The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-02-21
MEN, WOMEN
 AND THINGS

man has to be in the mood to en- joy certain things, but every now and then it comes about that a book, a person, an act will take hold of him in spite of himself.
 Now, I never have been overfond of animal acts, and particularly those staged in vaudeville. I admit that there is something in the big acts out under the swaying canvas which grips me. but seldom do I enthuse over the unusual stunts pulled off before the footlights.
 Not long ago I had used up all my available gray matter and was seek ing rest and entertainment and drop ped in at the Lyric. The pictures were good and the ones showing the funeral of Theodore Roosevelt appealed to me most strongly and set my mind to re- calling the times I had seen and heard him.
 The whole thing was so simple and democratic-the snow on the ground, the little church, the bare-headed clergyman, the interested townspeople, the visitors of note, the coffin draped with an American flag, and the sturdy pallbearers lifting it on their should CTS as they marched through the for 1 est to the open grave.
 I saw one of his soldier boys walk ing behind, but the thing which ar he h,,o of ex-President Taft, and then came Vice President Marshall-but it was the sight of MT. Taft which set my thoughts a-going. You know there is something likeable about him, and once having heard the famous Taft "chuckle" you can never get over it. Do you know, I sat in my seat with a sob in my heart as I watched the burial of one of Americas most virile thinkers and outstanding personali- ties. I always liked Teddy because he more than anyone else brought the mollycoddle into disrepute in this coun- try. He was a,red-blooded man, ready to give and take hard blows, personal ly, if the occasion arose, or in the arena of politics
 Now. it may seem long way from Roosevelt, the statesman, to an anil mai act in a show, but he was a many sided man, and his trips to Africa South America and his experiences in the west set him down as hunter of big game-and the act which caught me had in it several African monkeys and whole lot of dogs.
 As the curtain went up I got com- fortably fixed in my seat expecting to endure it as best I could, with no idea whatever of being amused-and then things began to happen. It was not what you would call highly finished animal performance where each per- former if I can so say it about them, was letter perfect and walked through his part without mishap.
 
 Nothing of the kind, and that is why it was so screamingly funny. I do not even know the name of the act or of the trainer, but he put on performance that drove dull care away from me and made me as happy as boy at his first circus. It was the most natural show I ever saw before the footlights. It was more like a breaking in than even a rehearsal
 
 Now, he had some star monkey and dog actors, but they acted or not as suited their temperament at the mo- ment when called upon to do so, and the trainer used what I thought was splendid Judgment and Humanitarian spirit in not working them to mako good while tiring out the patience of the audience merely to convince it that he was the master and that his pupils and pets had to go through their parts or be disciplined.
 Now. monkeys have always had a fascination for me. If you ever go to a big zoo with me and we get parted, don't worry, but just ask where the monkey cage is and you will be sure to find me watching their antics. can do it by the hour and get the same joy out of it that children seem to get, and am not bothering at all about the Darwinian theory, but just simply getting fun out of seeing all the foolish things that the monkeys do. tle#
 He had two big monkeys and some smaller ones and one of the larger ones is a born comedian. He pulled off more original stunts, which I am sire were not on the bill, than any member of the monkey tribe I have ever seen. I have seen some that did more set tricks and went through more elaborate acts but never one that roll licked through an act like he did. The trainer. disgusted at his failure to jump into hammock let down from ] above tho stage, showed displeasure and evidently not only made a threat but must have followed it up with an insulting remark. He told the monkey to go and take it's seat and keep it's eye on the theatre folks. and then he turned his back and walked 1 away. Quick as a flash, the monkey made lunge at the seat of his trous- CTS and the way he jumped and scratched and the audience howled, I am sure 1t was not part of the pro- gramme.