The King of Beasts

1895

THINGS WORTH KNOWING BEFORE TRYING TO TRAIN HIM.

Why Dogs Are So Often Seen With Trained Lions — Edward Darling, the Trainer, Tells All About the Processes of Training and Teaching Them.

"You have often heard it remarked of some person or other that he could not be driven, but must be led," said Edward Darling, the famous lion tamer. "If you have ever tried to accomplish anything with a person so disposed, you will appreciate that a great amount of discretion and discrimination must be exercised if you desire to be successful. Keeping in mind the difficulties that present themselves in a human individual who cannot be driven, you will at once concede that a lion tamer's task is not an easy one when I tell you that the king of beasts can neither be led nor driven. I mean this literally. If you succeed in having a lion permit you to lead him — and I tell you that it requires no little patience and work to accomplish this apparently simple trick — you can rest assured that the balance of his training will come easy.

"Many people have wondered why dogs always accompanied lions while performing on the stage. I have heard some offer the explanation that they were there for the protection of the tamer. Others claimed that there was a psychological connection between the dogs and the lions, by which the former had the latter hypnotized, so that the least bark or movement from the dog would bring the lion to a realization of what he was then to do. While these theories may sound very well, they are all wrong. The dogs are simply there for example. They are of course the most domestic of all animals, and their association with the lions makes the latter take on some of their habits.

"From the time a lion is first placed in the trainer's hands, which is at about the age of 9 months, young dogs are placed in its cage. At first there is some antagonism shown, but after they have been together for awhile they begin to romp and play with each other like kittens. Lions are usually trained in pairs — that is, two in one cage. This is done to make them bolder. If they have company, they do not have the same fear of the trainer as they would if alone. And it may seem strange to you to know that a trainer dreads fear in a lion more than boldness. If when you enter a cage a lion sneaks away from you and commences to jump about, striking its head against the bars as if it would dash its brains out, seeking to escape in every possible way, then look out to protect yourself, for as sure as death that lion, after having exhausted every way he supposed he could gain his liberty, will turn his attention to you and deal with you in a manner not the most polite. A timid lion is to be dreaded, but a bold one you can always tell how to deal with. The only protection the trainer takes with him when he first enters a cage is a board about four feet long. This is to hold up in front of him in case the beast makes a plunge at him. The tamer usually enters the cage as if he had some business there, such as sweeping or cleaning, doing his work, apparently not paying the slightest attention to the lions. He keeps this up for a long time, and gradually the lions become accustomed to his presence. Then he offers them food out of his hand, cautiously, for the lion usually makes a grab for his food with his paw first, and there is danger of having an arm taken off. After this is accomplished he begins to stroke the beasts with his stick, which shows them it is not for beating them, then with his hand rewarding each advance with meat.

"After a lion has permitted his trainer to stroke his back without a remonstrance he is considered to know the difference between right and wrong, and from that time on is punished for bad behavior. Before this no punishment has been administered, as the prime object is to first get the confidence of the beasts and let them know what you want them to do. But after the trainer has petted and rewarded him for it, should the lion show any desire to go back to his primeval wildness and make any attempt to claw or bite his master, then the whip is applied and not sparingly either. He is whipped and whipped until his will is broken and he permits a renewal of the familiarity. I have seen lions almost beaten to death before they would give in, but at last they were conquered. The trainer has become the master, and, strangely, the punishments inflicted are never remembered against him by the lion.

"The first and most difficult step, as I have said before, is teaching them to be led. The idea of being led seems to be contrary to the lion's nature. And no wonder, for what king would not revolt at such treatment? But the king of beasts can be taught, although it requires many long and severe lessons before he will bring himself down to it. Even after a lion has been fully trained you can never be absolutely sure of him. They are very peculiar animals. Sometimes they will not get out of sorts for years, yet in a day will develop nasty traits that make them decidedly dangerous. These spells only last, luckily, for two or three days, when they return to the former condition. We work upon the jealous feelings of a lion with great success while training one. I have seen some animals that could never have been conquered had it not been for the jealousy that was created in them. They became so jealous of dogs, and other lions that were having a great deal of attention paid to them by the trainer that they absolutely forgot themselves and came up to him as the other beasts had done. Naturally we got very much attached to our own animals, but you cannot develop the same affection for a lion as you can for a dog, I suppose because you cannot have the lion always with you. My lions know no one but myself. I attend to them exclusively, with the exception of cleaning out the cages. I feed them every morning and let them exercise, so that they are almost part of my family." — Pittsburg Dispatch.

Folks, Facts and Fancies

1916

Henry Wheeler, secretary of the Massachusetts Board of Agriculture, predicts 75c. for fresh eggs in Boston this winter.

Henry Ford, the Detroit automobile manufacturer, announces that he and "his neighbors" will support President Wilson for re-election.

Horace White, for many years one of the Country's foremost journalists and an authority on financial subjects, died at his home in New York after a long illness. He was 82 years of age. Born at Colebrook, N. H., in 1834, Mr. White was educated at Beloit college and Brown University.

George W. Perkins finds that Maine progressives "almost unanimously" supported the republican ticket, and predicts that all progressives in the country will follow their example in November.

Theodore Roosevelt and William H. Taft, have accepted invitations to attend a reception in honor of Charles E. Hughes at the Union League club, Oct. 3. Elihu Root, president of the club, will preside.

The spire of the old Congregational church in Greenwich, Conn., whose peak is the highest point between New York city and New London, has been condemned. The church, it is said, is the richest in Connecticut. Its spire has been used for years as a steering guide by vessels.

With a crew of one man aboard, the 40-foot sailing launch Sir Francis, bound from San Diego, Calif., for the St. Lawrence River, cleared from Colon, Panama, for Jamaica and Key West.

"Mary" the big circus elephant which killed her trainer at Kingsport, Tennessee, Tuesday was hanged at Erwin, Tennessee. A railroad derrick car was used in the execution. The animal was forced to the tracks by other elephants, heavy chains tied around her neck and she was hoisted into the air. She was valued at $20,000 by her owners.

Ka-e-na-gi-wes, an Indian chief of Cass Lake, Minnesota said to be 128, and a heathen all that century and a quarter, won't be buried in the Spirit Land of the Chippewas' Happy Hunting Ground. He has taken the name, John Smith, and turned Christian.

—The Fryeburg Post, Fryeburg, Maine, Sept. 26, 1916, p. 8.

Six Frightened Lions

1901

An incident at the Porte St. Martin theater in Paris has become part of the annals of the show business. The chief feature of the exhibition was a "turn" consisting of the casting of a young woman securely bound into a cage of lions heralded as being the fiercest and most bloodthirsty of man eaters.

The woman who had the part of the victim was taken ill, and a substitute was found in the wife of one of the trainers, herself a trainer of some experience, but without any acquaintance with these particular six lions, as she was somewhat nervous she carried a small club ready for use should occasion arise.

Amid the breathless silence of the spectators the ringmaster explained the ferocious nature of the lions and the terrible risk of the woman and she was thrust in at the cage door. In the excitement of the occasion the door was not securely shut after her. No sooner was she fairly inside than the six monarchs of the jungle, seeing that a strange person had been forced upon them, raised a chorus of shuddering terror, bolted for the cage door, clawed it open and with dragging tails and cringing flanks fled out through a rear entrance and found refuge in a cellar, whence they were dislodged only after great difficulty.

It was a week before the "ferocious man eaters" were sufficiently recovered from their terrors to reappear in public. — McClure's Magazine.

The Circus Fever

1923

One touch of circus makes the whole town kin.

For years clever writers have been trying to isolate the circus germ. Interpret the symptoms of acute circusitis and explain why the wife who hears the notes of the far-off calliope leaves her dishes in the sink, takes a flying leap into the Ford and dashes downtown to see the parade, the same old procession she has watched year after year for two or three decades. She doesn't see anything new; she knows before she starts that she won't see anything new. She knows the sights and smells will be exactly the same. Yet she listens and leaps and goes home with the guilty knowledge that she will either compel her husband to take her and the children to the show or she will use the hoard in the teapot on the top shelf.

There seems to be something in the makeup of the average American requiring a certain amount of dust, smells, crowds, bad band music and general dishevelment every year. If the wonders within the tent are old enough and done with enough of the traditional flourish this average person tramps home with the news that it was the best circus ever seen.

—The Lincoln Star, Lincoln, NE, Aug. 3, 1923, p. 6. Originally from South Bend (Indiana) Tribune.

Harry Potter Sues Circus

Iowa, 1894

The band leader in Reynolds' circus sued the show in the superior court here for $300 and its horses have been attached according to the following paragraph in a Creston paper: Sheriff Davenport went to Afton yesterday and levied on the horses and railroad cars of Reynolds Bros.' circus, on a writ of attachment sworn out by Harry Potter and wife for labor, in the sum of $891.05. Representatives of the circus were in the city today endeavoring to effect a settlement. Circuses seem to be having a rough time of it this year.

— Cedar Rapids Gazette; Reprinted in Waterloo Courier, Waterloo, IA, July 18, 1894, p. 9.


North Dakota, 1925

Mr. and Mrs. Harry Potter of Bismarck spent Wednesday night at the Henry Olson home.


Appleton, Wisconsin, 1932

Mrs. Charles Solie and daughter, Delora, Mrs. Harry Potter and Mrs. R. J. Denel of this city, motored to Neenah Wednesday where they were guests at the George Stadtmueller home.


Illinois, 1898

Sergeant Harry Potter, of company H, Third Illinois, from Rockford, Ills., is reported dead at Porto Rico.

Tallest Man Reported Ill

1915

Captain Bates, Aged 70, Is Nearly 8 Feet in Height

SEVILLE, Ohio, Dec. 16. — The tallest man in Ohio is ill at his home near Seville. He is Capt. M. V. Bates and is 7 feet 11½ inches tall. Bates' wife, who is caring for him, is slightly over five feet.

Being ill is a new experience for Capt. Bates. Until a few weeks ago he worked daily on his 150-acre farm here.

Capt. Bates quit the circus sideshows in 1880 and settled on his farm. He is now seventy years old.



Bullet Kills Rat; Also Man

Glances Off Rodent's Body, Hitting Spectator in Stomach

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn., Dec. 16. — The bullet which killed a rat in the restaurant at 239 Cedar avenue, claimed its human victim when Daniel Golden died at the City Hospital.

Tuesday night Thomas Christo, employed in the restaurant, took a shot at a big gray rat. The bullet killed the rat, glanced and struck Golden in the stomach.

Fountain Pen Saves Life

1909

Deflects Bullet Fired by Woman in Waldorf- Astoria Hotel

New York. — If you expect to be shot, carry a fountain pen in your vest pocket. It may save your life.

William D. Craig, a lawyer, was thus protected when Mrs. Mary A. Castle, a decidedly good-looking woman, tried to kill him in the crowded Waldorf-Astoria hotel and instead of a mortal wound he bears only a scratch, because the fountain pen deflected the bullet.

Craig, who is a member of the Rocky Mountain club, which has a suite of rooms in the hotel, was on his way to the club rooms to dress for dinner. Mrs. Castle, who had been waiting for him, tried to detain him, but Craig shook off the woman and went to the elevator. Mrs. Castle kept pace with him and as he was about to step into the elevator, she shot at him when the muzzle of the revolver was within an inch of his coat.

"He is the cause of my trouble. He has thrown me over," was her explanation.


Storm Panic At Circus

Roar of Lions Terrifies Crowd at Battle Creek

Battle Creek, Michigan — During a windstorm which uprooted trees, blew down fences and telephone poles here, the menagerie tent of Barnum & Bailey's circus was blown down and two women seriously injured. A large crowd was thrown into a panic. None of the animals escaped, but the roars of the lions created a panic.

Miss Adelaide Hathaway of Schoolcraft, Mich., sustained internal injuries and a fractured hip. Miss Bernice Platt of this city was severely injured. At Athletic park, where the local and Jackson teams of the Southern Michigan league were playing, Catcher Stringer of the local team was struck by lightning on the field and thrown to the ground unconscious.

What a Good Circus Rider Can Make

1907

They Earn Good Salaries, but Their Careers Are Short

A man horseback rider receives from $75 to $125 a week, and his career as a principal rider lasts about ten years. It is short not so much because these men get stiff and lose their agility as because they lose their nerve. Nearly all circus folk marry young, and with their added responsibilities comes a lively sense of danger which they ignored in younger days.

A man rider who cannot turn a somersault on a horse cannot command more than $50 a week. A woman rider who can perform this feat gets from $150 to $200 a week if she is a finished rider.

This isn't much when all the disadvantages of the calling are taken into consideration, but it should be remembered that all the expenses are paid, including the care, feeding and of course the transportation of their horses. All they have to provide is their own clothing. For the men riders clothes do not constitute much of a factor, and the women nearly always make their own, except those provided by the management.

Freaks in Circuses — The Attraction of Monstrosities

1910

FREAKS IN CIRCUSES

People Are Strangely Fascinated by the Monstrosities

When the "Domesticated Gorilla" Got the Show Into Trouble — Hot Water Spoils a "Mermaid" to Uncover Fake

London — It seems strange that freaks, from the legless wonder to the two-headed calf, should possess such a strange fascination for nine people out of ten, yet this is undoubtedly the case.

Of course, there are many so-called freaks which have no business to be called by such an unpleasant name, for if one argues from the dictionary a freak is a monstrosity, and a monstrosity, in the generally accepted sense of the word, is something horrible. The giant and the dwarf are interesting and unusual, but certainly should not be called "freaks."

Hunchbacks were an exception to the rule, for all kinds of powers were attributed to them. There are some very sensitive people to whom the sight of anything in the nature of a monstrosity is absolute pain, and women are fortunately few and far between who fall in love with a monster because of his monstrosity, as in the case of Victor Hugo's "L'homme qui Rit."

The ordinary individual comes across very few physical freaks, and one cannot but wonder whence the showman's rank and file are recruited. Perhaps, if the truth were known, more than half of the show freaks are "fakes." There are many good stories told of these sham freaks, who, owing to some contretemps, have "given the show away." The two following are good examples:

Among the freaks of a certain show was a "domesticated gorilla," to quote the handbills, and he proved one of the finest draws the show had ever had. After the performance no one could have recognized the gorilla, as he then took the shape of a very quiet, ordinary little man. The public particularly enjoyed seeing the gorilla swing from the horizontal bar by his tail, an appendage which is very slightly developed in the species as a rule.

This tail was a masterpiece of ingenuity. It was made of flexible steel, and so contrived that when it took a turn around anything it locked into position until it was released by the gorilla touching a spring concealed somewhere near his waist. The thing worked splendidly for a long time, until one day the gorilla put his tail through the bars of his cage, and a lady standing by took hold of it. Well, the tail acted automatically, as usual, and of course when she felt it tighten around her wrist the lady screamed. The gorilla pressed the hidden spring to no purpose. To make a long story short, the men standing by came to the lady's rescue, took hold of the tail and pulled it off. When the people saw the leather fastenings and buckles they "cleaned out the establishment."

The second story concerns a mermaid. She was no ordinary mermaid, but a "really high-class article," a very handsome young woman encased from the waist down in blue and gold fishskin. The water in which she smoked, and sang, and sat on a rock combing her hair was kept tepid so as not to give her a chill, and this was what gave her enemies — the beautiful Circassian girl and the dwarf — a chance to injure her.

They were jealous because she attracted more attention than they did, so they hatched a plot, which the dwarf carried out successfully. One day he pretended to be ill, and got a day off, and just before the mermaid's performance he hid himself in the boiler-room. After the man had been down to see that there was not too big a fire, the dwarf set to and stoked for all he was worth.

The mermaid soon felt that something was wrong, but she stood it as long as she could. At last, however, she had to choose between being boiled or giving the thing away, and naturally she preferred the latter alternative; but, as the showman put it, the public said things that were "very discouraging" and the show had to move on.

Wallace's Circus Has Great Ensemble of Clowns

1905

Buster Brown, Alphonse, Gaston, Happy Hooligan and Foxy Grandpa would certainly make a great quintet, at least, so B. E. Wallace says, and he backs his opinion by paying five notorious mischief-makers a large sum to travel with the Great Wallace Show.

These grotesque characters have been impersonated on the stage with very satisfactory results. A great deal better opportunity will be given them to display their eccentric dispositions on the ten-acre exhibition grounds of the Wallace circus. Happy Hooligan and Foxy Grandpa will be conspicuous about the Wallace tents this year, and with Alphonse and Gaston, and thirty-five other jesters, to assist them in as ostrich hunt in South Africa, a very funny time is expected.

The South African ostrich hunt will, for convenience, take place on the great hippodrome track of the Wallace Show, and it will prove to be the most comical burlesque ever seen under canvas. Then Little Buster Brown and his "pup" have a lot of funny stunts along with the jolly crowd of other funny clowns.

The Wallace Show will certainly furnish plenty of genuine and innocent fun for the patrons of that circus when it exhibits at Fort Wayne on Wednesday, September 13.

—The Fort Wayne Sentinel, Fort Wayne, IN, Aug. 19, 1905, p. 4.

Circus Elephant Heeds "Jump" Command Before Train Wreck

1905

TILLIE'S LITTLE TRICK WINS

Brookville, Ind., Aug. 17. — Circus tricks saved the life of Tillie, a trick elephant, in a freight wreck here yesterday. The Robinson circus train was standing on the Big Four tracks waiting for orders when a fast freight, running about thirty-five miles an hour, ran into it. Tillie was in one of the forward cars, and when her keeper saw the train bearing down on them he shouted:

"Jump, Tillie; jump."

The elephant, used to the command in the circus ring, jumped as she was bidden and cleared the car, receiving a slight sprain from the impact with the ground, some distance away. The trainer also jumped. The car in which they had been was wrecked. The circus employees nearly all were asleep at the time, and were thrown from their bunks to the floors of the cars, and some of them sustained serious injuries, but it is not thought that any are fatally hurt.

—The Fort Wayne Sentinel, Fort Wayne, Indiana, Aug. 17, 1905, p. 3.

An Odd Genius: Mortimer

1874

An Odd Genius

An Irishman died, a few weeks ago, in London, whose career and attainments entitle him to a niche in the annals of literature. The deceased was about fifty years of age, and was as odd a figure as one could meet in a day's ride. He was small, but firmly knit, generally wore a white hat and a dress coat, and always had an old volume under his arm. He was a confirmed book-worm. Mezzofanti was hardly a more accomplished linguist. Mortimer was a graduate of the University of Dublin, and deeply versed in classic lore, but he added a polish to his erudition by his intimacy with at least a dozen modern tongues. He spoke French, German, Russian, Polish, Spanish, Italian, Modern Greek, Turkish, Arabic, Irish, and Danish with fluency. In his youth he had been cabin-boy in an American bark, and subsequently became a medical student in Paris, but had to leave it on account of his connection with the June insurrection of '48.

He was a very strong man, and utilized his strength by taking an engagement as a Hercules in a circus in Australia. By turns he gave lectures on Shakespeare through Germany, was a Greek professor at Hamburg, had a troupe of Spanish ballet-dancers in Holland, and was a companion of Sir William Don, the baronet actor, in his wildest continental frolics. In his time he had been tutor to Charles Lever's children at Florence. He came to the surface one day in the employment of Tom Thumb; another in the company of Murphy the Irish giant, who was a distant cousin. He had been in London since the Franco-Prussian war, which ruined him in fortune. His learning was of little profit to him, for he died very poor in a ward of a hospital, and is buried in a nameless grave.

Hornets Got Him in Tree — and Other Painful Stories

1909

CHESTER, Pennsylvania — His head swathed in bandages, his sight temporarily gone, a leg and arm broken, and a rib splintered, Albert Thachrah, aged 15 years, of Aston Mills, is suffering from the effects of a fierce battle with a nest of hornets.

He was high up in the branches of an apple tree, when, in attempting to save himself from falling, he grabbed a branch to which a huge nest of hornets was attached. Immediately the angered insects began to sting him, and the boy tumbled to the ground, breaking his arm and leg and splintering his rib. Being unable to run, Thachrah was easy prey for the hornets until his cries brought relief and he was carried to a place of safety.


Mad Dog's Scratch Fatal

WAVERLY, New York — A scratch from the paw of a rabid dog was responsible for the death today of George Murray, the 4-year-old child of a local merchant. The boy was playing near his home one afternoon, three weeks ago, with two older boys, when they were suddenly attacked by a strange dog. The other two were bitten and were sent to the Pasteur Institute for treatment as soon as it became known that the dog was made. The Murray child's injury was so superficial, however, that no alarm was felt. yesterday he developed unmistakable symptoms of rabies and died today in great agony.



Tiger Chews Boy's Arm

ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico — During the arrival of Campbell Bros. show, Ernest Hammond, aged 13, leaned against a tiger's cage and the animal seized his arm, breaking it at the wrist, and lacerating it so that amputation may be necessary. The boy was held by the tiger for ten minutes before the keepers could pry its jaws open with iron bars.

An Old Man's Leap to Death — A Thrilling Suicide

1878

An Old Man's Leap to Death

A thrilling suicide took place one forenoon recently at St. Louis, an unhappy mortal leaping from the railing of the great bridge to the water, 110 feet below, meeting instant death.

A few moments previous to the occurrence the man started across from the eastern shore, leaving a letter in the hands of the ticket-seller on the other side addressed to a friend in East St. Louis, in which he deplored the circumstances which led to the suicide, and gave directions to be made of the few effects he left behind.

After leaving the ticket office on the other side, he pursued his way to the center span of the bridge, and one of the watchmen on the bridge saw him looking down into the swift current below with an abstracted air, as though undecided what course to pursue. But the watchman, never dreaming that he contemplated suicide, paid no special attention to him. Suddenly he divested himself of his outer apparel, coat and vest, and hastily climbing over the railing, he cast one imploring look upward, his lips moving as if in prayer, and then made the fatal leap into eternity.

Before the watchman, who was hastening toward him, could do anything to prevent the terrible fate that awaited the poor fellow, his body, as he made the frightful leap, was seen shooting through the air, and finally it was lost to sight beneath the muddy waters. One of the ferry-boats was crossing at the time, and the pilot took the boat near to the post where the man had alighted, but the body had sunk from view.

The bridge watchman found the coat and vest of the suicide near the spot from which he jumped, and took them, together with a pine stick which the suicide had carried, to the Third district station, where, upon examining the pockets, a letter was found addressed to Nixon or Dixon, the initials torn off, by M. O. Brown, dealer in tobacco and cigars, at Pleasant Hills, Illinois.

A few hours after the tragic act, the body was found 400 yards below the bridge. It was then ascertained that the suicide was an old man sixty years of age, named George Hickson, who has lived some time in East St. Louis, and that he had resolved upon self-destruction on account of a domestic difficulty with his son-in-law, John Girard. Hickson traveled with Barnum's circus a long time, exhibiting his son, a noted dwarf.

Barnett Bros. Big 3-Ring Circus, 1935

Barnett Brothers Circus

With Mighty Alice, largest elephant now on tour in America, and a herd of 50 dancing horses.

— Charleston Daily Mail, Charleston, West Virginia, April 7, 1935, page 6.

Heber Brothers Circus - Ponies, Dogs, and Monkeys

Ohio, 1911

CIRCUS TO-NIGHT.

Heber Brothers Will Show Under Canvas on West Main Street.

Heber Brothers' Shows, presenting circus, minstrels and vaudeville, will exhibit to-night, on the lots adjoining The Auditorium. The program presents leading acts of the circus ring and the minstrel and vaudeville stage. The band will play a free concert before the opening of the doors of the main entrance. The act and features of the show are: Rollo H. Heber and his performing Ponies, Dogs and Monkeys; the Flying LaVons, Trapeze and Roman Ring Aerialists; Big Four Clowns in Ludicrous Stunts, the Acrobatic Franklins; Burn and Burns, International Spectacular Dances; Heber Bros. in their famous Comedy Acts; the Jeffersons, in sketch "Vacation Time;" the Anthoneys, Slack Wire Artists and Contortion Equilibrists, In the Minstrels, Lon Washburn, Ed Fox, LeRoy Barrett and Geo. Heber endmen, Reginald Jefferson, Interlocutor, with other blacked face comedians introducing Funny Songs, Jokes and Dances.

—The Van Wert Daily Bulletin, Van Wert, Ohio, July 7, 1911, page 3.

Sideshow: The Wild Australian Children and the English Giant

1915

Side Lights On The Circus Business
By D. W. Watt

In the review of side show freaks and curiosities of last week, there were two great features of side shows [*] years ago that were overlooked, and these were Tom and Hattie, known as the wild Australian children, and Henry Cooper, the English giant.

Tom and Hattie perhaps made more money for their employers than any attraction in the business. They were called the wild Australian children, and were supposed to have been captured after a long excited chase in the wilds of Australia, but as I did not participate in the capture, I will not vouch for the truth of this statement.

Tom and Hattie were the one great feature in the side show of the Adam Forepaugh show for many years. They were brother and sister, and both had the same attendants, whose business it was to look after them and see that they were cared for in the best possible way.

Hattie had a bright disposition and everything seemed to please her, and she was everybody's friend, but Tom, the brother was quite different. He was naturally a grouch, and hard to please, and for some unknown reason he took a great dislike to me from the first time I ever saw him. Any time when I happened to walk in the side show, while Tom could not talk, he would give me a bad look, grit his teeth and clinch his fists, which meant that I had better keep my distance.

One day John A. Forepaugh, who was manager of the show and owner of the privileges as well, came to the ticket wagon and said: "Dave, you talk about standing room, you could not put a dozen more people in the side show, unless you put the press on them. I never saw such a big crowd. Run over and take look."

I went to the side show, and was just able to get inside, when Tom away across the tent spied me and he seemed to be wild with rage, and without thinking, I clinched one of my fists and shook it at him and he immediately jumped from the stand on which he was exhibited into the crowd and let a yell out of him, and in ten minutes everybody had made their escape from under the side walls. Tom was put back on his platform and sat down hard, with instructions to never get up until he was told.

I also made my escape to the ticket wagon, and a minute later had orders from Mr. Forepaugh from then on to keep out of the side show.

Henry Cooper the English giant was brought to this country by Adam Forepaugh on a three year contract. Cooper stood about eight foot four, and while he was not fleshy, he weighed around 400 pounds. Everything Cooper wore had to be made to order, and his boots were a sight to look at. Cooper once told a story about an old lady visiting him in the side show and after looking him over carefully, she said, "Young man, can you tell me how tall you are?" Cooper said, "No madam, not in feet and inches, but I am so tall that I cannot tell when my feet get cold."

The old lady took a look at Cooper's ponderous feet for a few seconds, and then said, "You are certainly fortunate," and without a smile on her face, passed on to the next stand to take a look at the fat woman.

For some years in this country Henry Cooper was a feature in the side shows, and in the winter in a dime museum.

A few days ago Mary A. Forepaugh, wife of the late John Forepaugh, died at her home in Philadelphia. Her husband, John Forepaugh, was the youngest brother of the great showmen, and Aunt Mary, as she was known around the show, was a bright cheery woman, and a great favorite of her brother-in-law, Adam Forepaugh, and at the opening in Philadelphia every spring, Aunt Mary could be found in the private box of Adam Forepaugh. At the close of the engagement there she made it her business to visit everyone around the show, and bid them farewell, always saying that she hoped to see them there the next spring. Many an old timer in the business will mourn her loss.

One of the wittiest and most original of the old-time circus jesters was Johnny Paterson, the self styled "Rambler from Clare," who was a true son of the "Land of the Shamrock" and racy of the old sod. He was not a tumbling clown, knockabout or a pantomimic buffoon; but he was a talking and singing jester, who relied upon his fund of natural humor and glib flit of repartee to excite the hilarity of his listeners.

Patterson came to this country, direct from Ireland, about 1879, under contract to the Cooper & Bailey Great London show, and after remaining one season with that organization, he joined the forces of John B. Doris and toured for four seasons with the Doris Inter-Ocean show. Although "blessed with the cause of conviviality" — as they say in Ireland, Patterson managed to accumulate a tidy sum out of his weekly wage, and with this he returned to his native land and bought a half interest in a small circus managed by a man named Keely.

The show was re-christened the Keely & Patterson shows, and enjoyed deserved popularity, playing in the small Irish towns and cities. After the death of his partner, Patterson married Mrs. Keely. He continued to delight his countrymen with his songs and witticisms until he was laid low with the quick consumption after a brief illness. He died in August 1889, at the small town of Tralee, in the south of Ireland, while the rain poured in torrents upon the canvas roof of the dressing tent. Despite the pleadings of his faithful wife, he refused to be moved to the hotel or local hospital, declaring with the true circus spirit that if death was coming to meet him "on the lot."

Johnny Patterson was one of the first clowns to impress himself on my juvenile memory. I saw him with the Doris show, and many years after I had an interesting talk about him with the late John B. Doris. What made Patterson so unique a figure among the clown of his day was the spontaneity of his wit and his fresh and unconventional humor. He did not peddle around a stale bag of hackneyed jokes. Often, as Mr. Doris told me, he would bound into the ring and take the ringmaster by surprise with a batch of unpremeditated jokes that sprang from his Celtic imagination on the spur of the moment, and as fast as he could utter them. Possessed of a fine light baritone voice that would not have been amiss in romantic opera, he sang with excellent effect such songs of his own composition as "Bridget Donoughue," "The Rambler from Clare," "The Garden Where the Praties Grow," and "There Never was a Coward Where the Shamrock Grows."

Even when death was staring him in the face, Patterson retained his flow of fun and philosophy. He was in very truth the Sir Lucius O'Trigger of the circus arena. The doctor who attended him in the dressing tent the night he died, remarked: "Well, Patterson, I'll be around and see you in the morning."

"Ah, yes, Doctor, you'll see me," said Johnny, "but will I see you?" The dying clown's words were prophetically true, for when the doctor came to the circus lot in the morning Johnny Patterson's eyes were closed in the eternal sleep.

—Janesville Daily Gazette, Janesville, Wisconsin, January 2, 1915, page 3.

[*]The article says "80 years ago" but that hardly sounds possible, since these are the author's memories, and in another article he says he was traveling in the 1870s. Probably should be 40.]

Police: No More Coffee and Bread for Vagrants

Janesville and Grand Island, Wisconsin, 1915--

STOP FEEDING VAGRANTS AT CITY POLICE STATION

Chief Champion this morning discontinued the practice of giving the transients and city police station lodgers coffee and bread for breakfast. It was decided the demand for labor was sufficient for the men to find jobs if they cared to work, and the "vags" will be "drilled" out of town each morning after being released. A report will be made on the number received at the station and the cost of feeding them by Chief Champion within a fortnight.

The begging evil is promised to be checked by the energy of the police department in preventing "panhandling," and the heavy jail sentences that have been given offenders for vagrancy in the municipal court.

--Janesville Daily Gazette, Janesville, Wisconsin, March 30, 1915, page 2.



POLICE ARE LOOKING FOR A MAN WHO LOST COFFEE

One day last week John Wollach bought a large can of coffee from a stranger, and he bought it so cheap that the police were under the impression that the coffee had been stolen. He was interviewed on the subject and he described the man he had bought the coffee of, and it was decided that the man was James Wilson, a fellow had been released from the county jail only a day or two before. Wilson was rounded up, and notwithstanding that he denied all knowledge of the coffee, he was identified by Wollach as the one who had made the sale.

The police were unable to discover anybody who had lost about ten pounds of roasted coffee, but Wilson plead guilty to a charge of vagrancy and was given twenty days in the county jail.

The police are under the impression that the coffee might have come from the circus that was in the city on Friday, a friend in the cooking department having set it out where it could be picked up a passing stranger without exciting any suspicion.

--The Grand Rapids Tribune, Grand Rapids, Wisconsin, July 21, 1915, page 2.

Comment: The circus that was in town on Friday was the Sells-Floto Circus, including Buffalo Bill's Original Wild West, Friday, July 16.

The Worthless Wrecks of Hobodom

Janesville and Racine, Wisconsin, 1915--

An item from Court News

Charles Alberts, a veteran dwarfed member of the clan of hobodom, who makes a regular visit at the Janesville Police station, came once too often to suit Chief of Police Champion, and he was arraigned in court on the charge of vagrancy. Alberts, on his way to the vagrants' lodging place, stopped in front of the city hall, in plain view of the police station, and started to beg from a pedestrian. He was given ninety days by Judge Maxfield as a thirty day term, given him eight months ago, was not effective in correcting his transient habits.

--Janesville Daily Gazette, Janesville, Wisconsin, February 24, 1915, page 2.




BUMS MAKE LIFE MISERABLE FOR CITIZENS

Racine is infested by a large number of worthless vags and bums. They seek shelter at the Wisconsin street tramp house at night and during the day time make life miserable for citizens. Rear doors are visited by these men and they demand food. When refused insulting language is generally used and often threats are made. Sometimes two and three of them hang around dark corners and accost people, begging nickels and when it is given they "hike" for a saloon. Often they are arrested and taken into court and ordered out of the city, but generally the gang is back in a short time. Solitary confinement of terms from three to five days with bread and water diet is being tried, but that does not seem to chase the fellows away. It has often been suggested that a workhouse might be a good thing.

--The Racine Journal-News, Racine, Wisconsin, March 4, 1915, page 12.




From column: Happenings in Our City

Vags In Court -- John King and Mike Reed, two vags, were arrested last night and in the municipal court this morning each was sentenced to jail for five days, solitary confinement on a diet of bread and water.

--The Racine Journal-News, Racine, Wisconsin, March 22, 1915, page 5.




From a longer article on sports

Signs of spring are evident and plentiful but few have elected to shed the winter clothing for fear the weather man would turn freakish and do the unexpected. There are plenty of geese and ducks going north and the Honk! Honk! of the northern ganders have been heard frequently during the night and early morning. Nearly everyone has seen the first robin of the season -- and now the "spring dopers" are looking for other spring harbingers. The police will tell you that warm weather is surely here, for the clan of Hobodom has shed their winter collection of clothing and do not come to the station in great numbers for a "flop" or night's lodging. Hundreds of the transients have passed through Janesville and all declare "they are on their way to Baraboo to join a circus." The Ringling Brothers would have enough "razorbacks" for three shows if all the tramps and "vags" that have stopped off in Janesville really go to Baraboo.

--Janesville Daily Gazette, Janesville, Wisconsin, March 25, 1915, page 3.

Lupeta Perea: Mexican Circus Girl An Ambitious Artist

1915--

Mexican Circus Girl An Ambitious Artist

Among the performers whose exploits will thrill and dumbfound spectators at the Barnum and Bailey circus which exhibits here Monday, August 30th, is Lupeta Perea, a newcomer to the world of American "white tops" from Mexico, fleeing gladly from the revolution and its political unrest. Her mother accompanies her with the remnants of a fortune accumulated in cattle-raising near Monterey and which became the prey of insurrectors.

The girl's wonderful agility asserted itself in early life. She was the marvel of her school-girl friends in hazardous feats in mid-air and amazed older beholders who witnessed her exploits.

Then one day there came, during the fiesta days of December, a grand display in El Toreo, Mexico City's famous bull-ring before President Madero and his dignitaries. Senorita Perea's apparatus was stretched from barrier to barrier, and the ovation she received from her aerial exhibition is still remembered in the capital. Her entrance into professionalism dates from her triumph upon that occasion. It was not long before her fame had spread all through the republic of Mexico.

Her talents are not vested solely in her lithe and nimble body. When she isn't amazing onlookers by her feats aloft in the "big top," she may be generally found ensconced in a corner of the circus "green room" with a pad and pencil, perpetuating the forms and faces of her associate performers. Clowns, equestrians, aerialists, acrobats, chariot drivers and all the other multifarious figures and features of the big show are being put in black and white.

This little beauty of the circus, for she is a beautiful girl, has twelve different costumes which she carries with her despite the protests of the circus property men. Then, too, she has stunning street attire, and Senorita Perea has "off and on" the reputation of being the best dressed girl of the circus.

"Not always will I be a public circus performer," she declared in a recent interview. "My real love is for the pencil and paper and maybe my products will yet attract praise worth while. When this big circus folds itself away for the winter, I'm going back to New York and study art in earnest."

--The Sheboygan Press, Sheboygan, Wisconsin, August 27, 1915, page 3.