Evening star., 1932-06-10
HAVE LOTS OF FUN
IN BEING EXPERTS
Various Teams Have Their
Followers and Wagering
Is HabituaI.
BY WALTER TRUMBULL.

n YEW YORK, June 10.-Circus
M people are among the hot
Y test base ball fans in the
country. Take, for ex-
ample, Clyde Beatty, the greatest
animal trainer of them all, and
the show with which he Is now
performing.
Beatty himself played foot ball,
basket ball and base ball at school, but
base ball was his favorite sport. He
organized circus team and played
the clubs in the Mid Western Twilight
League and did very we'll. Beatty was
captain and second baseman.
The man who plays around in q cage
with 80 lions and tigers twice day
roots for Cincinnati because Ohio is his
he just naturally likes them.
TINKO, the Albina clown from Cali
n fornia. likes the Cubs, probably
because they train at Catalina.
He and Beatty have season bet. Every
day Kinko bets Q dollar on Chicago
and Beatty bets dollar on New York.
shouUouts count double So, If the clubs
are not playing each other, and one
team wins by shutout and the other
loses by shutout, the bet can mount
to 81.
But they generally finish pretty close
In the course of a season--just few
dollars one way or the other. Don't
think Kinko doesn't know his base ball.
He can call the batting and field aver
ages Of the Cubs from Hornsby to the
bat boy.
Another Cincinnati fan is Billy
Hardin, who also Is prominent mem
Der of the clown troupe. George Davis,
circus concessionaire, will bet his shirt
on the Cards. He comes from st.
Louis. He won several hundred dol
lars on the haal world series game
last year.
THE circus performers bet on hits,
L runs, results and everything else
base ball offers for a wager. They
run a daily pool and q weekly pool.
Interest may be judged by the fact
that the weekly pool is worth 500 to
the winner.
In the big tent where the performers
dress, two radios are going each after
noon. one at each end. They are
tuned in on any ball game which is
being put on the air. Performers hurry
back from their acts to ask what has
happened in their absence. There is
always somebody to keep box score.
In the old days base ball games be-
tween teams representing various tent
shows were frequent and hard fought
Strange ushers would appear, who were
carried on the pay roll at surprising
salaries. When you got them out OF
ushers' uniforms and into base ball uni
1orrns they bore marked resemblance
to players who had once had some con-
nection with the major leagues.
NOW that 80 many circuses are COM
bned under one financial management
the rivalry Is not what it was and
there are practically no ringers. Over
emphasis IS thing Of the past and
that they would receive high rating
from the Carnegie Foundation.
C1RCUS people gamble so gaily with
~ their lives that to gamble with
their money appears q minor mat
Ter. Ihere was one inveterate purSuer
OF chance who Travelled with a tent
show and was famous for the variety
OF his wagers. Seeing two persons
about to cross street, he would offer
to pick one and bet he would reach
eiAC Aui itiicL oluc UtIOTe CIle OCleT. he
would bet on anything One Of his
sizble bets concerned which Of two
rain drops would first reach the bot
tom of q window pane.
one OF the clowns once made a freak
bet on city base ball series He lost
and had to crawl clear around the
track on which the chariots race on his
hands and knees. When he paid the
bet the winner followed him, which
was not in the bargain. with a. pitch
fork, urging him on his way.
The crowd thought it was all part OF
the regular performance and laughed
heartily. The director of clowns wanted
to keep the act in the performance. but
the crawler refused. although the pitch.
fork man was willing
Next to base ball the circus people
seem to prefer boxing, although there
are foot ball and even wrestling fans In
their ranks. They are all pretty good
athletes themselves. They have 10 be.
NeWspAper Alliance. fnc \