Evening star., 1940-05-16
BY ALFRED TOOMBS.

It Is gray dawn. and across the
soft. yellow carpet of mud that
covers the big lot at Twenty-first
and c streets NE. the sad-faced
elephants are making their pom
derous way.
There is the sweet smell of hay in
the air and from the cook tent drifts
the scent of frying bacon and of
wood smoke. The big cats are roar
ing for breakfast. the donkey en-
gines are pounding, and above it all
booms the voice of boss roust-
about:
"All right, gentlemen, roll it out.
Roll it, roll it."
And comes the chorused answer
from the work gang:
Shake It out. Shake it up. You
shake 1t. Lay it down."
They are tugging on the heavy
canvas of the menagerie tent, un-
rolling 1t around the tent poles that
are already set up. They lay it on a
carpet Of hay, so that 1t will not get
muddy
It's Circus Day at Last.
1t is circus day in Washington,
and there is no day like it. The
circus, here for three-day stay,
came during the night from Balti-
more in four separate trains. The
first section pulled in about 3 am.
It carried the cook tents and
the menagerie animals-equipment
which is lashed down tight so the
train can go fast. On the other
sections, travelling slower. come most
of the elephants, the big top and
the performers.
There seems to be nothing but
confusion as the wagons roll in,
disgorge their loads and are wheeled
of. But within a few hours the
tent city rises, with every stake
driven exactly where it should be
and every wagon parked at the right
angle.
The lot was laid out days ago by
the 24-hour man-who used to arrive
just a day before the show, but now
comes nearly week early. The
little iron stakes with the rags are
the guide poles he left.
The flag goes up on the cook tent
and the roustabouts rush in for
breakfast. They get three eggs, a
potato, some bacon, hot cakes, coffee
and bread.
"You gotta feed them if you want
them to work, the cook says.
Performers Get Less.
The performers, who eat In q
different tent, get only two eggs.
The egg consumption for every
breakfast Is about 500 dozen. They
eat about 800 pounds of bacon every
morning and potatoes. are peeled
behind the tent In half-ton lots.
The rain gets worse as the morning
goes along. The big top is soaked
by the time the roustabouts start to
raise 1t. The water accumulated by
the 10000 yards Of cotton make it
weigh tons more, and the work Of
raising 1t is back-breaking.
The foreman is having q little
trouble, because it is a bad morning.
"All right" he yells, well see
who're the first-of-May guys"
"First-of-May guys" are circus
workers who quit early in the season,
the first time the going gets hard.
The big top is suspended on four
67-foot poles, the biggest center
poles ever used by a circus. It Is q
deep blue, with red sides. The air
conditioning wagons are backed up
to the tents, but the ice order is
Cancelled for today.
Animals Get First CAN.
The animals are fed and watered
frst thing. To the big cats In
Alfred Courts animal act GO 165
pounds Of choice beef. The bears In
the same act get rice.
Dick Kroener, who is the only man
In the world on speaking terms
with Gargantua the gorilla, shakes
up Gargy's morning meal. It is q
quart Of special vitamin milk, with
some eggs, chocolate and cod liver
oil mixed In.
Gargy swigs 1t down In q couple
OF gulps. He eats only one meal
q day-a day starting about am.
and continuing until his cage Is
closed at night.
Mr.. Kroener says that Garsy Is
getting meaner every day. The
gorilla has one great interest in
life, and that Is to kill Mr.. Kroe-
ner. OF course, he Is interested
In killing anything else that comes
along. but that Is only Z side
line. He knows his trainer best,
and therefore has him flrst on the
list.
The gorilla is about . years old now.