Show FREAKS IN CIRCUSES People Are Strangely Fascinated by the Monstrosities Gorilla Got Domesticated When the Trouble-Hot Trouble the Show Into Mermaid Water Spoils a to Uncover Fake that strange London London-It T It seems wonder to the fre freaks from the tho legless such sucha should possess two-headed two calf for nine people fascination a st strange ange undoubtedly this Is yet out of ot ten the Of case case- course there are many so called soiled business to be freaks freals which have no called by such an unpleasant name for tor If one argues from the theta dictionary monstrosity and a monstrosity monstrosity mon mon- n a freak is a accepted In the generally sense of the word Is something hor and the dwarf are The giant certainly interesting and unusual but should not be called freaks exception to Hunchbacks were an kinds of powers were the rule for all attributed to them There Thero are some to whom the very sensitive people sight Bight 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 monster monster mon- mon ster because of his monstrosity as asIn asin asin Lhomme in the tho case of Victor Hugos Hugo's qui Hit Rit The ordinary individual comes across very few physical freaks Creaks and andone andone andone one cannot but wonder whence the showman's rank and file are recruited Perhaps if the truth were known more than half hatt of the show freaks are fakes There arc are many good stories told of these sham freaks who owing the to some contretemps have given show away The two following aregood aregood are arc good examples Among the freaks of a certain show was a domesticated gorilla to quote the handbills and he proved one of ot the finest draws the show had ever had After the performance no one could have recognized the gorilla as asp p py pa y a L Lg c g y I i t 1 P The Tall Acted Automatically he then took the shape of a very quiet ordinary little man The public particularly enjoyed seeing the go go- rilla swing from the horizontal bar har barby barby harby by his tall tail an appendage which Is very slightly developed In the species as a rule This tall tail was a masterpiece of In 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 hs waist The thing worked splendidly for Cor a long time until one day the gorilla put his tall tail through the bars of his cage and a alady alady alady lady standing by took hold of it Well Nell the ta tail l acted automatically as usual and of course when she felt Celt It tighten around her wrist the lady screamed earned The gorilla pressed the hidden spring to no purpose To make a long story short the men standing by carne rame to the ladys lady's rescue took hold of the tall tail and pulled It off orr When the people saw the leather fas fastenings fastenings fast fast- and buckles they out the tho establishment The second story concerns a mer mer- maid She was no ordinary mermaid but a really high-class high article a avery avery avery very handsome young oung woman Incased from the waist down In blue and gold fish skin The Flue water in which she smoked and nd san sang and sat on a ro Io rock k combing her hair hall was kept tepid so as not to give her a chill chili and this was what gave her enemies enemies tho tho beautiful beau beau- girl and tho the dwarf dwarf- a chance to Injure her hOl They were wert jealous because she attracted attracted at at- more attention than the they thoy did so they hatched a plot which the dwarf carried out successfully One day he pretended to be ill and got a day off orr and just before the mermaids mermaid's performance he hid himself in the boiler room After the tho man had been down to see sec that there was wa's not too big a fire the dwarf set to and stoked for all he lie was worth I The mermaid soon soan felt that something some some- thing 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 I naturally she preferred the latter al i but as the tho showman put It the public said things that were very discouraging and t the show had tc lc ove on |