Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1941-05-25
AND THEY'RE ALL AMAT Tours

IN .4rticie Complete on This Page
-DIToR Mort SMITH of the Gainesville
p Texas Register was feeling pretty
- low about his towns community spirit
The Little Theater was in the red People
STAYED away in droves. Not that Editor
Smith blamed them much He had never been
so much of a Shakespeare fan himself The
circus was his dish
Circus? Say. that was an idea. Why not.
the lanky Texas editor unused, put on circus
to pay off the Little Theater's debt?
That was all Mort Smith had in mind at
the time. But that was eleven years ago.
Right now the Gainesville Community Circus
is starting its twelfth season. And what a
circus, Trapeze artists, equilibrlsts, tightwlre
performers, iugglers bareback riders clowns.
trained animals "a complete three-rlng
show. All recruited from this town of 10000
average Americans. All doing their stuff for
the sheer fun of it - and doing it with such
daredevil skill that they have had to turn
down offer after offer to turn professional.
Obviously. that out of the question. Who
would take care of Ganesville's sick folk if
Dr. Yarbrough were out gallivanting around
as a clown in a circus? Who would keep
Gainesville business booming if Secretary
Jim Smith of the Retail Merchants Assocla-
ton were doing his tightrope act in foreign
parts? Who would maintain law and order if
Sheriff McColum were away demonstrating
two-gun craftsmanship under big top?
That's the kind of a circus it is: strictly
home grown. A high school girl slides down
2OO-foot cable suspended by her teeth. A
dry-cleaner and his stenographer daughter
do thrilling high-wire act. A truck-line
operator puts trained ponies and horses
through amazing stunts. An accountant is
the chief Joey" Circus lingo for clown and
the high school mathematics teacher IS one
of his star funny men, aided by his singing
dog. A dgnified judge, until his recent death,
got great kick out of swapping his black
robes for the spangled ruffles of harlequin.
Only one exception has ever been made to the
rule that performers must be Gainesville
residents That was when wealthy Houston
importer begged to be allowed to be clown.
Nearly POO Performances
GU see. the circus is much too good now to
confine itself strictly to Gainesville. Since it
started it has travelled over 5000 miles and
played 1872 performances Of course the out
of-town appearances have to be fairly near
by 50 that Gainesville life won't be long dis
rupted At one performance in Fort Worth
in 1899 the circus packed in $1,000 people,
the largest crowd ever to gather under one
roof in that city. 1t has played Houston,
Wichita Falls and many other Southwestern
cities At the Texas Centennial Exposition
and the Pan-American Exposition in Dallas
it turned away throngs.
And it's all for love. All receipts. above
travelling expenses, are used to buy new
equipment. Gainesville people make the COS
tunes and build the circus wagons. The Cir
Gus now owns $4,000 worth of equipment,
including nine tents, seats for $500 people,
wardrobe for $50 performers, and half dozen
ornamented tableau wagons.
Every time it plays - except in Gaines
vile people come out muttering about
ringers" You can hardly blame them. Even