Baraboo weekly news. [volume] (Baraboo, Wis.) 1912-197?, 1921-03-24
Hoods SarsapariIIa

acquitted but suitable laws were then
passed, so the country benefited.
A French consul erected the first
statue to Christopher Columbus. the
first Ito be put upin the country he
discovered.
The first building to be lighted in
America was in Baltimore.
The parent and original I. o. o. f.
lodge was established in the city nam
ed for the English lord.
The ouija board also had its origin
in the same town.
Baltimore people never believe in
boasting. I'm. yes! That is so.
George Conkling, a veteran animal
trainer, has written a book contain
ing his experiences, according to the
Chicago Tribune. The paper further
says:
George is an old-time lion4charmer
whose intimate association with the
wild beasts extends from Peggy
O'Brien's wagon show back IN '67 to
the de luxe Ringing outfit, down
through the days of Forepaugh, Bar
mum, Bailey and Hutchinson, Sells
Brothers, W. w. Cole, John Robinson,
and other monarchs of the itinerant
hfppodrome. Not long ago he was
discovered living in retirement in
Bridgeport, Conn, by Harvey w. Root
of the New York World, who, at the
suggestion of Don Seitz, the publisher
of that journal, helped the interesting
old fellow to make biography of his
experiences: and 1.-THE Ways of the
Circus" (Harpers) is the result.
y. = y
Lest it be suspected that the circus,
like Houdini, is no topic for a book
page, let me present it's credentials as
borne by Prof Richard Burton( a most
digniied ambassador, in his volume.
"The New American Drama" There
in you will learn that the lure of the
circus is the imperious demand for
Poetry to render suddenly colorful the
gray humdrum of our days-the yearn-
away, to take us out of ourselves"
That, though we may be stated of life's
feast, the circus goes down deep into
the psychic depths where the imperish-
able boy survives to meet us half way
when the band begins to play.
* * *
AS Mr. SeitZ, the r1ngmaster of the
book, says in his graceful introduction
Mr.. Conkling's memoirs are an epic of
the circus They include naive reminis-
cences of all it's figures, the candy
butchers, the gentlemanly agents who
vend ickets for the concert, the freaks
the takers, the great stars of the ira
peze and tanbark, the famous animals
who have reigned in the menageries,
and the picturesque impresarlOs Mr..
Conkling tells quiet stories of escaped
hippopotami along dark and lonely
roads; of the prima donna tempera-
ments Of the mandrils, hyenas,
zebras, and kangaroos; Of perilous mo-
ments in the lions cage, and of the
regal behavior of the infleXible ele-
plant, who hath joints, but none for
courtesy You learn that nearly all
the inhabitants of the menagerie have
strong and definite personalities, ex-
cept, perhaps, the giraffe and the
camel though the latter, despite his
seeming. docility, is at times vicious
and sullen beast. Mr.. COnkling in |
his forty years traffic with elephants !
killed five of them, one of them with
the Barnum & Bailey show, in Tours, !
France, where it's stuffed carcass is /
still feature of the local museum. Mr..
Conkling regrets every one of these
assassinations, for, says he, the ele-
plant is the most affectionate Of the
residents of circus and Is dangerous
only when angry, cross, irritated, or
peevish.
Mr.. Roots transcription of Mr.. Conk |
ling's adventures is perfect achieve
ment of it's kind. In the selection of it's
material it is subtly dramatic, but
never theatrical, and it's language,
while preserving the quaint personality