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Show THIRTEEN OF THEM. Crajrsr, the Athlete, and His Tliir-' Tliir-' teen Athletic Children. Xfcey .. Take to Acrobatics as Nat- . ' : nrally as a Duck Takes to Water. " - ' '' ' ." -" ' "What, thirteen children!" exclaimed a Democrat reporter, in astonishment, repeating a statement made to him by Fred E. Wright, manager of Haverly's Minstrels. ,,. . "Yes sir.. The senior Cragg is the father of thirteen children and he has not reached his fortieth birthday-.. He can run a hundred yards with the best of them, is an expert "with the foils and makes some pretensions with the gloves. He i.s the best swimmer we have in the company, and can make the second-best standing jump; in fact, he is a thorough athlete." Many who witnessed the Craggs' remarkable re-markable performances at Walker's Opera House last night , will scarcely credit the statement that the oldest appearing man of the five is the father of not only the other four but of nine other children, some of whom travel with the. company, and the others are in England. " His oldest offspring is the 22-year-old boy Edward, one of the acrobats with the company, and his youngest is little Arthur, not quite 6 years old, who occasionally appears at matinees only, and is never advertised for fear of being stopped by humane societies, i "But," said Mr. Wright, "when Mr. Cragg was arrested in Pittsburg for allowing the baby to perform,.-the little fellow cried bitterly. Me is just crazy to go on the stage, and the most unhappy child you ever saw ' when he is obliged to pas3 a week without appearing in public." . "What do you attribute as Mr. Craggs' great success?" asked the reporter. - " Continued-practice and confidence. If he should allow himself and family to go a month or' two without practice he would have to begin all over again before : he would dare venture a public appearance. appear-ance. They are not merely satisfied with one regular public appearance every daV, but they rehearse and practice new tricks I every morning." ; "At what age does Mr. Cragg commence com-mence to train his children?" "Just as soon as they are old enough to notice things. When they are about six months old Mr. Cragg begins to play with them in bed, throw them in the air and catch them with his feet or hands, and when they are old enough to walk turning somersaults becomes a second nature with them ; and at the age -of one year and a half they are ready for public appearance. Mr. Cragg has made it a hobby to intrqduce all his" children to the public at the age I have just mentioned. The Cragg family have traveled the world over, have been on every continent, in 'every country, and have appeared before all the Presidents . and crowned heads. The : youngefr Cragg re5 ceived - from , Vice-President Hendricks Hen-dricks at Washinton a beautiful gold medal:. Mr. Craggs' daughter, 11 , yeare of age, can turn the most beautiful handsprings hand-springs you every saw, and if one of the boys should happen to get sick he could replace him instantly with the daughter. The boys devote so much time each day to their studies and can discount many of our American lads in Americam history. They speak four different languages and all write beautifully." "Have they ever missed that fall where four stand on each other's shoulders?" shoul-ders?" "No! I never knew them to do so." Mr. Cragg tells me it is one of his easiest tricks, although it has been attempted by many others and none have so far has been able to accomplish it. Certainly it is a very daring feat, and I hardly think I would be tempted to try it." : -3 - |