Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-05-01
BETTER THAN EVER;
THAT MEANS CIRCUS
Thrills and Laughter; Clowns,
Pretty Girls, Animals and
Wonderful Spectacle

1t answers even the 1him of Nero.
And its even better than the most
gorgeous dream kid ever had,
No use fussln through the dictionary to
give vent to pent UP enthusiasm. Webster
never made any provision for such bunch
of thrills great as that under the big top
which houses the great Barnum and Bailey
circus, which is showing this week out at
Nineteenth street and Hunting Park ave-
nue..
Why walow in superlatives? You sim
ply have got to see it. Try to imagine
siXty-three wonderful acts handed out to
you seven at a time, Try to think of three
or four hundred gymnasts swaying to the
rhythm of inspiring music. Add to this
couple hundred clowns, who give you
dozen laughs a minute then for good meas
ure throw in two or three hundred splendid
animals from all corners of the globe and
one or two hundred actually pretty girls
and you get faint idea-yes. only faint
idea-of the big circus show under the big
top this year.
There's everything from trained mouse
| to n trained elephant-and "a couple clever
| chimpanZees thrown in. The latter do so
many amazing stunts that one predicts 1t
will not be long before they aspire for coll
! lege diplomas.
The ceremonies open with a gttering
| pageant, Aladdin and His Wonderful
Lamp" This tells the story of how peas
ant boy, born to poverty and cursed with
Incidence won n princess for his bride and
exchanged a hovel for throne, Every
resident of the Chinese Empire is repre-
| sented from the colly to the impressive
| mandarin.
| When 1t comes to thrills with comedy
| and class combined the star honors of the
| show go to the clever Hannaford Family, a
! quintet of equestrians which has begun
| new era in this style of acrobatics and
| horsemanship. Richard Hannaford, known
! 90 thn haGt OH hat has
| come our way in many day. He jumps
| atop speeding horses in all sorts of posi-
| tons and enters into the work with the
| other four members of the family with a
| zest that shows he enjoys the fun. Incl
dentally he shows a bunch of tricks which
| bring him close to death.
Next in the way of thrills is a quartet
of Japs who slide from the top of the
"bip top" by their hair. The locks OF each
acrobat is entwined around a pulley. They
| literally fly to the ground with speed which
| takes away ones breath.
Then there is Miss Leitzell, queen of
| the Air" who does the giant swing as 1t
has never been done before. At the same
| moment Chimp" the champion chmpanzee,
| dashes through n number OF stunts on the
parallel bars which would do credit to a
skilled human many times his age.
| Lady Alce's pet rats follow on the heels
of a quartet OF talented elephants. who
show how merciful they can be with their
tremendous strength. The mastodons
spread themselves over their fair trainers
and come within an inch Of crushing them
and then rise and bow.
Standing on their heads on swinging
trapeze, the "upside-down Millets." fifty
feet above the ground, light cigarettes and
drink from glasses-and there's no net to
avoid a trip to eternity.
There are half dozen perch acts-a man
balancing another at the top Of pole and
supporting him only with belt around the
body--no end of contortionsts and aero
bats, who ride two horses at a time. Jump
ing from one to the other whenever they
fancy while going at breakneck speed
| As for the clowns, they introduce every
thing up to the minute, with plenty of dis
plays of patriotism thrown In.
Much credit for the snap and dash of the
whole show Is due to Fred Bradna. eques
trian director, who keeps the entire pro-
ceedings on the move from the first clans
| Of the gong.
| You'll have to see II.
And don't forget to take the kids.