The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1916-03-09

/ who was nicknamed SIiverS, because
! of his lanky weight, will recall him if
they ever saw him, a bird cage
catching mask and a padded catch
ing glove his sole baseball props
to create illusion, go through his art
lessly artfu1 pantomiIne of tmperson-
ating an entire baseball team by him
self.
| Dazzling circus queens or aerial Ear
lists might be swinging on high
while high salaried ring performers
were tun1bling about below, but once
Slivers of the elongated feet began
his game by taking an imaginary
drink Of water at imaginary bench
and sauntered out to argue with an
ina ginary umpire until he was or
dered off the field, the thousands in
the Garden or under the canvas big
top across the country saw only him.
Again, when he came forth as a, duck
hunter, a foolish little canvas boat ex-
tending fore and aft from his waist,
and crept up upon ina ginary canvas
backs; when he hammered and tinb-
cred at wooden incline leading to a
Ispring-board and then satisfied him
self that the runway was all right by
placing a. carpenters level on the sur
face of an incline s1anting earthward
at an agile of 80 degrees or more-at
those moments happy faces were
turned toward S1ivers alone and the
arena contained no other performers
so far as the young and aged kiddies
were concerned.
His Early Life.
He did not spring form generations
Of circus stock, so many perform
ers do. His mother, who was a, con-
cert singer in Chicago, wanted him to
study one of the professions and sent
him to the University of Michigan
with this ambition in mind. But SIfv-
ers would be a circus clown, and after
two years of college work at Ann Ar
Dor he slipped away from lecture and
laboratory and t.joined OUT with the
Andrew Mcdonald circus.
A few years earlier, or IA years af-
ter his birth in Sweden, he had run
away from his mothers home in Chi
cago and had travelled with an old
time wagon circus until his mother
had located him and brought him
back to home and prepatory school
again
Inimitable as story teller (a1-
though evening vaudeville he never
spoke a line) SIivers would tell of the
elephant with which he made friends
in the wagon show days down in
Texas. Instead of stretching out in
one of the jo1ting wagons when the
show moved on at night the boy SIiv-
ers would curl UP on a sort of canvas
howdah which he would rig up on
the back of his favorite elephant and
would sleep peacefully on the swaying
back of the beast as the circus wound
along country roads to the next town
through the night.
And shortly after dawn he always
would be awakened by a shrill uproar.
One morning he had noticed smoke
curling from a farmhouse, whereupon
he. directed his elephant into the
elephant from farmer folk delighted |
back door. filed with thoughts of a |
opened the door, saw the trunk of an |
elephant stretched toward her and |
shrieked. But when SIivers had ex-
planned things the whole household |
turned out and there was breakfast |
for Slivers and hay and water for the |
elephane from farmer folk delighted |
to have an elephant in their own door |
yard. In time the elephant would
amb1e regularly to the back doors of
farmers houses. hence the morning
uproar from farmers wives which
throughout that season awakened
Slivers.
slivers was married here between
circus performances in April, 1902 |
to a vaudeville singer named Nellie
Dunbar. Mrs. Oakley died in 1913,
leaving a daughter, Ruth. AS Slivers
was travelling about the country con-
stantly the little girl was cared for at
the home of Mrs. Josephine De Mott
Rop1nsOn at HempSIead, l.. L. The
child is now attending the Garden City
school. Mrs Robinson formerly was
a famous circus bareback cider under
the name of Josie De Mott. AS soon
as she was notified Of the death of
Slivers she went to the morgue and
claimed the body
The dead clown had a wide ac-
quaintance, and there was much sad
ness yesterday when his suicide be-
came known. One of his old asso-
ciates was Clyde w. Powers, who ap-
peared as clown at the Hippodrome