The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1918-09-28
OF CIRCUS FROM BE-
HIND SCENES.
Veteran Performer Talks OF Life ana
Work Among People Of Strange
dust Wcrld-TeIls How Pro-
fcssia: is Kept Up.

4
Iccstomed to look. az the circus from
the outside in,' a glimpse from the
inside out" brings many surprises:
No..elists who have chosen the cir5
Gus life for depletion in stories have
found 1t a fruitful field. Back of the
curtain, the gIanor and the hoop
lsss OF The rings there is: a world OF
very real and very liEeable people.
Most of the performers are from
anil lies that have followed the circus
from the time it first began to oe
mankind S never tiringss amusement.
They have preserved the home ties
spangleland as comp p1etely as is tta e
aasasEbS - 80
IS hasS to- make the person out
side derstand that We have a real
home life close sysmpathetic and
protectn said a veteran OF the
reaa. who is always found with his
wife and children when the big show
IS OYER in the afternoon Most of us
who follow the show business were
born TO st. Our fathers and mothers
were performers and our grandpar-
ents before them. When we marrie 4
we took girls who, like ourselves, were
horn into the guild We are training
our children during the school vaca-
ton periods, just as we were trained
7ha is the way the profession is kept
nj, 8
Showmen say that all the star per-
formers who are featured today were
taught the essentials when they were
children. Ernest Clark, the greatest
;aerialist wh ever lived, asserts that
no manor woman who did not train
long and well before the age Of Is
years can ever become remarkable in
the profession The muscles must DC
taught before they become set and
hardened. TO those laymen who
hold that children should not be
brought up in the profession, the
performer points out that there is no
Life more healthfm than the circus
life, in that it keeps one out Of doors;
the majority of performers live to be
better than three score and ten, and
the fine salaries earned permit the
thrifty to cease his 1aborss long, Ions
before that time and to retire in ease
and comfort During his active ca
reer the performer lives in a world
that understands him thoroughly.
Therefore he is likely to be quite con-
tent and while travelling he, because
he is accustomed to it, is quite as
comfortable in an eight by ten foot
state-room as he would be in much
larger quarters. Starting to tie ones
cTavat in front of one mirror AMI
finishing before another on the op-
posite SIDE of a ffteen-foot bedroom
is. he viii tell you, a waste Of energy
and form Of nervousness.
& With the Ringing Brothers circus
coming here Thursday, October 8,
there are 400 performers gathered
from every part of the world. Nine
teen different languag ges are spoken N
the dressing tents. Most of these per
formers travel In families. Many have.
laid aside neat sums which they have
invested in homes where they spend
their winters. It is this domestic side
OF the performers character that first
caused noyelists to portray circus
life.
II. is said this seasons circus is the
he Rinpiings have ever offered.
The program incluse the gorgeous
spectacle of love and chiyalry. "In
Ray Of Old enlistipg more than L.
2H0, characters. There are scores
ppon. scores Of arenic sensations ana
.uE.lreds Of novelties. \ bis trained
ani,sai revue and the famous five
continent menagerie contribute to the