davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
New-York tribune., 1922-10-01
illustration BY WILL CRAWFORD

Reserved seats to the big show. ladies and
gentlemen! Better buy them now. or Won NAV
not have chance on the grounds. Only a
few Of the best seats left"
The panic-stricken cilcusgoer stopped short,
matted by the terrible thought that after
all he might miss seeing this show that he
had travelled, with his family, a matter of ten
to thirty miles to view. No, he would frus-
trate any such trick on the part of fate by
buying tickets of this obliging gentleman, far
from the white tent.
But when the purchaser had walked away
New-York tribune., 1922-10-01

.uilleo-not ", part of it, but all you ask for.
= ne motto among the grafters, so far as the
squa"ker" Is concerned, is, "Give all back or
ho.hing' Ii the "squawk" is rather feeble
anu ene injured party can be overawed by loud
oenials' nothing will be given back. But the
sraleers were given to understand that where
nara KICK was made all money was to be
returned. That was one of my jobs as "fixer."
, nad TO see to it that the short-change men
o" not exceed the limit which all my ap
proaches In ofiicialdom had established as the
outposts Of safety. They were hard-boiled
New-York tribune., 1922-10-01

rY INTEREST in circuses dates from
NE 1875, when, at fifteen years OF age
Iv-A I followed the old Bl'tz 8 Virgins
Museum, from my home town In the
.,aa,. West and put In two thrilling weeks
,erIsn1 toy balloons
!. cas- not until ten years later that the op-
..-hrr,av came to get in the circus game, but
- s br,es experience with this ancient show
"a rsda an ineradicable impression. had
w.teb.d the circus business In the interim
,.,., something moro than layman's interest,
and when the opportunity came for me to
.,o,, optp with an outfit ! was ready. do
- ,.ssn as Snowman, because that angle
:. .hs business never interested me particu-
lsrIy.
c.n hear the reader asking: "Well, II the
.,ow angle did not appeal, what else could
~. ha IN the circus business as an attrac-
.,nan Il should be understood that there are
49,, dist,nct fields Of operation in the circus
,usinass One Is in the show end Of the game,
end the other is what has always been known
d the graft
New-York tribune., 1922-10-01
Texas Could Stand Anything
Once--But Not Again

Although / did not realize it at the time,
that was the end of my circus career.
thought I would get back in the game but
other things came UP, of which I viii tell in
later article, and soon found myself far
away from circuses. But will say that there
is something about the circus life which is
fascinating, whether one is working On the
inside Of ths tent or outside / have newer
found anything else that have liksd quite
as well.
New-York tribune., 1922-10-01
e"ce wan as O'c'a Firer for the Varied Games of Graft
et ond That Separate Many Innocens from Their Monpu

from man and send him away with $40
gain Of $50 for the short-chanee
artist The short-changing is done by clever
manipulation of bills and the substitution of
bills Of small denomination for those of LARGER
figure. If you fold 81 bill so the numera,
is covered and fold $40 or $40 bill like
wise, there Is not much difference in their an
pearance. In other words, all bills look .
good deal alike when you look at them in the
center only their corners being covered.
Inc short-changer always had large va
riety OF folded bills, In various stages of wear
ana tear, ready to substitute for bills of lilo
New-York tribune., 1922-10-01
The Show That Helped Itself
To a Lumber Yard

lhere was mighty little that got awav Prom
oldtlme circus men, from the big boss down
through the grafters Take the case Of the
local merchants who furnished the circus with
Suppiles They had to come to the ticket
wagon and present their bills and get their
money. They had no sooner turned awav
from the wagon, with the money in their
hands, than they almost fell over shell pams
taat had been setSup right beside them.
1t is told of a certain circus head ,llustrat.
ing his spirit Of acquisitiveness, that. when
his show rolled in beside lumber yard. he
said to his tent boss:
We're powerful short of seats, AL"
When the circus rolled away that night q
carload Of planks from that lumber yard went
along as material for circus seats.
In an emergency / would play the shells or
operate spindle. In fact, l generally kept
an eye on what was going on at the grounds,
and did not overlook chance to steer a good
prospect toward game I dressed plainly, in
country fashion, and wore beard. I had
nothing of the circus fash about me. I even
used country buggy and an old horse to
help along the illusion Any one seeing me
about the grounds would not have taken me
for one of the circus employees In this way
l was able to help out in many emergencies.
l remember steering" a farmer to shell
game where he promptly lost $500, half of
which collected as my share
After I had followed the circus in this xay
few years got the idea Of going in "on my
own" ] organized wagon show, which was
just smoke screen for the graft games.
show had gone broke in Kansas, and I bought
forty wagons and about eight cages of animals
and enough livestock to put the show on thu
road.
With this show covered the sparsely settled
districts in and near northern Nebraska. We
had hard going rough roads at times.
In some counties there would not be settle
ment of any kind. But we had billed our
show in advance at the crossroads, and when
we arrived for the performance the whole
county would be there.
The show made lnoney-from the graft, Of
course. got to thinking Of the rich field
down in Texas, and in 1901 started down
there again. should have made inquicv be-
fore making such a move, as conditions had
changed absolutely in the Lone Star state.
Other shows, hearing Of the success OF our
first venture in Texas and finding out that the
license law could be beaten, had fccked to
the state. They had killed the goose that
laid the golden egg--at least, so far as the
grafters were concerned. Their methods
had been so rough that we found the officials
everywhere ready to bear down hard on all
kinds Of circuses. Anything with tent was
their game. ran into one trouble after Sn-
other. saw that was up against an IN
beatable game, and made desperate efprt
-
vile, La, but they never let me get across
the river out Of Texas. A sheriff served the
final papers on u.s. The graft game was up.
The show was attached and the shell game and
the spindle men were out Of Jobs.
New-York tribune., 1922-10-01

would hand you back
in change a well-worn
81 b ill, n e a tly
folded, in making the
so-called change. Also
these men knew the
psychology of people
in handling money.
Hesitation means a lot
In short changing, but
one must know just
when to hesitate. You
may count over most
of the change in a hur-
ry and then pause
while reaching leisure
ly for the last dollar
or two. The f1ustered
person outside the Win
dow gets an idea that
he had picked up all
the money that is COM
ing to him. Anyway,
If he picks it up and
walks away, it Is all
he gets. This trick is
being worked right
along at subway sta
tions IN rev York, in
spite Of all efforts. to
oop slloIt changing.
One of the fixer's
chief duties was to cut
down the expense at
tendant upon the pay
ment Of licenses. There
was always a way of
doing this. In some
places the circus license
was abnormally high.
But the licenses were
not so high for ''shows," !"
or entertainments" or
other descriptive titles,
under which the fixer
would manage to con-
vince local officials that
we belonged.
The highest license
charge that we ever
faced was in Texas,
there a state law call
ing for $1,000 a per-
formance had been put
in effect. This law had
the effect Of keeping
circuses out of Texas
for three years. It was
figured out that no one
could pay such a license
and make any money
which was true enough.
But I believed that the
charge could be beaten.
/ went to the state off,
cial who had jurisdic-
ton over such matters
and told him that this
law had merely result
ed in depriving the
people Of Texas of their
fayorite form of enter
tainment. / told him
hat we would take the
word "circus" off our
paper and off our cars
and wagons. We would
not advertise ourselves
as a circus, but merely
as an Entertainment"
"A circus consists
Of riding acts" I
said. 1--WE have some
New-York tribune., 1922-10-01

position Of
q and o. second
re1te graft" sfseTthn IT, the
sandn
ksaien niHt of
aaiculnraHs
New-York tribune., 1922-10-01


local politics are alike
everywhere in this
country. Perhaps he
was the Mayor, or may
be he was a Congress-
man. But his station in
life made no difference
to me. Somewhere in
his nature he harbored
a kindly feeling for the
circus-not my circus
In particular, but all
circuses In general
though perhaps he
never would admit It.
MY method OF ap-
proach would vary with
the type Of man l
found. But usually
there was a thawing Of
reserve when I handed
over a score Of tickets
for the use Of his fam
lily, and perhaps fifty
more for distribution
among his political
henchmen. Then. may
be, I would invite him
and his family to have
dinner with the circus
folk behind the scenes.
That was a great hit,
that dinner stunt, and
carried us over many q
hard gap. Under the
nellowirg influence Of
such little attention the
f1intiest political bosses
melted like wax, and
our graft "nnob" got
away with anyth.,
this side Of DOWN..
blood-letting.
The same methods,
with variations, went
for other officials who
had authority. But
once In a great while
we ran across a sheriff
who was not to be lured
In such fashion. I
remember one particu-
larly hard-hearted off,
cial in Billings, Mont.
who even put a lot Of
our best grafters in Jail
rather than be reason
able. But as a rule the
little retainer never
failed to work. Some
times 1t took a long
game Of talk to subdue
some apparently obdu-
rate official, bent on the
protection Of his towns
folks hard earned
money. But at last he
would capitulate and
accept some form Of re-
tainer, and we knew
that the graft games
could go merrily on.
Sometimes, when I,
could see that the
"mob" was running
wild on the circus
ground and putting
over a Lot OF stuff chat
seemed to point to trou-
bic, I would hunt up
the Pooh-Bah Of the
town and have an un-
derstanding with him
that there would be $50
additional coming to
him If we got away from
New-York tribune., 1922-10-01

him If we got away from town that night with
no trouble on account of our graft games. If
he agreed, which generally followed Gas man
who would accept the first bribe would be
greedy FOR nore), knew that we were safe
and that the graft gang could get away with
anything short Of murder.
We lived in our own private car in those
days, and we lived better than the circus folks.
In fact, we didn't encourage circus folks COM
Ing into our car and mingling with u.s. We
felt Just little above them. There were nearly
forty OF rs, and what we couldn't put over on
guileless public was not worth thinking of.
/ had the most trouble with the short
change artists. / don't mean the man in the
ticket wagon. Generally he had plenty Of
''walk-away money; that is, change which
fiustered people had walked away from and
forgotten-and he had other means of getting
more than the published price Of admission
out Ut the circusgoer. But the short-change
men speak Of were those individuals with
satchels, who were the first men you met
going to the grounds. They were stationed
outside, with bundles Of tickets In their hands
and satchels at their feet Their war-cry
The Keota news., 1922-11-24

vFcvicy.-Edward Nrpyics. ~ years
Old. died recently of injuries received
shea hc was knocked from his bicycle
and run over by car driven BY Nor.
timer o'punnci.
Estes Park.-rroperty Of the Stanley
hotels in Estes Park. including the
Ntanlcy hotel. manor and hall. has been
sold to Roy X. Starkwcathcr Of Den.
'er, according to reports.
bcnver.-A fall census of brood
sow and rigs is to be- taken by rural
letter carriers in Colorado this month.
Vt Is announced by the Po.tofticc Dc.
partmcnt. \ similar census was taken
last May in seventeen states and was
pronounced So successful BY Secretary
Sidcd to extend the survey throughout
the country.
La Junta.-Alrs. W. T.. Montgomery
was seriously injured and her husband,
Ut. Montgomery. slightly hurt, when
thcir automobile was struck by Santa
he Passenger train No. Gl. the stu
running between In Junta and Pucb.
w. The physician had been On q pro-
Iessional call. and as they crossed the
u"cs, the car. which was a new one.
'scaine stalled due To the clutch rcfus-
ing to take hold.
ordway.-Airs. ]. r. Curliss. wife of
ranchcr living twenty-five miles
northwest of Oriway, shot and killed
- l.. Todd. u neighbor. at the Curliss
amen and then, with her husband and
'e children. drove TO Ordway. where
'rS Curliss surrendered herself tn the
sheriff. The woman told the sheriff
she shot Todd, who is unmarried, In
se,i defense. He tried to hit me with
hsmmer," she said.
The Keota news., 1922-11-24

t'gvd +. johnson. - ptusniaUat news
paper man of Colorado. died al his
hota- in beaver. "Wednesday. Novvtna
b~s 5. his aiImcns being primarily
fright. disease.
Mr.. johnson was perhaps thc b~ss
authority ON the live stock industry in
the Nest. having b~va iJ-asiticL with
and studied IL for years His -afiy
training had been in the newspaper
field both east and west. and al his
elrath half owner Ia the pvaycs Daily
Ereofi- Stoskman. known throughout
the entire western country.
Fred Johnson MAS tho founder Of the
beaver Live Stock Exchange and
largely instrumental in the develop
Hscnt of bvavcf as live stn-k and
packing center. The first daily tv-
ports from the Denver Union Stock
Yards was through him. seeing as lac
did vision Of greatness. for his adopt
ed city in this wonderful industry.
His newspaper life began at Toledo.
Ohio. Later hc established n paper at
BOULDER. Colo. and aftcrward the
Daily Record. .Stuckman at tSvnvCr.
The Caledonian-record. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1920-current, 1922-12-28
MagOg Girl WEEDS
at IraShUrg

The home of Mr.. and Mrs. F. E.
Powers was the scene of a very
pretty and quiet wedding Wednes-
day afternoon when Mrs. Powers
sister Mrs. Ida Fletcher of Ma
Cog, P. O., was united in marriage
to Erwin Darius Dingman of East
man, P. @.
To the strains of the wedding
march played by Mrs. Robert
Baird, they entered the room and
took their places underneath a
large bell where the ceremony was
performed. The double ring SER
vice was made most impressive by
the officiating clergyman, Rev. E.
C. Russell pastor Of Christ church
OF Stanstead.
Mrs. Fletcher Gas attended by
her sister, Mrs. F, E. Powers and
Mr.. Powers acted as best man.
The bride was prettily gowned in
a steel gray satin dress and wore
a veil with orange blossoms. Mrs.
Powers wore a gown of navy blue
messeline. Her going away suit
was navy blue messeline and vel
vet with gold trimmings. The
guests were confined to the mem
bers of the immediate family.
Following the ceremony and
The Caledonian-record. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1920-current, 1922-12-28
The Evening Northumberland

riette Douglass, from Saturday I'M
It'll Monday.
Oliver McCosco of Danville was
a guest of his daughter, Mrs. S. C..
Harding. over the holiday.
Mrs. George Palmer and daugh-
ter, Mildred, of St. Johnsbury were
guests of Mrs. Palmer's parents,
Mr. and Mrs. w. c. Harvey the
first of the week.
Mrs. Ida Richardson went Satur-
day to Greenfield, Mass, to spend
the holiday with her brother, Jacob
Richardson.
Clyde Warren and Masel Jewell
were home from their work in
Lunenburg over Sunday. Mrs.
Clyde Warren and children are
stopping with Mrs. Warren's par
ents, Mr.. and Mrs. Eden Jewell
for a time.
Miss Marion Hastings of Spring
field, Mass, was with her parents,
Mr.. and Mrs. George Hastings
IAoili oatul uiy uilCll ucSudy.
DR.. Ralph r. Bennett of Benn-
ington, returned to his home Tues
day after spending the holiday at
the home of his father, r. J. Ben
nett.
Malvern and Murray Cutting of
Springfield, Mass, spent Christmas
with their parents, Mr.. and Mrs.
C. +. Cutting.
Alban and Willard Baker of
Montpelier Seminary are spending
their vacation with Their parents,
Mr.. and Mrs. O. w. Baker.
Mrs. T. E. Wheaton was in New
bury the last of the week.
C. F. Cutting Of Lisbon, N. H.,
has been guest of his daughter,
Mrs. W. A. Bradsaw.
Mr.. and Mrs. H. A. Quimby en-
tertained over Christmas Day Mrs.
Walter Kellogg and son, Guy, Mr.
and Mrs. Albert Quimby of st.
Johnsbury and Mrs. Gordon Ken
dali of Sherbrooke, p. @.
Mrs Ada Parker went Saturday
10 spend the holiday with her son,
George Parker.
The Caledonian-record. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1920-current, 1922-12-28

congratulations, dainty refresh
ments were served and the bridal
couple left for Colbrooke, N. H.,
thence to New York and will visit
Ottawa, P. O., before returning
Mrs. Dingman is popular
teacher in Eastman, P. O., and has
fine farm in Magog, P. O., the
groom is a travelling salesman for
the Raleigh Co., in Eastman. The
best wishes of a large circle of
friends go with them.
The Caledonian-record. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1920-current, 1922-12-28
Bluebirds Figure In
Pre-Nuptial Party
Continued from Pare One

Continued from Pare One
and the pulling Of the streamers
brought the blue bird with its in
teresting announcement. Miss
Lougee's bird carried the ring.
The guests were Mrs. Dean Nc
Lellan, Mrs. Ralph Dodge, Mrs.
William Hall, Mrs. s. J. Morrison,
Mrs. Allan Prescott of Wakefield,
Mass, Mrs. Richard Levasseur,
Miss Vivian Lowrey, Miss Hilda
Day, Miss Vera Montgomery, Miss
Eta Wright and Miss Marguerite
Esden of Passumpsic, a fellow
teacher of Miss Lougee's in Cleve-
land. They are to return the first
Of the week to Cleveland.
The Caledonian-record. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1920-current, 1922-12-28
Concord

Ralph F. Reed returned to his
work at Gilman Tuesday after
spending the holiday at his home
here.
Mrs. Kate Crofton and daughter,
Mildred, Grace and Lucille, were
guests of Mr.. and Mrs. w. H. Zero
in St. Johnsbury Monday.
Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Douglass
of Whitefeld, N. H., were with
their grandmother Mrs. Har-
The Caledonian-record. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1920-current, 1922-12-28
FOR PIMPLY SKIN
PetersOn'S Ointment

"All pimples are inflammation of
the skim" says Peterson, "and the
best and quickest way to get I'd of
them is to use Peterson's oint-
ment." Used by millions for &C.
zema, skin and scalp itch, ulcers,
sore feet and piles. All druggists,
35c, Coo, $1.00, $3.50, $5.OO-Ad-
vertisement.
The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1922-01-26
. =
> WASHINGTON LETTER !.
; By J. z. JONES. :
) .
FoRD's POSTAGE STAMPS

BID"
The Government estimates show
that it will cost approximately
$4,000, 00s to complete the work at
Muscle Shoals. Henry Ford in his
negotiations with Secretary of War
Weeks has all along made it plain
that he does not want the plant un-
til it is finished. The Government
has already spent $105,00O.O0O at
Muscle Shoals, and Secretary Weeks
believes that if Henry Ford or any
one else ISIS to be taken in as a
partner on the enterprise that they
should forward with an offer in
volving the expenditure by them of
some real mooney. But Mr.. Ford
does not propose to put up any part
OF the required $5S, 000, 900, and when
Mr. Weeks asks "why not" the De-
troit manufacture rushes out to
the newspaper reporters 10 complain
that he has been asked irrelevant
questions" It is the old story of a
partnership in which one Of the
partners supplies all the money and
the other the experience. Everftu-
ally in such cases the man with the
experience" also gets the money.
Mr.. Ford has offered nothing for
Muscle Shoals, except to operate it,
aid pay the Government interest"
on a fraction Of its investment.
because the Secretary of War will
not accept the postage stamp bid"
OF Nr. Ford, and ask Congress for
$5B,O0O,O00 of additional money
which there isn't the slightest likeli-
hood he could ever have appropriated
Mr.. Ford complains that his bid is
being "icckeyed and juggled about. ;"
He calls his offer an industrial phi
lanthroophy," and when he is re-
minded that he might show his good
faith by adding a little money, he
reports that even though he is the
richest man in the world that the
Government must, nevertheless sup
ply all the cash. Ford is not put
ting up the experience! To show
how easy it is for the Government to
get the money he trots out specula-
tive fat money scheme, with the dis
cussion Of which he evidently hopes
to interest the public long enough
for them to forget his unfortunate
attacks on the Jews.
Undoubtedly Secretary Weeks has
been disappointed in not being able
to obtain some kind of proposit-
ton from Mr.. Ford that he could ask
Congress to approve. The Govern
ment and the people in the South
have great desire to finish Wilson
Dam and develop the industrial pos
sibilities along the Tennessee river.
But the case is as old as industry it
The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1922-01-26

\ :
Eben Olson, Of Port Wing, was a
visitor in town Sunday.
r
Arnold Warbelow, son of Mr.. and
Mrs. Frank Warbelow, former Iron
Riverites now residing in Superior,
who joined the navy year ago, has
written friends here that he is now
stationed at League Island, Penn.
Arnold states that he has been iii
many foreign countries during his
enlistment in the navy, and that he
is enjoying the best Of health.
-
Harry Olson reports that on a
moon-lit night last week his dog
barked and whined in an unusual
manner, and that this attracted his
attention. Looking through the
window, Mr.. Olson soon discovered
the cause of the dogs antics. A
wolf had approached to within a few
rods of the house, and was on the
ice of Iron Lake. Mr.. Olson grab
bed his automatic rifle and opened
the door. The wolf didn't lose a
second in getting under motion, but
Olson opened fire and hit him the
second shot. The wolf got away,
but the tracks seen on the snow the
next morning indicated that wolf had
lost front leg for his inquisitive-
ness.
+
T. F. Mackmiller left last evening
on trip which will take him to
Manitowoc, Madison and Milwaukee
and Chicago. He expects to be
The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1922-01-26
away ten days or two weeks.

>~''SJ va Wy y Va WV VN~@ASe
-
j. A. LaLond and E. Shulthies, Of
Washburn, and Ed. Idzorek and Jos.
Arseneau of Superior, were in town
the first part Of the week on BUSH
ness trip.
#
Leland Savage, who spent about
three months working for his cousin
in an oil station in Chicago, return
ed home last Saturday.
+
Mrs. F. ]. Yeakey and daughters
Louise, Marie and Maxine spent the
weekend with friends in Duluth.
-
Mrs. M. D. Feldsmith left Satur-
day for Sanborn, where she will visit
with old friends for an indefinite
time.