The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-03-30
FIRST REAL CIRCUS
BURSTS INTO GLORY
Ringlings Permit New York
Folk to See Things De-
MED by Barnum's.
ICLOWNSP NO END OF 'EM
|Juncture Of the Two "Greatest
Shows on Earth" Effected
at the Garden.


The RinEiiags-John. ALI and Charles
brought to DO ashamed OF themselves,
fFor years they have been "open-
ing" the Ringing Circus In the Coliseum.
Chicago. and sending II out on the road
~ the same time that the Barnuin q
Bailey Circus has been Opening at
Madison Square Garden before going
out on tho road. the routes of the Ring
ling and the Barnum shows being 50
arranged that neither great show
crossed the pain Of me other.
The reason the Mes6a John and
ALI and Charley ought to be ashamed
OF themselves 10 that the Ringlinss. hay-
ting lot of say about both oircuses.
gave TO Chicago and all tho rest of the
country except Manhattan the best
there was In circus aasthsttca They
had an interest" In the Barnum show
but they owned the Ringing Circus
.putright and because they were
,proudest OF the circus bearing their
sowa name the Ringing Circus-so Il
Was learned when the Ringing
.Rrothers and Barnum 4 Bailey COM
bined shows opened at Madison Square
Garden yesterday with an afternoon
1nd night performanoe-aiways had so
many headliners that the Barnum show.
great A. It was. was comparatively q
one ringer.
Real Circus in Town Now.
( In former years when the Barnum
aebow opened In Manhattan the great
est city. being provincial rather folt
sorry for the rest Of the country, little
realizing that the Ringing circus. which
always was denied 20 Manhattan. had
sthe Barnun, show faded. But yesterday
swhen all the Barnum show. classic Of
circuses, broke loose IN the Garden with
1.-The glitter and spanGles and herds OF
tigers and elephants and performers
sand things and stun of the greater
RlnEling circus added TO the Barnum &
Bailey conglomcration there was moth
Ing to do but Just sit back and gasp.
There never was a circus any place
in the world approaching the giories OF
tie combined Ringing ana Barnum ecs-
tas.es that exploded all over the Gar
cen yesterday afternoon and night For
once in q circus press agents life his
circus dimmed his adjoctivss.
Snow might fall on Friday and winds
blow savagely for hours after. but at
1:3s p. n. yesterday the summertime
came. Then II was. following prelimi-
nary acts and tho glories of q freaks
hall that was overcrowded with all the
oueerest folk Of the Barnum and the
Ringing shows combined to overflow
ting, that the first clown detonated into
the arena.
He was a fat bellied cop clown, with
a red face and the silky brown whiskers
which are worn in real life only by
lTrafHc Officer Brown in Congress
Square. Portland. Me-. and turnbling out
snto the arena behind him were all the
,ereat clowns In the world. So summer
came.
. In fact the greatest clown appeared
young Mr. Butterfly Stelling. Mr.. Stel-
.1ing Ia another reason why the Messrs.
sRlngling ought to be ashamed of them-
SELVES; they've kept him always In the
sftingling circus, which Manhattan never
Baw until yesterday. And Mr.. Butterfly
lStelling's name jumps out hero from the
army Of Ringing Barnum clowns be-
cause he Is a clown who raises even
,tanbark pantomimic foolishness to the
realm or art.
One watched him yesterday and re-
menlbered the greatest OF them ALL the
Siate Slivers Oakley. Slivers. because
he was an inventive genius-with all
due respect to the word genlus-could
get a laugh out of a seventy-year-old,
tired business man. So could and did
safr. Stellinss. aided and abetted by his
army of assistants. caused SHOWS to
sbe forgotten from 2 :3S p. NJ. onward
Thereafter the air was balmy. Pussy
willows grew aslant a brook and blue
birds sang. We'll dressed, ruddy
checked little boys and girls laughed 30
isuproariously that even kind hearted folk
saimost forgot the shivering little ones
Tout in the street. who got no nearer
ITO the glories than a glimpse of ex-
,pIosivoly colored posters and the faint
music of the indoor. circus band. II
1T weren't for the income tax and things
alike that one would have gone out into
Madison Square and the side streets
and brought the ragged unfortunates
all into tho circus to see the glories.
Quite q Few Elephants.
. Where once-in a Barnum & Bailey
nhow that q satisfied Manhattan had
supposed was the last word in circuses-
had been thirty clowns there were
seventy yesterday In the combined Bar
mum and Ringling circuses. Until yes
terday Manhattan had seen sixteen
elephants yesterday there were twenty
three; and ION the road" the Ringing
Barnum aggregation will have forty
four elephants-would have had them
all in the Garden now II there were
HDOm lot DObIl ucTuns "iiSh thcAS ANaA
Constant visitors to the Barnum show
at the Garden In late years thought they
had seen all the Bavenports. who are
and have been for four generations the
= arktcs-ats of "cireu5 families. Yes
terday at the Ringing Barnum circuf
the Davenport family had expanded. In
quiries brought the shamefaced admis-
eiob from John and ALI and Charley
that the Davenport family for years had
been split up half with the Ringing
show and half with the Barnum show
hut now since the amalgamation al
combined in one production.
So II went from the grand entry" te
the last OF the hlppodrome races Every
thing circusy that New York ever hac
seen was done as we'll as ever, and ther
extravagantly outdone-because Johr
and All and their little brother. Charley
this year had delgned to show TO New
York for the first time the wonders o.
their pct Ringing organization.
Treat for New York Rubes.