V OTDEE THE BIG TENT
fS
1
THE CIRCUS AND ITS MARVEL
OUS ACCOMPANIMENTS
iths Traveling Show in City and
Country Scenes When the Aenre
Cation Stops for a One Day Stand
Showmen as Benefactors
The Circus
Tradition keeps the memory of the
rpld one ring circus green It is like
the pie that mother used to make
-And many a patriarch who visits the
that come along occasionally
wd camp on a corner lot or the village
-green recalls a resemblance to the cir
cuses that were rare but delightful
-when he was a boy The clown the
ringmaster the bespangled lady rider
the intelligent donkey the tumblers
-the trick elephant the ferocious lion
the marvellous freak side tent all
come and go with the season practic
ally unchanged yet new to the young
generation and fascinating as ever to
the old fellow who so unselfishly at
tends every show that comes along
for the childrens sake and for the
memory of past days
If you cultivate the proper spirit you
Sjsg3 aIF
THE CLOWES BEST FRIEXD
-can have an excellent time at the cir-
even the little one ringed one and
that spirit is the broad one prepared to
and enjoy the intention of
having a good laugh the resolve not
to pick flaws You will find the rid
ing lively the dresses smart and daz
eling Looking at it with wondering
little Johnnys eyes you will get your
full moneys worth These small cir
cuses set themselves up in a night
wherever there is room for a two pole
tent and two long tents for perform
ers and animals Narrow blue seats
are forced into duty as steps The
single gilded wagon of the outfit fur
nishes a stuffy cubbyhole for the ticket
seller and the small crowd pushes
against the closed end in the good old
way until the window opens But then
one does not see that lightning work by
ill mmlmmm
vyslllilPtili
TRAINING THE LIO
ambidextrous men that one has seen
at bigger shows There is a difference
between taking care of 20000 sales at
50 cents and selling a thousand tickets
at a dime
The children gaze in amazement at
the dazzling cavalcade of fine gentle
men and beauteous ladies and do not
recognize in the men of bright feathers
the hustlers of props in the ring
work Then comes the arena work
The principal acts lead The riders do
the common things with the grace of
long practice and as Champion So-and-so
leaves the ring he stops to talk a mo
ment with the tripping beauty who is
about to essay the trapeze The tra
pezists move to slow music by the
band which consists of a half dozen
lad who ordinarily leads a quiet life
Yet the latter is critical He knows a
genuinely good show when he sees it
The procession must be up-to-date the
menagerie must contain real wild
beasts the ring specialties must be
new or at least artistic and ingenious
A peep behind the scenes in which he
discerns the lady rider practicing for a
Mazeppa ride the leading horseman
rniL 511
A FAMILIAR SCENE
teaching his boy to accompany him in
a daring flight the trainer educating
the monkey to turn somersaults the
ringmaster painting spots in his fav
orite charger all these give zest to the
real finished entertainment and the
youthful spectator enjoys every act
from the hoop performance of the be
spangled girl rider to the antics of the
educated pig
Few people however who see the
grand aggregation of curiosities and
varied talent displayed by a first class
circus have any idea of the trouble and
labor of bringing such a display into
working order and starting it out in the
spring The more important animals
such as lions and tigers must of neces
sity be genuine and of course if thej
survive the winter are ready for the
spring trade There must also be a real
giraffe for even the ingenuity of a
showman has not yet succeeded in con
triving an imitation of a giraffe that
will pass muster with even the most
guileless small boy and a bogus ele
phant would be quite as difficult to
palm off as a manufactured giraffe or
hippopotamus
Then the business of handling a great
aggregation of men animals and curi
osities is of itself a specialty in which
very few Decome adept Nor Is it
any small task to keep in proper sub
jection the conflicting interests and in
clinations of the swarm of specialties
freaks performers and the like who
form an integral part 0f every show
They are always quailing about
nothing and require constant manipu
lation to prevent them from causing
WE WERE COMRADES
uniformed musicians stationed by the
entry The children who make up
two thirds of the audience cheer as
the daring people in fleshings skin
the cat and perform other wonder
ful feats thirty feet above ground
Sometimes two sisters or brothers rare
ly three of a family poise themselves
on the bars The horizontal bar acts
the tumbling over the backs of stoop
ing men the jockey riding and the
trained pigs dogs and horses make
up the rest of the program
The advent of the big tent of the big
show with its marvelous accompani
ments is of course an event that
comes to the rural districts somewhat
infrequently but it is appreciated there
as nowhere else The city with its
free shows its constant excitement
cannot find the novelty in one of these
exhibitions that appeals to the village
disturbances that would injure the suc
cess of the organization It was an
old showman who said As much
EDUCATING THE MONKEY
brains are required to keep a set of
freaks in order as to govern an em
pire He was not far wrong for the
jealousies and bickerings of these peo
ple go on forever
THE SHOW IN FULL OPERATION
The amount of money required to put
a first class show on the road is enor
mous In some cases hundreds of thou
sands of dollars are laid out in animals
in wagons tents in advertising and
other expenses before a cent is realized
This of itself is a matter of no small
consequence for a bad season means
financial ruin to all concerned and a
succession of rainy days so seriously
reduces the receipts that even a strong
show may be crippled At any mo
ment the manager may be summoned
to suppress a first class riot in the freak
department
Add to the business and financial
cares the dissensions that constantly
arise within the organization and be
tween its various members and out
siders the possibility of something go
ing wrong at any moment during the
performance the chance of a snake
getting loose or a lion escaping from his
cage or the gorilla striking for higher
pay during the hottest part of the sea
son because his clothing of hide and
fur is too warm for comfort and the
managers lot is far from being a happy
one But he gives the world a deal of
n
1 i T-
LEARNING TO RIDE
pleasure such as it is if the season is
good he makes money for months he
and his are the admiration of all that
portion of mankind that patronizes the
circus and these facts go far to rec
ommend him to the hardships of his lot
Lions and Tigers
Caged lions and tigers pumas and
jaguars take no notice of the men and
women passing in front of them but
if a dog be brought anywhere near
the cage they show their savage ma
ture at once
No woman loves her honey boy when
she hr headache
MANUFACTURE OF CANES
Grown Koiled Warped Fired Pol
ished and Ornamented
The manufactures of canes reveals
an interesting process connected with
a growing industry There are sev
eral large factories in Philadelphia
and some in New York These have
recently been established The cane
is grown mostly in Austria France
and Japan There are numerous spe
cies among which are the Congo Co
rine Penang Bamboo Furze Wham
poo and the Weischel Many canes
are partly shaped while growing At
the manufactory the crude canes are
placed over a large steam vat Cloths
are wrapped over the sticks and they
are left in this position until the wood
has become perfectly soft and pliable
at the end where it is intended to form
the handle Having reached this condi
tion they are taken out separately and
placed in a vise around a mold of
whatever shape it is desired to make
firing A CAXE
the curl While the cane is grasped
tightly in the vise the upper end is
placed in a steel spring having a cast
iron handle which is drawn sharply
around warping the cane at this point
into the precise shape desired When
taken out of the vise the handle is tied
with cord to prevent it from straight
ening out to its original shape
After it has lain for some days in this
condition and the curl is permanently
formed the cane is thoroughly scub
bed in a hot water bath The next step
is to either put it in the stain box or
to finish it in some other desired man
ner In the staining process quite a
degree of skill is required because if
the cane is colored in a tasteful shade
it will meet with a readier sale To
achieve this result the mixing of acids
and color in the staining compound
must be very delicately done Some
of the canes instead of being stained
by a liquid are fired This opera
tion is performed by moving the cane
backward and forward in a gas jet
flame elongated by means of a blower
which forces a current of air through
it The work has to be done very care
fully by hand so that the heat pro
duces a uniform effect upon the wood
Then the cane is ready either for var
nishing or polishing by chemical proc
ess whichever it may be
After it is polished the cane goes
fnto the hands of a trimmer wac pre
pares it for whatever additional orna
mentation it is to receive The handle
is then carefully shaved down to fit
U
f
THE FERRULIJfO
the silver plate which will be soldered
onto it and the foot is shaped ready
for the ferrule After this manipula
tion the cane goes to the finishing de
partment where the silversmiths put
on whatever trimmings are required
Spider Crabs of Japan
The crab spider inhabits the ocean
bed terrifying the submarine world It
is hideous in appearance and habits
It is the most formidable and repulsive
creature in the seas
More than one daring pearl diver and
coral hunter has battled with this hairy
monster and been driven to seek the
safety of a boats deck
Though frequently found in cool wa
ters the great spider crab flourishes
and attains his greatest size in the wa
ters of the Japan seas
Though often encountered by coral
and pearl hunters the monster is sel
dom trapped and so only four speci
mens of full grown spider crabs are to
be found in this country
A fine specimen is in Rutgers College
Museum of Natural nistory Two are
in the collections of the Leland Stan
ford and Cornell Universities The
fourth specimen is in a private collec
tion in Philadelphia
While the largest and most ferocious
of deep sea Crustacea the spider crab
is the most defenseless Nature has not
provided it with a single weapon of de
fense against its many enemies
Still the appearance of the spider
crab is his best defense and he is mas
ter of the scaled and finned things that
live in the oceans depths
The spider crab is so named because
of its strong resemblance to the famil
iar spinning insect Its habits are
however those of the crab family The
long legs which often exceed forty feet
in length are thickly covered with
coarse black hair The body often fif
teen feet in circumference is also cov
ered with hair in which barnacles sea
weed and tiny shellfish make their
home
The spider crab when attacked ex
udes an overpowering odor which per
meates the water around itt while it
lashes ItJ long hairy fearsome arms
until the seethes
The fQoft of the spidercrab is for the
it V
v f
-
v
most part decayed animal matter The
creature is abnormally indolent It will
fasten on a clump of coral and remain
there immovable for many hours
The Japanese pearl divers assert that
the touch of the spider crab i as fatal
as the sting of a cobras fang but the
usual fighting method of the monster
is to embrace its enemy fish or human
in its huge hairy tentacles where death
by smothering comes slow but sure
The spider crabs human victims are
not numerous though just how many
coral and pearl hunters have been suffo
cated in its terrible arms no one will
ever know
Spiders that Trap Birds
Kangaroos are not the only curious
animals to be found in Australia
Spiders of enormous size and strength
grow there W J Rainbow the natur
alist who has devoted his attention to
the animals of that country tells of
spiders as large as birds which con
struct webs of enormous size some
measuring as much as thirty feet
across
In building the webs the spiders use
two kinds of silk One white dry and
somewhat brittle is used for the frame
work of the net and for the guys and
supports The other kind is yellow ex
cedingly viscid and elastic Sometimes
the nets are close to the ground and at
other times several feet high but they
are always constructed so as to be ex
posed to the rays of the sun
While the traps are set for insects
they are strong enough to hold small
birds which become entangled in the
clinging strands and are soon helpless
and are easily dispatched by the spi
ders
Mr Rainbow says that he does not be
lieve that the spiders eat the birds
after catching them Spiders have been
known to attack birds which have thus
been caught and speedily put them to
death but it is thought that this is done
to prevent injury to the webs and not
with a view of securing the bodies of
the feathered victims
It seems that these large spiders eat
largely for the pleasure it affords them
They are exceedingly voracious and
will consume several times their own
weight in food within twenty four
hours when it can be had But if
forced to do without they can live for
many days without either food or wa
ter This indicates that they disobey
the old maxim and live to eat instead of
eating to live
Nearly all tropical countries produce
giant spiders the Fiji Islands being par
ticularly well stocked Graff e tells of a
net he found there which was more
than thirty feet across and must have
contained several miles of silk The
labor of spinning the web as well as of
arranging it was something enormous
The spiders are fairly intelligent and
are easily tamed
The Ideal Female Arm
I find great difficulty in getting a
model with good arms said a well-
ishing how very few women have arms
that conform to the standard A perfect
arm measured from the armpit to the
wrist joint should be twice the length
of the head The upper part of the arm
should be large full and well rounded
The forearm must not lie too flat not
nearly so flat as a mans for example
A dimple at the elbow adds beauty to
o well proportioned arm
From a well molded shoulder the
whole arm should taper in a long grace
ful curves to a symmetrical and round
ed wrist It is better to have an arm that
harmonizes even if the parts do not fol
low the generally accepted lines For
instance a full round upper arm which
is joined to a flat or thin forearm has
a very bad effect It is only a degree
worse however than a graceful well
molded forearm tacked on to a thin
scrawny upper arm
Correctness of form is not the oniy
thing necessary for a good arm The
owner must possess the power of ex
pression in her arms As a general
thing American women are deficient in
this Those nationalities which show
the most expression in their arms are
the Spanish French and Italians The
warmest admirer of Sarah Bernhardt
would not claim that she had beautiful
arms yet no one can say that the divine
Sarah ever appears ungainly in conse
quence Much more lies in the faculty
of arm expression than is generally sup
posed
Napoleon and His Brother Louir
From earliest childhood certain quali
ties of Louis had endeared him to Na
poleon The school of poverty in
which the younger brother had been
the pupil of the elder was likewise a
school of fraternal affection Through
out the Italian and Egyptian campaigns
they stood in intimate relations as gen
eral and aide-de-camp and one of the
earliest cares of the First Consul was
to bestow the beautiful Hortense de
Beauharnais on his favorite brother In
1S04 Louis was made general then
councilor of state and finally in 1S0G
he was elevated to the throne of Hol
land His child until its untimely death
was cherished by Napoleon as a son des
tined to inherit imperial greatness But
like the other royal Bonapartes the
King of Holland regarded his high es
tate not as a gift from the Emperor
but as a right He ruled the land as
signed him if not in his own interest
at least not in that of the Empire and
from the outset filled his letters with
bitter complaints of all that entered
into his lot not excepting his wife Na
poleon admonished and threatened
but to no avail The interests of his
own royalty and of the Dutch were
nearer to Louis than those of the En
pire Century
Uncle Bob I hope Tommy you are
a favorite with your teacher Tommy
I think I must be She- cant seem
to get enough of me or she wouldnt
keep me in so much Harpers Bazau
Every one is inclined ta ite aboth9
value of his wheel
GILBERT BOWICK
JUan Who Will Jlcad the Kritiah Ex
pedition to the Antarctica
Gilbert Bowick will head the British
expedition to the antarctica Mr Bo
wick is an expert antarctic traveler
and to his enthusiasm is due the suc
cess of the preliminaries of the ex
pedition Ever since the international
geographical congress decided six
mouths ago that antartic discovery
was a subject of even higher impor
tance than exploration in northern
fields rumors of this expedition have
been in the air When Mr Goschen
refused government assistance Mr
Bowick hit upon an ingenious plan of
combining scientific research with
commercial profit and secured good
backing in London A whaler of 300
tons and a small steamer are being
fitted out These will leave Sept 1
with a good crew and a dozen scien
tific men The experts will be landed
on the south polar continent and the
ships will spend a year In catching
whales and seals The explorers will
go inland with Lieutenant Pearys dogg
GILBERT EOWICK
and gather a collection of botanical and
mineralogical specimens while the sail
ors are landing black and blue whales
and seals which are said to be plenti
ful in the neighborhood of Cape Adair
A voyage will also be made to the
Campbell Islands and in December
of next year the ships will call at Cape
Adair to look after the expedition
Much interest attaches to Mr Bowicks
venture especially as magnetic obser
vations are to be made which it is be
lieved will prove of the highest impor
tance Its commercial enterprise will
be profitable
TO READ HER FATHERS POEMS
Mary French Field Preparing for Her
Platform Debut This Fall
Mary French Field eldest daughter
of the late Eugene Field is preparing
herself to carry on the platform work
SLkeMUejcjUUl willmake her debut
Miss Field who is known far and wide
among her fathers friends as Trotty
MARY- FRENCH FIELD
a pet name bestowed upon her in her
infancy is a tall handsome girl good
figure of rather blonde type with fair
complexion and blue eyes She is 20
years of age and is the eldest of the
poets five surviving children Miss
Field will read exclusively from her
fathers writings and will probably
give her first reading in Cincinnati in
October
Barbers- in the French Army-
The regimental figaro is quite a char
acter He is not always chosen fpr his
skill in the tonsorial art He may have
been a butcher a baker or a candle
stick maker before joining the corps
His good conduct has promoted him to
the post and given him a most enviable
position for he receives a slight remu
neration monthly from the pay of each
trooper He also enjoys immunity from
a certain number of drills and has the
right of remaining out of barracks until
10 oclock every evening He is re
sponsible for the heads of his comrades
If a mans hair is found to be too long
or if a soldier is not shaved in the regu
lation manner the barber has- to suffer
The Maldivian Islanilers
Maldivian Islanders eat alone Be
fore a meal they retire to the most se
cluded spot they can find and eat with
drawn blinds or surrounded by a
screen The explanation of this pre
caution is more likely to be fear than
modesty In days gone by the savage
no doubt concealed himself lest some
man stronger than he should snatch the
hard earned food away
What a Dramatist Has toPnt Up Witu
His Wife reading a Sunday paper
Apropos of Hamlet they say that you
aud Shakspeare represent the very op
posite poles of the dramatic art
He Ah thats a nasty one for Shaks
peare Punch
Ambicuons
Elder Why Jock I heard thai ye
Ivere drowned
Jock Na that wasna me it was ma
brither
Elder Eh mon what a pityi wtiat a
most awfu pity Tid Bdts