New-York tribune., 1921-04-10

oval OF much-trodden grass. The ,;,,.
now extinguished and we ali hurry an.'s, aass are
"StatIons!" bellows the captain
Every one is at his post
"Count Off"
Like soldiers counting fours ~.
runs around the fringe of tho tow 'esponse
by numbers. ioh call
'Let 'er go!"
with creak Of pulleys, the canvas ~.
block long and half block wide-s;rts
pillows. Before it all touches the ororu a''
swarm Of roustabouts are unlacinp ~.
tlons, IN a race between crews to 500 ~,
will reach the middle quickest. N'
"Pole." comes shout
1t is from the crew that first arrives s.. :,
center pole. The victors are as ha,n,
small boys and unmercifully taunt tbe;r a1su %
rivals. Captain Bill, meanwhile. prns u.ss
sly satisfaction, and the knowing will su~n.~D
that our old friend Psychology again has boos
putting his helpful shoulder to tha ,rsss,
Professor William James was widely ono..s
when he declared one time that "rivalr,, 49,
nine-tenths Of the worlds work but tbo
nouncement was no news to Captain Bill Cnr.
tis, psychologist who had arrived at tho s.r..
conclusion by the laboratory method 1ono =.
fore.
After the canvas is all unlaced the next s.a,
is to fold it into manageable strips. twen,r
five feet wide. That is quickly done a;ded
again by crew rivalry
Wet CanUas or Dry,
1t Is All One
And now 1T is time to consider Captain p;r
IN his other role, that of an ingenious inventor
Among the many devices he has paten+ad ~
recent years to combat the scarcity of ,obor
the pride of his heart is the odd-lookinc aoor
that now draws near. You have seen the littla
spools onto which kodak films are woundp .Tns.
such spool as that, but magnified to lenotb
of twenty-five feet and mounted on steel.
frame wagon, is Captain Bills invention n
handle the bulky canvas of the big top He
ties the ends of the strips of canvas to tba
spool, starts the spool revolving by a sly.
horsepower gasoline engine, and wraps IN
heavy strips of canvas that measure (extend.
ed) as much as 50x80 feet, with as much ease
as you would wrap baby ribbon onto broom
stick.
If it happens that the canvas is soaked with
tons of water after rainstorm, TO matter.
for the captain has fitted a wringer attachment
below the spool so he can wiring the fabric dry
as he rolls it up. Thus what was once the
most heart-breaking JOB in the circus has be-
come the easiest, a mere matter now of driving
the spool wagon around the edge of the lot and
picking up canvas on the way. In pinch two
men could handle the whole job and with a
full crew, working in good weather. the spool
device has picked up the huge tent and walked
away with it in the record time Of minutes
Is seconds. AS for handling the machine, any
one can do it-even an itinerant journalist, asI
the writer knows from happy experience, after
having operated it himself on two memorable
occasions.
The invention is priced first of all, becausel
it saves so much arduous labor. But scarcely
less important is the amount Of precious timeI
it saves-time which often enables the show toll
get its tents down in time to catch an impor.|
tant railway connection or its canvas erected nI
the next town early enough to give the after
noon performance on schedule.
Another virtue OF the big spool is that III
reduces the wear and tear on the fabric of theI
cloth to a minimum. When circus tents arel
handled in the old-fashioned way, by canvas
men, they last barely single season. Whenl
they are wrapped on spool they are goodl
for two seasons or more. The device quickly
pays for itself in what it saves, for circus|
tent costs these days at the very least froml
$4,000 to $4,000.