Show spring heralds comm coming g circus I 1 much actual geography seen in sawdust ring by the th united st a teg devaltz Deval tt or of aarl u ture serece i 1 HE circus land of sawdust and T spangles pan pink lem lemonade donadl and pea nuts is about to emerge from winter quarters the manic magic rumble of 0 red wagons and the footsteps of circus doms spangled battalions h have a ve echoed down domn the corridors of many summers yet few really know the phantom white city a nomadic world a geographic marvel and a mystery from beginning to end there Is more actual geography within R the narrow borders of span gleland that than in any similar space on the face of the earth from the shores af the seven seas come its citizens their faces turned toward the open road where lies the winding trail of the big tops dainty equestriennes from france and handsome russians front from the steppes pink checked athletes from great britain and scandinavia lashing flashing brunettes from italy argentina mexico and sunny spain blond germans with iron bodies suave charming austrians austrians Aust lans rians almond eyed maids from yokohama tokyo and nagasaki and from the seething land of the dragon suntanned sun tanned sheiks from the shifting sands of araby whip crackers crathers crat kers from australia and hard bard rid in ing coNN cowboys boys from the western plains clowns acrobats neria lists lits riders stair staff executives and laborers from every state in the union allowe all owe allegiance to the transient e country of tents A game of checkers in the circus bac backyard livard between a genial young japanese heir to half a million dollars and an old clown who ran away from ills his home in the middle west long ago lured by the spangled pled pied riper piper and his steel throated calliope shows how the big top draws together the ends of the earth such is the population of Span gleland where people from nearly every country under the sun are fed into the the hopper top of a highly organized machine to emerge firmly woven into the brilliant mosaics of a fast moving per performance performs forma nee subscribing without reservation to tile the one supreme law of the trouper the show must go on the cir circus cus Is organized socially but a troupers troopers troup ers geographical background has nothing to do with his qualification for membership in the circus golf club baseball team clown society clubs or circus chapter of the american red cross above all else the population of this nomadic melting pot learns tolerance and its what a person is rather than where he came from that counts most got start in circus Circus dom has been a springboard from which men have vaulted to prominence in other fields will rogers was the cherokee kid with circus in 1904 at al G fields the minstrel king started trouping as a shakespearean sp earean clown fred stone wore spangles before the footlights claimed him and some of his best antics were born back in clown alley during his circus days many persons still look upon circus trouping as something akin to robbing a bank which accounts for the interesting fact that many present day circus stars had to run away from home to join take mabel stark for example her relatives virtually disowned her when she laid aside the crisp white uniform of the trained nurse to expose herself to the mauling of big striped to tomcats tom meats cats as she affectionately refers to her tigers but the call of the calliope and the magic of the midway were in her eurs and she immigrated to Span gleland there to become the on only ay woman in the world who breaks tri trains tins and works tigers she has more scars on her body than a giraffe has spots and her exciting career has fed newspaper columns for years the almost unlimited geographical aspects of the circus are nowhere more in evidence than in the wild animal menagerie to this traveling college of zoology belong arli animals mals from every continent each a splendid physical specimen rec receiving eiNing the atmo utmost t care from the animal attendants zoological experts from leading universities never cease to marvel at the exceptionally tio nally fine condition of the circus animals despite the fact that they are moved from city to city almost every day variation in climate in different sections of the country presents VL a serious problem for circus animal at tend ants who often pass hours in it a coge cage with a sick jungle charge so fond are they of their animals seldom does a beast die while the circus is on the road under a single spread of canvas are gathered hundreds of animals and birds tigers from bengal sumatra and siberia lions and leopards from tangled jungles tall silent giraffes I from the open stretches of ethiopia theopi th lopi fill gal black buck act aoudad tapir and gemsbok antelope in the same circus colony are russian brown bears huge black fellows from alaska and polar bears from Green lands ley icy slopes put but the circus anharn anini il tion does not end here the 1 e are hip hill amuses from north of the transvaal orang from borneo tiny rhesus monkeys with pathetic faces affectionate dispositions and delicate lungs llamas from the moun mountains talus of peru pumas bumas from north and south america macaws macans from mexico Il exico sea tons lions from california a sea elephant irom rom the antarctic wastes wise friendly elephants and it a curious armored rhinoceros from india the more familiar rhino from africa together with lyeria hyenas dromedaries dro zebras z e and water buffaloes australia contributes the kangaroo the rhinoceros despite his perpetual grouch and tits amazing ugliness Is one of 0 the most valuable beasts in the circus costing about by the time he has been purchased from an exporter and raised to maturity while tile more impressive rhino halls hails from india a dwindling species the african Is a formidable fellow of steam roller disposition rhinoceros elephant ar r water buffalo can whip a tiger or at least discourage him in most boht instances in contrast to the evil tempered pachyderm with the deadly horn and the tiny eyes Is the good natured hippopotamus as genial as he be is fat elephants from india circus elephants almost without exception cep tion come from india their african cousins though larger are much harder to handle and have proved pretty generally useless in circuses except for display purposes jumbo was an african and he was nas stubborn like the rest of his four footed countrymen one night years ago in st th thomas 0 mas ont jumbo got into an argument with a freight train on the wrong track w with ith the result that his funeral was held the following morning indian elephants are natural actors sad and enjoy doing tricks in the big show they are quick to learn once they realize what Is expected of them and their cars are tuned to applause like those of a born trouper most of them are surprisingly good natured and they are so anxious about a firm footing that in most cases they will not voluntarily unta rily step on a roan man giraffes are captured by means of a lasso and a rid often an africa born giraffe will be seen to bane bae about two inches of hair missing from his stubby mane evidence 1211 trained circus elephants that the lasso was instrumental in hla his capture the big circus cats unless born on the show are captured in the jungle regions with traps and pits covered with jungle foliage and baited with young goats A new method of capturing wild beasts alive involves shooting them with a gas bullet that puts the animal to sleep without pain when the creature wakes up he finds himself a prisoner these recently perfected gas bullets are said to be capable of bringing down a lion or a tiger at a distance of feet but circus animals from the four corners of the earth are imported for a far more interesting purpose than mere exhibition many of them are educated in the circus classrooms the natural enemies of the jun jungles ies are taught to tolerate one another mystery of Circus dom much of the mystery of circus dom lies in the moving of this miniature cosmos with its citizenry of animals and people from every clime and in the pitching of the tents that compose the canvas city the largest circus carries its own ductor doctor lawyers detectives barber shop blacksmith shop fire department chefs business e experts X and postal service and it travels on railroad d cars in four sections there are long steel flat cars for the wagons and other vehicles huge box cars for the hundreds of horses elephants camels lindas zebras commodious sleeping ping cars for the performers staff and laborers that the moving of the show may be expedited cook and dining equipment is packed up at in the afternoon and Is sent ahead aboard the flying squadron squad ion along with the wild animal cages and tile menagerie tent which Is loaded immediately after the start of the night performance the land of the white top remains static for just about six hours between the time the last wagon moves moles upon the lot in the late morning until loading begins again in the late afternoon but it if there is a late arrival the time between betwee n unloading and packing up again Is 8 shorter horter still of course when the circus arrives on sunday or nhen it remains in a city for more than one day as it does in a few very large cities this schedule Is not followed the longest run made by a circus in 1931 was the ringling barnum jump from springfield mass to montreal canada a sunday trip of miles the shortest run was 12 miles from philadelphia to west philadelphia circus exhibition in the united states had its beginning in 1783 1785 and president washington attended ricketts circus in philadelphia in 1793 the circus of those early days was a puny ancestor or of the present day show indeed it had no elephant the first pachyderm to set foot in the united states arrived several years later aboard a sailing vessel called america Span gleland scarcely could lay clain claim to being a complete world in miniature were it not for the fact that within its boundaries can be seen tile the freak as well as the normal bandi handiwork work of nature the side show Is a separate aud and distinct kingdom |