Evening star., 1943-06-15
Bond Buyers
Crowd Circus
For First Show
Big Top Packed for
Opening Of Weeks
Performance Here
By CARTER BROOKE JONES.

ny CANTEH 6ROOkE JONES.
1t undoubtedly was the most ex-
pensive circus performance which
Washington, always a good circus
town, ever had-the Ringing Broth
ers and Barnum and Bailey show at
Benhing road and Oklahoma avenue
NE. last night. The lowest tariff
was $l8.75, and some patrons paid
500 and more to get in.
But there was no ceiling on prices
for this particular show. In fact,
OPA said, In effect, Get all you can
out Of them" And nobody minded.
Not fan was heard to complain.
The proof of that was an audience
that filled the big top from the high
est tier to the sawdust.
Whatever they paid was helping
to shorten the war, for you had to
buy War bond to get ticket. And
If many more had bought them, the
management would have had to en-
large the huge, oblong tent.
Applause Shows Pleasure.
Having paid, in the best cause
they knew, the crowd went to enjoy
the show, and the applause they
sprinkled through it was a pretty
good indication that they were hav-
ing fun out of their investment.
The greatest show on earth"
proved to have retained its diamond
belt despite the war, the manpower
situation and every other element
which has slowed most amusements
to walk. Given a special dispensa-
ton by the ONCE of Defense Trans
portation, it mustered a circus
worthy of the dim days when there
were no Government restrictions on
anything short OF murder and
mayhem.
The spec" this year. the bond
buying crowd found out, is spectac-
ular indeed. It's called Let Free
dom Ring" and it unfolds in a rich
pageant symbolic of all the United
Nations. These symbols take the
form of floats, borne by horses, ele-
plants and toiling humans, sur
mounted by alluring girls clad in
costumes appropriate to each coun-
try. There are marching men in
rainment typical of nations Oriental
and Occidental-leaving out, nat
urally, our enemies, but emphasizing
the cosmic breadth of the Allied
cause.
"Shangri-La" Appears.
There are Russian cossacks and
Indian potentates, Chinese man
darins and outstanding Britains.
There is even a green section in
scribed to Ireland. though some
South Irish may cavil at that. And
there's a float called "Shangri-La," ="
without American aviators, but with
dreamy-eyed young women lolling
contentedly. The pageant ends with
a section called Victory" in which
elephants wear cloth, of gold and
wings, though none Of them took
flight last night.
The circus opens on a nostalgia
note which must have drawn REM
iniscent signs from dad and mother.
This is a reproduction of the old
time circus parade-passed, unhap-
PLY, into the limbo Of free lunch, in
ternational amity and mustache
cups. The turn-of-the century at
mosphere is achieved elegantly, with
women in picture hats and billowy
skirts and men in high stiff collars
and tight suits looking on. At the
end is the inevitable calliope. A cir
Gus historian advises us that the
street parade faded into memory the
year the Yanks drove through the
Argonne.
Animal Acts Smooth.
The rest of the show is we'll up to
tradition. Alfred Courts big cats
are flercer and better trained than
ever. The incompatible May Kovar
seems more at home with her leo
pards, pumas and ocelots each year.
This time she picks up a leopard,
drapes it over her shoulder as If it
were descended into fur coat and
walks about the cage with 1t care
lessly, patting its head now and
then. She often stops to pet or poke
her charges, regarding them, appar-
emily, as no more than house cats.
The aerial acts are no less daring.
And you'll find the jugglers. tight
rope artists and tumblers back
again. The educated horses have
taken a postgraduate course since
Washington saw them last. The
clowns draw just as many laughs as
some of them on this very bill did
when parents introducing their chill
dren to their charms were kids
themselves. Mr.. and Mrs. Gargan-
tua the Great are receiving stares
in their air-conditioned home-the
lucky stiffs!-just outside the big
top.
There will be two performances
daily the rest of the week-at 2:15