Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-02-26
The Man With the
Whistle
by Frederic J. liaskin

weather beaten little man ~ forty. in
Washington this week, putting ON a circus
under the auspices II the American
Logon Mrs. Woodrow Wilson r q
patrppcrs. and with her in tho ssnf
capacity arc the wives u cabinet mem
trrs, scnators, and The wealthy and sOcial-
| ly exclusive Of the national capital. Vice
| President Marshall heads the committee
having the entertainment in chnrge. and
the powerful men II The land are asgociai-
ed with him.
1'hi. rho.nnan's name - John r Ages.
and he i- said 10 he ''the fastest man With
a whistle" IN the world This phrase b
one peculiar 70 the sawdust ~ The circue
whore the man With tho whistle j. king
! II a the man with iht whistle who co-
ordiBates the fifty acts that may BE- going
on under the big tent IN such 4 way that
each works in perfect time, Ike the Wheeig
I IN watch. II is the man with the Whistie
/ who performs tho miracle ~ welding
man and beast into machine ~ srcc
tacular perfection.
RUM TrE SNOW
The man with The whistle + the ultimate
1 product IN the circus game He rides in
| the buggy That leads the parade. Later
I be secs every detail that goes on under the
| lig tent; he runs the show. meeting MI ~
/ the emergencies Of the calling in which the
I routine Of every day Is like an expedition
| into the unknown
Who has not gone 70 the circus and
worked his nifnble wits % exhaustion IN an
I attempt TO SEQ all that was going on IN
the three rings AZ ouce2 Who has not
! fnarveled that All these difficult feats wrrr
individually possible, and who ms not
ularveled that they might be 20 perfectly
/ fitted together? The man with The whistle
/ is responsible
You may hardly have noticed that
| whistle. Its trill is always heard ~ ? given
net draws n its closc That triil is the
! cue 70 the art that is IN follow In tho
I offering is q group Of clowns, ready far
/ n ton. Back of the curtain performers
rush into the last ~ their glittering sp-
parcl Wise old circus animals faii infO
/ their places as correctly ss the members
of crack military company. The band IN
I the arena speeds up FOR the finale n tho
aot.
The eye II the man with che whistle
watches carefully and presently the sec-
ond blast is blown This marks the end
! Of the act u s a thing that rnust -
delicately timed The performers must
/ be given their moment 20 take applause.
4 their moment ~ lOyfUl appreciation.
/ Nothing must interfere with this moment.
The performers for the next oct are ~ the
alert behind the cJrtain The army Ot
clowns is ready n break clsnorously forth
But the moment after the second whistle,
and ahead of the third - sacred - the
performers who are finishing their scts
Then cornes the third blast The clowns
dssh forth. II - their business ~ hll IN
the gap between sctz. The shifting frous
one act % the other il not 70 he seen. The
observer is 70 he diverted The clowns
are thrust into the breach The third
blast, also, lsfs down the barrier 70 the
performers of the next act. Under the
screen Of diversion thrown up by the
clowns, they find their way into the rings
no one secs them until the toolery Of the
clowns subsidies, and then their aGts pro-
ceed.
Tells D RsMATTc STORY.
AZ the National Press Club, IN Washing
ton, the other day, Agee told the story ot
his climb 20 the top IN the circus world.
a story no less dramatic than that Of the
fight upward of Lincoln, or Carnegie,
or Hoover II was a story that illustrates
all over again the opportunity for sue
cess that ~ tucked away IN every boy
under the American form of government,
regardless az the calling which he chooses.
At the age OF fourteen, Agee. an oprhan
bov out for himself, crawied out Of q box
car in a little town N Kansas. and hurried
through an atmosphere that was beioW
zero 20 the hack door OF farmer where
he asked Tor food and work The farmer
gave him both. and there the boy lived
for year, chiefly on the back OF horse
herdIng cattle.
Then n circus came 20 Superior, Me-
hraska. twenty miles away, and all the
L "a f,tfs md ~
The glarnor Of it appealed To young Agee
as it has to many another lad he sought
out the particular Ringing Of the seven
brothers who ran TINS show, finding hun m
conversation with the mayor OF superior,
who was an old friend. He asked Ring
ling If he wanted 10 hire any men. To be
sure the applicant was less than I'VE feet
tail, and weighed but ninety pounds
Ringing asked hlm # he knew where
there we're any men wanting Johs. Ages
said that he was one, that he was rider
that he could outride anything In the
show and that he was ready Tor work. The
old mayor spoke up and said that Johnnie
Was right likely boy-and ne was hired
But he wasn't given~a chance TO -ide
He curried horses for nearly year lnen'
one day, the man who rode the champion
jumping horse Of the world came 10 griei.
In practice ne was rlQ1lA the ltotot ~ =
high hurdle and the animal, instead oi
taking it. planted his feet and stopped
short. The rider went on and landed
hard on his head. Picking himself ZIP
slowly and painfully he walked out OF the
tent and has never been heard OF since.
The act had to 60 on IN an hour, ana
Agee volunteered 10 ride the Jumping
horse. He made good and 50 started thai
phase of his career of horse training which
ended with that famous stunt OF sIxty-tWo
horses in a single act, built into pyra-
mid, travelling in different ways, and an
directed by the little man who sat on the
top Of the pedestal.
WAITED FOR his CHANCE.
But while young Agee was working as 8
''rosinback, a name applied 70 the stable
hands because they put rosln on the backs
OF the horses 70 keep the feet OF the bare
back riders from slipping, he was nursing
the ambition TO become trapeze per
former-and he was practicing. 20, when
8 member Of a certain act failed 70 show up
for work, the youthful Agee volunteered,
and again made good. Thus another
phase Of circus work was mastered.
Then there came a stretch OF several
years spent in the hablhments OF a clown,
after that he worked as an animal trainer.
and finally assumed the responsibilities Of
the big job of the man with the whistle.
Last year the big circus OF Barnum q
&bn lixg Ia roo r,rCa f1ori