Elko independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 1915-current, 1918-05-13
LEGAL THROAT
CUTTING

money HOTlu out Oh q CIRCUS anu
that Is to beat up the manager, pro
Yiding you can do 1t. or all the legal
lied. sanctified grafters this side OF
the western battlefront. circus
takes the cake. In addition to all that
there Is no other single organization
outside OF the /. w. W., that imputes
to the American public the humility OF
being absolutely brainless. There are
only two other organizations known TO |
tradition that even tie a circus for |
pure and simple pocket-tapping and
measliness and those are a gypsy |
band and Coxey's army. The Great
and Only Bunch OF Bazzoozulum Bun
coers struck Elko last Saturday,
broke. Honest to Gawd, Mabel, they
was busted. Flat cracked! Never had
q red in the till" (Suap your gum.)
To pay q bill OF ten dollars they had
to wait until the box office sale be-
gan. No wonder they didn't pay their
parade license. or put on an evening
performance. No, no. you do not Sc
cure me Stephen! We were not tap
ped or touched! We are viewing the
proposition from purely a public van
taBe point Tell you what they did do.
though, they gave US passes on the
bottom Of which were printed the
words, Nothing too good for our
friends" and then soaked us ten cents
apiece war tax. That stuck in our ed
itorial craw and would not out. I'm
agtne paying a war tax on a compli-
mentary ticket! Also paying a war tax
on free exhibition! Nothing is too
good for our friends" is right. There
Is honor among thieves, only in this
case 1t was disguised, camouflaged as
II were! We want to deny the charge
that we are tight. We don't mind buy
Ing candy for the kids, sodawater for
the babies, beer for the boys, and
bonds for the government, as long as
the old roll lasts. But we hate to be
tagged with the suggestion that we
are half-witted, or even lacking In or
binary intelligence. On top of that we
were confronted with squad of gen.
uemen with disgusting diction and
loud, vulgar voices. who tried to take
advantage once more OF our suppos-
ed asininity. They began by telling
US that they were absolutely the great
est circus in the world. No question
about II, and yet our reason told us
that lacking wherewithal to pay a
ten dollar account before the local
folks began to contribute was not a
sign OF the affluence that should at
tsch to the greatest circus in the
world and We turned down that sug-
gestion. They told us about an Aus.
tralian bushman who hurled the
boomerang, the club that originated in
his native wilds in Australia. and the
boomerang resolved Itself into a cou.
pie of shingles tied together that
would return to the thrower some
times and sometimes they wouldn't
while the bushman proper proved to
DC coon who needed haircut Nigh.
ty bad and little soap and water on
his face. We paid a quarter to see a
wonderful aggregation Of wild west
riders and hula hula dancers at the
concert. and we were highly enthused
when we saw the light and airy con.
tunes OF the ladies', thinking that per.
haps here was something out of the
ordinary but the wild westers didn't
appear, save and except Handsome
Bob Somebody who handled a rope
well enough to get by in NJ Yawk but
was distinctly taboo here where We
see real ropers every day.
The hula hula was fair
but to be perfectly frank with
the dear boobllc we have seen better
A lady in lengerie and poor voice
screeched Joan OF Arc at us tin we
even had some doubt about the strain
OF the Marsellsise that appears in the
chorus, and the great and only eN
hibition of World Wonders that took
years to accumulate was over.
A circus is like a poker dealer who
takes out on every hand whether ht
deals anything or not. Legislation
ought to be passed requiring a circus
TO publish scale of prices and the
truth about what they carry. The
Legislature also ought to require the
bohunks who follow them around al
ten per and board and bed to wash
once a week. The law ought to re
quire that the reserved seat AZ cir
Gus shall be as comfortable as the
seat they sell for fifty cents. TO cap
II all, IL tho American public can't ex
ercise as much ingenuity in beating
the circus as the circus uses in beat.
Ing the public, then the law should
compel the circus to regulate it's
methods accordingly.
II