Evening star., 1925-03-08

r N the old days circus men were
nearly all thieves: what was
called a circus was really poor
i show intended to collect crowds
of people and pick their pockets.
1t is related that one of the most
noted circus owners of so years ago
was a great thief. He organized not
| a company of clever performers, but
| of clever confidence men.
But dishonesty was troublesome
and expensive. It was necessary to
buy up the officers of the law every
where. Circuses came to be SO cor
daily hated that when one appeared
in a town all the roughnecks for
miles around collected to break up
| the performance and whip the circus
| men, If they could. .-
In addition to a gang of confidence
men, 1t was necessary for a circus
owner to carry prizefghters.
AS a result OF all this trouble, the
old circus owners made little money;
| ] do not recall one who made a for
tune.
The old type of circus finally be-
came bankrupt, because of dishonest
management, and honesty was tried.
every way. The money formerly
spent on prizefghters and confidence
men is now devoted to clever acts and
great spectacles. Circus people, from
performers to stake drivers. are well be-
haved. The coming of a. circus means a
great holiday. and people flock to 1t,
| knowing they will be treated fairly. Mod
ern circus owners, operating hon
estly, have made great fortunes. In
| the old days porch climbers and pick
pockets were carried with every cir
Gus. The modern circus owner en-
ploys detectives to see that no thieves
| follow him. The people may safely
| leave their houses unprotected and
| attend the big show, which Is always
| a good one.
And makes a fortune for it's owner
Every dishonest, idle, tricky man
| may thrive If he will become honest
1t is the first necessity of life. The
| industrious, fair, polite and useful
| man is respected. and makes money;
the idle, tricky man Is not respected
| and does not make money.
Any one should be able to find the
/ moral.
Although not a religious man. I
believe the world is better off with
| the present religious activity than it
would be without religion. 1t at
| least seems to be true that nations
| without religion have not prospered
as well as nations with it. I am not
| one Of those who believe only reli-
| gious people are hypocrites. Free
thinkers probably equal or surpass
them in hypocrisy. A Socialist does
not believe in half he pretends to be-
| lieve in. Half the stock in trade of a
| professional literary man is 'hypoc-
| risy, and the musician or artist is
| worse.
| = \
You must have observed that as
soon as people marry literature quits
| them, SO far as love is concerned
after marriage literature is busy with
| wrangling. In a newspaper of recent
| date 1 saw seven accounts of wives
| shooting husbands. In plays the
story closes with marriage; there
after the record is supposed to be so
bad that It is not proper to lay be-
fore women and children. According
to literature, wives and husbands
never like each other. What is IL
wives and husbands discover about
each other that is SO atrocious? Are
wives and husbands natural enemies,
as are foxes and hounds?
| x
|. I have seen beautiful cemeteries.
But it is form OF beauty 1 do not
4 care for.
1 Nearly 40 years ago there lived
I in my town handsome young fellow