Show Walter Winchell BROADWAY B R 0 A D A Y GOSSIP G 0 S SIP THINGS I NEVER KNEW ABOUT THE TIlE CIRCUS TIL NOW That the man who designs cuts and fits the studded plated nickel harness for lor the draft and md performing performing per per- I forming formin horses with with the Ringling Bros and md Barnum Bailey circus is is blind He Is known as His sight ight gradually failed 15 years year ago but he has been with the the Ring Ring Ring- lings linss nearly 30 years That the who do those shudder compelling stunts on the high wire fell once once once-in in Youngstown Youngstown Youngstown Youngs- Youngs town Ohio five years ago and that the boys boys caught the wire as they toppled from their three-high three pyramid pyra pyra- mid Then Karl caught Helene the between his knees as she hurtled hol holding ing her her- until men below the tiny hand net which the falling falling fall fall- ing balancing poles had partially wrenched from their hands Helene Helene Helene Hel Hel- ene fainted after she he had been safely cau caught ht The boys then dropped to the ne net one by one That the last triple midair romer- romer to a hand catch did not vanish vanish van van- ish from the Big Show with Alfredo Alfredo Al Al- fredo Codona's and ad consequent retirement from the aerial riggings Art Concello of the Flying Concellos tries for a triple a at t ever every performance averaging averaging aver aver- aging four successful ones out of dve five His amazing feat is not announced announced an an- because Art thinks his girl wife Antoinette scores more heavily with her two half revolution revolution- somersault to a catch as she he is the only femme who ever achieved it iL That the best horses for bareback riding acts are arc the common garden garden garden gar gar- den variety of heavy carl carthorses ors That no dogs are allowed in ii the I menagerie and the big top on the road as scampering pooches are apt to frighten ten the elephants That during the holt hottest t weather under canvas Con Colleano star of or orthe the tight wire sometimes sees his wire waving as as' he poises for lor his famous forward somersault He is then forced to dance back and forth until this heat phenomenon disappears That the great great great grandfather grandfather grandfather grand grand- father of oC the Loyal i bareback bareback bare bare- back ridin riding family was set seL up in inS S circus business in Paris by Emperor Em Em- perot Napoleon Napoleon the First Bonaparte Bona Bona- i pal parte furnished him horses and tents tents- as a reward- reward for service In Inthe inthe the the- Little Corporals Corporal's Old Guard That Hugo and Mario Marlo Z who are fired ired in a split second e ond from the large mobile repeating cannon to soar in great arcs across the big top lop and the length lenth of the Garden area built the gun in se secret rel at Tampa a year ear ago They constantly constant constant- ly guard it as nobody else has ye yet succeeded in building a workable workable- double gun The boys are engineers s. s and sons son of oC an engineer eng eer That That-no no gas gas- balloons ar ar permitted per permitted permitted per inside the ten tents This is a natural fire lire precaution and doormen doormen door or men explaining the rule proceed to empty the gas bags for the patr patrons ns and their rather disappointed disappoint disappoint- ed offspring However no child has cried in I years That despite one or two cases of necks broken in n flying return act mishaps mIshaps mIshaps-as as was Charlie in the Garden four years ago ago ago- there have been but two fatalities in the th last two decades One was that of Ernie Lane Ward of or the Flying Wards who broke his neck while rehearsing a triple somersault to a catch in the Chicago Coliseum in 1921 1021 and the theother theother theother other was that of Jack Ernest Fly Fly- big killed in a similar manner abroad some months before Bo Both h struck the net wrong after alter a miss Charlie Cladie was flying within six months after the cast was taken taken off off his neck neek That the great Alfredo Cordona has not faded laded from the circus scene for he is now now equestrian director director- of the owned Hagenbeck Hagenbeck- Wallace Wallace Us ils Bros show However his shoulder should r dislocation incurred while starring in the Gar Car Carden Garden den two years ears ago will prevent his flying again I That the greatest circus romance of all aU time was that of Alfredo Allredo and Lillian Leitzel queen of the air on on the Big Show for years who had been childhood sweethearts Separated Sepa Sepa- rated for lor years they had married others Together again on the Big Show they were wed six years ago Two years later fell feU to her death cath in Copenhagen I That fat fatal l injury was due to a mysterious ous deterioration of ot steel which h C tomes comes Jmes instantly without warning inthe in inthe inthe the manner mann r of ot granulation No t test t will detect its imminence That Leitzel felt a vague fear of the Copenhagen booking and spoke in Berlin of canceling it She did attempt to 10 cancel but was persuaded persuaded persuaded per per- per per- b by the Danish managers manager's graciousness and generosity to pl play play- y the date But she sent her her- rigging man ahead and his hL report that the theater was bad and the manager great croat helped very little She was Jn Iii h her r last las trick for that night w when en her herman man turned as always to grasp her finishing rope She Sh fell foil before he could face tace about lion tion had cracked a swivel wivel in her rh rigging i g. g Th That t once nce t trunks are e aligned and spotted at Brooklyn in Inthe the dressing room tents for the road tour under canvas performers feel it is bad luck to move from one row v to an n n- n other Also in no branch of sh show hw w business is the superstition that tragedies come in groups of three so strongly entrenched as with the circus f That Tom Lynch age 76 70 boss of draft stock with the show has been ben e troupe 57 y years ars going back to the old Barnum days Tom first circus team to a pony wag wagon in in- 1878 That wagon g n. n is now the dragon float in the circus openIng opening open open- ing spectacle i r Coci od n holds hold the Big Show palm for tor steel nerve and arid reck reck- less courage Several years rs ei ago 10 she put together her own ri rigging ing and andone andone andone one morning leaped 70 feet feel from the dome of the Garden in imitation imitation imitation tion of ot the raising hair feat now performed at every show by Mile Mlle Gillette Clara broke her hip an and was otherwise t terribly injured She had seen Gillette do the thriller thrill thrill- er in Germany but she had overlooked overlooked over over- looked one vital point Anyway she climbed to that dizzy height and trusting and trusting to luck luck leaped leaped Even the circus will never tie that one That Wallace Beery who was an elephant man for several years ealS for the Rin lIngg had a grand time elephants on the Big Show lot at Los Angeles Angel s last Sep Sep- There were several in the herds he had handled a as a youngster youngster young young- ster at about 1250 weekly That Doroth Dorothy Herbert she of the flowing curls and draperies who dashes over ove flaming hurdles on jumping horses agreed eagerly to jump her horse over a hurdle of off the Chica Chicago o lake front sea wall for the newspaper cameras cameras cam earn eras two years ears ago At the last last- minute somebody thought to ask her if s she e could swim Dorothy couldn't and cared not at all but the press department stopped the gag Copyright 1935 Daily Mirror Inc |