Show here comes the circus stupendous colossal by WILLIAM C UTLEY TEP right up folks and see the eighth S wonder of the worldly mighty in maent matchless in merial majestic in in the mammoth marvel of the cen aryl the colossus of all amusement sf youve guessed it circus days are here again r ali spring brings not onay balmy breezes and re freshing showers but the and glitter of the big top with its train after train of won 6 ders irom many lands hundreds upon hundreds r of tons of equipment acre after acre of rainproof canvas herds and more herds of ele na V chants camels zebras and zebus scores U on 7 scores of funny clowns company upon company of the most remarkable exponents of physical culture avenue after avenue of cages corrals and on closures a stupendous spectacle of fairy vt g 1 land gorgeousness IM everybody Is the fanfare of the age bw big show and nearly everybody has seen a car cus at some time in his life but few are really with the extent of the circus industry L 4 0 o t it 10 r V 4 et 15 01 1 1 A x if it qa NON 11 top estrilla nelson elephant trainer with one of her pachyderms center clyde beatty returns to conquer samson lion who laid him up for sixteen weeks below the circus moves into town in america today or are tully fully aware of the job ot of producing one a job that Is far more stupendous and colossal than the show itself yet tet the american circus is more than a century and a half old the first circus fan on record in this country is none other than george washington who Is something of a stupendous figure himself as history goes the father of ills country attended the first performance of a circus in the united states in philadelphia in 1792 it was a small show compared to the modern circus it had no me nanerle ca na gerle the principal attraction ader used by its owner one john bill ricketts were seven beautiful women ien ricketts circus was born amid plenty of opposition the circus in general Is a hangover from the palm pal lest days of the roman itoman empire it began cleanly enough with chariot laces lace s no doubt considerably more spirited than those which still remain as an important part of the circus athletic contests and gladiatorial combat but ro noman capacity for thrills was not well enough satisfied and event eventually bally helpless christians were thrown into the arena to do battle against hopeless odds with lions and warriors w arri ors mighty barnum appears this preserver preserved through the ali ages an unsavory name indeed for all circuses and didd when john bill ricketts cap captured aured the imagination of the tl e jaun young republic with the first announcements of hl his show righteous indignation flared widely forth from pulpit and press unman human nature then roust must have been bech something like it Is now however for this opposition served only to whet the public interest and there have bave always alwawi been circuses in america from that time and every president since washington ID ton has attended the circus the big top the huge show of several train trainloads loads of equipment and participants as we know it today did not make its start until the immortal hand of phineas T barnum took hold in 1880 even barnum lid did not enter the circus business until he was past sixty at that time mine lie he was running a freak museum in new york and a man named bailey was operating a menagerie which seriously competed for the dollar of the sucker that wai wag born every minute bailey announced a blessed bleg sed event in 1860 that would have startled even walter winchell a baby pachyderm born to ills female elephant and the first to be born in captivity barnum openly declared the tiny 7 newcomer a humbug and sent bailey a te telegram legrain offering him for proof bailey had the telegram reproduced and used it for an advertising poster with such financially successful results that barnum gave up and bought into partnership with his rival tor for a large sun and tho the baintin tad and bailey combine became the first great circus ringling brothers opened in issa and eventually absorbed the older circus in 1901 1907 there were other names which gradually grew to importance john robinson oldest of them all sells floto wallace al G barnes sparks and others just before the crash of 1 1929 john ringling formed the american circus corporation and bought 0 them all within the next nest three years he retired all but ringling broth ars barnum bainun and dailey bailey wallace and al G barnes ringling however was doomed ue he borrowed heavily in order to gain a monopoly of the circus industry when the depression came he could not meet the payments ills his new yolk creditors headed by S W gumpertz a coney island concessionaire took over the american circus corporation and was only a name under the big top few spectators realize tho the magnitude of the activity to in the winter quarters of a circus here are the railroad shops which must keep all the rolling equipment in shape there roust must be a great harness shop painting shops for fresh glittering paint must go on every square inch of equipment every year and costume factories aswell as barns and stalls for the animals and stages and add arenas tor for the rehearsing of or more acts the place Is seething with activity only three localities in the united 0 states are used for winter qu quarters wall wallace c e and cole brothers winter in veru ieru and rochester ind respectively ively which are only it a few int miles lies apart ringling winters in sarasota fla and barnes on the pacific co coast ast where the show is best known the indiana location Is considered best because of proximity to centers of bay ahny mid find food supply food bills for ani mals mala of any one of these circuses may run from a year up looks like circus war with the coming of an independent circus for the first time in years the american circus corporation Is apparently trying to get ahead of it in bookings both lift hagenbeck enber wallace and cole brothers opened in chicago on the same day for the same run bad and con current bookings are in evidence elsewhere in the schedules showmen say ray it may be another of the old time circus wars circuses open in the manufacturing centers first usually about the middle of april they wait till the farmers have cashed in on crops before swinging out into the less populated areas when they do they follow the route of cash crop harvest drouth and dust storms will accordingly cut down their schedules in the west central states dayton columbus detroit baltimore norfolk houston and dal las are considered great circus towns for the big top Is always jammed there whether the people seeni seem to have money or not in an average season of 9 30 0 weeks with stands the aver lige ago circus plays ao to people who create a gross grobs revenue estimated it at well over 1000 large circuses carry from GOO to 1000 people about one third of whom tire performers the travel job Is enormous usually the first railroad section loaves leaves A a town before the show is 0 ver over meats for the giant cats are shipped from the stockyards stock yards towns a week in advance to keep the show supplied plied ilay hay tor for animal and food for humans are bought by havad advance ce agents who enter a weeks before the circus the shows carry their own stairs staffs of detectives dentists doctors nurses and teachers for the children tastes change little years tears have made little difference in the tastes of the public in its circus fore fare buffalo bill cody and bl his wild west show were great drawing cards while the old man lived and there are still wild west acts in the circuses of today lillian leitzel whose beauteous form caused many a palpitation of the heart as it dangled from a flying ring in midair mid air Is dead now but the lie flying nelsons belsons Nel sons conchita and others have taken her place and still still form a large part of the alie bill our fathers and some of us can remember when little boys boss innocently took jobs watering the elephants in return for p busses pusses aises and nd found themselves with a job more backbreaking and more endless than that of carrying the old man of the sa it Is doubtful it if little boys do that so much any more for the newer generation Is hard to fool but certainly some of it must still go on at any rate the menagerie Is still one of the supreme thrills of the show and most spectacular of all Is the pretty lady or handsome hero who walks into the lions cage and calms the savage beast by the fearless steel that gleans gleams in the eye king of the menagerie today is clyde beatty who makes his animal training doubly dangerous by putting three dozen or more lions jons and tl tigers ers who are born with a natural hatred for each other through their paces at the same time A smiling enthusiastic vibrant little man of 0 scarcely more more than thirty beatty ran away from lils his home in chil licot be ohio 13 years ago the circus lie ile worked as a cage boy for a polar bear act find and one night when the trainer was called away by a sudden death in the family clyde worked the act lie ile was tin an instant success and lias has been snapping the whip and brandishing the chair which h Is the trainers anost most useful weapon ever since weal wehrn tern fir union |