform
| ance which follows there are l25 acts
In which 400 world-eSught performers
appear.