The Winslow mail., 1926-10-08
WORK TAKES BACK
SEAT WHEN CIRCUS
SHOWS TWICE HERE
(By George Laws)

discOrd of the calliOpe Forced to
take the northern route by washed
out bridges in the southland, the
101 Ranch Wild West show, of the
famous Miller Brothers, stopped in
WinslOw to feed and exercise their
animals, and most important, TO
give two big performances.
1t is too seldom that Winslow has
an opportunity to see an attrac-
tiOn that is among the headlinerS
of the amusement world, and the
quick response of every class and
every age to the printed announce
ments of the circus showed that
love of make-believe, pomp and dis
play is not confined to minors.
Unloading Thursday night, the
circus "hands" spent the rest Of
the dark hours pitching their tents
and preparing for their stand here,
and the peculiar lure of the big
top drew dozens of visitors even
at late hour.
By HOO a. m. Thursday, the
hour at which tho parade was ad-
vertised as starting, downtown
streets were lined with almost the
total population Strictly in keep
ing with best circus traditions, the
parade was Just an even hour late,
but it was not noticed that any dis
gusted patrons quit spots Of van
tage.
And when the parade did start
itc, re i+o 0oT1ooJc tho
herds of horses, the highly decora-
tive ladies, the cowboys and the
Cossacks, the Indians and the
clowns, and the series of brass
bands, there was craning of necks
the length of the long caravan, and
the old, unreasonable gayety that
is falsely attributed only to child
hood swept the crowd.
Two complete performances in
the main tent took the afternoon
and evening, and both shows drew
good crowds. The tent of course
was not taxed to capacity, but if
there had been more population
here, the crowds would have been
larger, because the only ones who
stayed at home were the ones who
were forced to.
Maturity has always been accept
ed as a state where the artificial
is manifest, and where illusion fails
to blossom, but at circus time the
thin veneer of sophisticatiOn seems
to drop, and the audience of fire
men, brakemen, bankers, grocers
and the many other classes of hard
headed (and in some cases, grey
haired) voters and bread-winners
are kids again.
1t may have been that those who
looked closely enough perceived
that a number of the COSSackS had
Enthusiastically Irish countenances,
but didn't they ride like Cossacks?
And the trained Arabian tumblers
may have never been closer to the
Near East than the eastern three
mile limit, but they were excellent
tumblers, and they wore convinc-
ingly Arabian costumes. What
more do you want?
The great wrestling match, stag
ed after the main performance by
the Serbian TarZan" and a local
man." and which undoubtedly went
to a finish, was the purest clown
ing, but at least they went through
the orthodox motions, and circus
men scattered through the crowd,
and who applauded at the proper
cues, helped lend the right atmos-
phere, to the prop" battle.
Miller Brothers have a wonderful
show. Pioneering in the wild west
circuit with handful of daredevils
that actually were recruited from
the ranks of the range riders Of
Oklahoma and western Texas, they
have grown in favor through the
past two decades, and their assort-
ment of attractions which have
been gathered in that time, have
given them sufficient grounds to
advertise their show as ''the sec
ond largest in the world" That
phrase is an astounding example of
the rarest self-control, especially
since the time-honored custom is
to label as "the largest show on
earth" any transforming crew
boasting more than one elephant,
or having more than one clown.
Each presentation, from the tre-
mendous pageant of flaming uni
forms, numbering elephants, pranc-
ing horses and jewelled ladies, to
the final burst of pistol fire when
the Indians attacked the wagon
train, was polished to perfection,
and the period between the cpl
sodes was satisfyingly filled with
feats of horsemanship, living pic
lures of Indians hunting buffalo,
and all those other undesirable
bits of color, strength, skill and
beauty that make the twentieth
century populace turn out for a
circus with the same gusto that
characterized the simplicity of the
fictional Tom Sawyer and his con-
temporary Huckleberry Finn.
Outside the big top side shows
held sway, and the clarion voices
of the ballyhoo men mingled with
such unjOined elements as the dis
tant rattle of drums, the shrill yip-
ping of the circus maidens, the
smell of popcorn and hot dogs, and
the dust that rose beneath the hum
dreds of shuffling feet
The circus is an annual disease.