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About Lincoln County leader. (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 10, 1896)
, car '.ft. .. mwwm GOING TO THE CIRCUS. Out; time Lou anil I were hoeing l"tJi Iocs, when we saw a muii in 1 Iii- uni form coming down tin; road. Lou was my olilcr brother, and lie didn't like to hoe potatoes any better than I did, but lie could dissemble better. Twice that hut August morning in ISiM he had left me to tread the wine press alone I re gard that simile as a heap plcnsautcr than is the fad while he pretended to tlx something on the shady side of the barn. He explained each time when he nine hack that lie much regretted the necessity of leaving this nice, easy work in the potato held tor tsucli un pleasant tasks at the barn, and I grew quite sorry for him. I offered to go next time In his place, but he was the most self-abnegating fellow you over saw, and Insisted on this systematic martyrdom. When the man In the blue uniform came down the road wu stopped hoeing long enough to look at him and wonder who he was. Wo had stopped several times before, but that was not to won der who the travelers were. We knew who they were. We even knew where they were going. We knew they were neighbors going to the circus at the county gent the circus that had been advertised with tremendous posters and Intemperate print for Just four weeks. We knew In a general way people did go to such places, but we thought about It as almost as distant as the battles with which the uniform ed man was associated. A circus was not for us. We must hoc potatoes. The man In blue uniform turned In at our house and sat there In the shade of the locust trees while mother rinsed the milk palls and set them In the sun. Presently he came out In the held and Shook hands with us. We remembered him as a hired man who had formerly worked for us an excellent fellow, as you shall see. lie was something far removed from potato hoeing. lie had Been big battles, and we believed we had found his portrait In a colored print of the times, which showed a col umn of even-stepping heroes rushing to conflict as to a carnival. We were a little embarrassed In his presence, and scarcely asked him about the weapons lie wielded and the foemeu ho had slain. Ourllhrary contained some books which treated of conflict In those rarer times when men went single-handed Into the ranks of an enemy and swept down swaths of weaklings those rarer times before a rllle bullet made one man as good as another. " John asked us how the cattle were getting along, and something about the neighborhood gossips, and then march ed away very straight, as If he were under the eye of a drillmnster. Another neighbor came along and John signaled him. "1 guess I'll go to the circus, too," he said to us, laughingly, over his shoul der. Oh! soldiers could do anything. This proved 't. Men who could suddenly think of something desirable, something wonderful, and who could Instantly de cide they wanted It and so have It these were the favored among men. As to the circus: Why, 1 would have given anything everything, discounted hope ami bonded the future for the plain privilege of "going to the show." You cannot know the heart hunger felt for the circus by a country Ih.v In war time. It was an expected, nn Illimit able, an Inexhaustible case of wonders. John ran to the fence, placed his hands on tho top rail and vaulted over, ns liecatuo a soldier home on furlough, while tho people In the wagon they were dressed In the very flower of gala nttlro pushed forward to shake hands with him. Then they called across to us: "Ain't you going to tho circus?" and so went on. Fate was a despot. Wo did not question the decree, though we could very freely understand the charm that was crouched In that one phrase "Going to the circus!" Wo had hoed out the row when moth er called to us, and we went to tho house. It was not nearly noon, but there was a luncheon of bread and but ter, of milk and of warm currant pie on the little table In the vine-shaded porch. The spread astonished us. Moth er was getting at her spinning wheel. "Do you wnut to go to the circus?" she asked. Of course that tueaut permission. No mother can taunt Iter child. John had said he would pay for our tickets If she would let us go. lie wanted to do that much for the sake of old times, he said. And, dressed In the best those trying war times afforded, we started on foot for the county seat. My people were church members. and wo knew about miracles. Hut no sun waiting the will of Joshua was ever uioro miraculous than this lustant change In our condition, Put an hour ago hoeing potatoes; now going to the circus! I had never seen a lion nor an ele phant nor any of the curious beasts from foreign lands. I knew their pres ence in the garden of Kden and In the ark. I knew that African travelers had found them. Itut that was far away. At the end of these little miles, just be yond these business buildings, already In sight. I should And "wild beasts of the Held," and should drink my till of marvels. The season was right. Harvest was over, corn needed no more plowing. liere was a midsummer lull in all ac- Ity. Kven In a time when few men inalncd at home, and when women d boys diil much of the farm work, re was still time anil inclination to isit "the show." The nronortion of ii in blue uniform was urearer than had ever been. The army pervaded verything. Men home on furlough ere guests of honor and were feted jyally they, too, had money and imld reciprocate, were that permitted, 'hey were sought continually. And they told when the war would cease. llie circus was there. All lurking fear lat at the last something might hap 'ti to disappoint me was dispelled hen wecame to the courthouse souare. for there, Just beyond the temple of Jus tice, in tlie vacant lots, was spread the mighty tent. Sure those vacant lots had been doubled In size since last I saw them, for no common stmce could entertain an establishment so vast as this. hy. there were walls of canvas on the right hand and on the left hand of the mammoth tent, and there were successions of smaller tents that stretched awav Into bewildering? vistas. and before them all everywhere tugged me great advertisements, wonderful In picture, exotic In text. There was a noise, a bustle, a hurry, a nervous ten sion, unknown In the town. No man had more time than sufficed for the scantiest of greetings, unless accosted hy a soldier. In which case he would talk Interminably, or a sharper, In wuicii case ne womu invest disastrous- Ihe only calm, contained men were those law-defiers who looked with such honest faces Into the wavering eyes of honest men and beguiled them to their ruin. For there were three-card games and "ehuek-a-luck." nonular anions the soldiers, and wheels of fortune and straight faro. Only tho most beggarly pretense of secreting all this crime was made. Tho "short chancre" man. who flourished In one place and disappeared to rise in another, was on the trround and was remembered. There were as sistant marshals with large stars, and tliey walked In and out of all tents at will. Hiit they saw nothlnir less than quarreling men. aud roused to activity only to prevent fighting. Just before noon the narado started We watched tho wonderful aggregation of marvels form Into line. To youths bred In an environment where some of the odor of sanctity might reach them II seemed most shocking that so much profanity was needed in assemblim? n great moral aggregation. Furthermore. there was a quality about that profan ity l nave never known equaled. It was Intense, incisive, terse, emnlintlc. sul phurous, full of murder aud flashing witn the lightnings of blasphemy. I have ridden behind "mule whackers" on the plains and have spent vacations wnero tno voice of the first mate of a river packet could assail mv ears. Itut I have found no man whose profanity matched the splendid wickedness of tho circus employe In the old days of wagon transportation. The parade was a thing to marvel nt In tho front was a carriage resplendent abovo above anything In the town and bearing the dusty human who was yet more than mortal, for he owned "tho show." Then came the band In a iroldon clmr. lot that quite satisfied me. If uuythlng In my rending equaled that I could not recau it, now many there were In the band, what they played, or whether they played well, these thlnus ,11, t nt Impress me. For behind them came tho eicpnnnt. He walked nlone, stately or sore-footed, and how was I to know? lie swung like the rocking of a hay. sines in a storm and his driver prodded him. Then came the cars. 1'n, h sides of each were painted such pictures as must nave whetted the curiosity of the unlearned. Hut two were opened. In ono was "the massive aud blood sweating behemoth of holv wrlt"-a hippopotamus! In the other a man sat In safety with unchained lions on his every hand. What more there was In the parade how many ladies In remarkable skirts and gentlemen In the armor of knights, how many clowns and how many cages! I do not know. But It was a maglflcent spectacle. It wound about those streets that had always before been common place, and it grew more wonderful as It advanced. I know, for I followed It. And then It vanished Into the spread ing walls of the canvas city and was lost. The beauty and the loveliness would have vanished from the earth but for the glare and flare aud marvel of that circus day. John was in the line before the ticket wagon, hut his progress was slow for a j time, and again he was pulled from his place to give a frantic greeting to some one whose son or brother or father was ' in the service. That was why soldiers ' came home on furlough to tell wnen the .war would end and to talk hope fully to the friends of the boys at the front. Hut finally he stood at'the wonderful door of the ticket wagon, where money was leaping from the hand of the coun tryman in exchange for pleasure. In stantly he was away again. The fat, hot man that sold tickets cared nothing for the blue uniform. He saw nothing that interested him beyond the bills laid down. And these he whisked from sight half savagely. Our tickets were in our hands. We had passed the Insolent, broad-Jawed fellow at the gangway of ropes, and stood In the meet amazing place in the world. To the left were rows of won derful cages now opened and In each was a marvel of animal life. I never had seen them, but somewhat of natu ral history had been opened to me In hooks, and I could call them by name. A man may !! a thousand years and win great honors, but he will never feel so keen a Joy as thrills In the boy of 10 when ho stands In the center of an un expected circus and menagerie. I sought the elephant In vain, because my little eyes had not been adjusted to the huge dimensions of the pachy derm. And I was touched by his trunk before I gave him recognition. And In the midst of that wonder, but half filled with the charms of the animal portion, I was dragged away to the smaller etertalnment of the ring. The old circus was near at hand, and a single ring embraced the limit of Its posslblltles. There was the band above the place of entrance, and on each side of It were the higher-priced seats. Our tickets called for but common sittings and we found place In a coatless, fan ning, perspiring, but happy crowd. The men were vociferous, the women broad ly smiling. Girls giggled and blushed when the clown tossed kisses at them and their escorts bought what they called refreshments and tried with prodigality to purchase popularity. There was bareback riding and, be ing old, I will say these later days have taught us nothing In that. There was the leaping through "balloons," which seems to have come with the first cir cus, and a trapeze performance which was doubtless good. There was trick riding and performers on a horizontal bar. And then there was a bout at box ing. Nothing could have been more timely. No doubt amusement purveyors are the same yesterday, to-day and forever, and even before rural audiences, which they hold in contempt, delight in mak ing applause. Well, this sparring ex hibition was no "frost." Very likely that undertone combatlveness, which, appealed to by drum and fife, set a na tion at war, was just sufficiently assert ive to respond to this matching of man against man. For there was nothing of the hippodrome about the nffalr. The men were fearfully, exhaustively in earnest. But to me, who got even In war time my first sight of human blood drawn In anger, there was something so horrible, so heart-sickening, so impos sible, that I appealed with tears to the man at my right to stop them. He was a powerful fellow, but he laughed at me. The circus was almost over when loud voices to the right announced the beginning of a quarrel. There were at least ten years, beginning in 1S01, when circus men counted themselves fortu nate If they got out of a town without a battle. They hired canvas men who were ns good at lighting as at work. Tho whole corps of workers was organ ized and constantly prepared. And tho towns In which they showed were sure to have "hard men." Fighting was the order of the day. Tho circus simply provided the occasion. Sitting up there In our lofty place, we could hear that premonitory speech In an ominous lull of other sounds, could feel, as sentient humans always do, the gathering of human muscle and the hardening of human hearts. And then we could see a little rush, for the words had ceased, and the light was on. I don't remember the "Hey, Rube!" ex clamatlon, which later years have told me Is the showman's slogan; but I know that a great wave of horror rolled over the hearts of those who did not love a fight, and the soul of slaughter leaped up In those who seeuted battle afar off, and hastened to Join In It. Who began it, what it was about, how ninny were hurt, and who finally triumphed are matters of small con cern. I have nn Idea none of the com batants Is still living, so It does not matter. But I do know tho sents were overturned, law officers were detled, bleeding men surged across the ring chasing other bleeding men before them, nnd were chased back In turn. Aud at last It was all over. Someone said the combatants had transferred the field of their activities "up town." and wo avoided that quarter on our way home. There were ninny neighbors from bo, yond our farm, but the hnttlo separ ated us from them, and we walked back to tho farm. Just as we ennio to oui' meadow gate tho first wagon of that show entiio along, driving already foil the next town, thirty miles away, The driver was asleep, his horses taking tho way of their own froo will. A man ahead on horseback seemed, although half a mile away, to mark out the lino of march. The great golden chariot,' housed In dull trappings to keep off tho ; dust nnd the rain and the sun, rolled heavily past, and tho gaudy men who rode so proudly by day Blept In It mis- erably by night and blessed their stars they could find the solaco of even so meager a repose. Chicago Chronicle. Napoleon's Last Official Act. Next day Napoleon performed his last official act, which was ono of great courage, both physical and moral. The national guard In l'nris had been reor ganized, but Its officers had never been thoroughly loyal to tho Empire, many of them being royalists, and some radi cal Iiepublicans. Their disaffection had been heightened by recent events, but they were nevertheless Buinoned to the Tullerles; the risk was doubled by the fact that they came armed. Drawn up in the great chamber known as that of the marshals, they stood expectant; the great doors were thrown open, and there entered tho Emperor, accom panied only by his consort and their child In the arms of his governess, Mine, de Montesquieu. Napoleon an nounced simply that he was hoping, by the aid of God aud the valor of his troops, to drive the enemy beyond the frontiers. There was silence. Then tak ing In one hand that of the Empress, nnd leading forward his child by the other, he continued, "I Intrust the Em press and the King of Rome to tho courage of the national guard." Still silence. After a moment, with sup pressed emotion, he concluded, "My wife nnd my son." No generous-hearted Frenchman could withstand such an appeal; breaking ranks by a spontane ous Impulse, the officers started for ward in a mass, and shook the very walls with their cry, "Long live the Emperor!" Many shed tears as they withdrew In respectful silence, and that night, on the eve of his departure, the Emperor received a numerously signed address from the very men whose loyalty he had hitherto had Just reason to suspect. Century. LI Hung Chang's Liberal Views, It is claimed that, notwithstanding LI Hung Chang has shown some liber ality of views toward modern Improve ments and education, he is at heart a hater of foreigners, and has an abid ing faith In Chinese Institutions and methods of government. He Is, It la true, a great admirer of the Confucian philosophy, and remembering the en during history of his people we can hardly wonder at his devotion to the In Etltutlons which have made that his tory possible. When we call to mind the experience China hns had with cer tain Western nntions, it might not be considered strange if his attachment to foreigners was not very ardent; but In all his public life his conduct shows that he feels the need of foreign aid, nnd Is disposed to give It proper wel come, nnd of all Chinese statesmen he is the most liberal minded and free from prejudice. lie Is far from claim lug that the present system of govern ment Is perfect. He has, In fact, urged upon the authorltlets at Peking two Important changes which look to a re form of the most serious defects In the system; to wit, the withdrawal from the viceroys of provinces of powers which should be exercised only by the Imperial government, and such a change In the method or admission to the public service as will liberalize the examinations, and make fitness rather than scholarship the test. There are other changes which he would glad ly bring about If he had the power; but, as he confessed to Marquis Ito, "China Is hampered by antiquated customs which prevent desirable reforuis." Century. Napoleon's Army in 1818. In order to arm and enuln the mn raised by conscription, Napoleon had recourse to his private treasure, draw-: lug 55,000,000 francs from the vaults ! of the Tullerles for that purpose. The remniulug ten were transferred nt lu tervnls to Blois. But nil his treasure could not buy whnt did not exist. The best military stores were In the henrt of Europe; the French arsenals could nlTord only antiquated nnd almost use-1 less supplies. The recruits were arm-' ed sometimes with old muskets, tbe use of which they did not L-.wv. , wore for the most part bonnets, blous- es, nnd sabots. Tl U11 Worn tw. K.. i enough horses for the scanty artillery i nnd cnvalry. Worse than nil, there' was no time for. Instruction In the manual and tactics. On one occasion : n boy conscript was found standing In-1 active under n fierce musketry tire with artless Intrepidity he remarked! that he believed bo could aim ns well ' ns anybody If ho only knew how to load his gun.-Century. In nn argument tho average man does not listen to what the other fellow Is saying, but spends the time foruiu- j luting a reply, When the mercury's a sprinter 'Twill cool you if you try To remember how lust winter Made the coal-pile fly. Chicago Record. "Who was best man at the wedding "The bride's fi(ther, if elieorfulnea counts for anything." Puck. .laglets Who Invented work, Bill; Raglets I don't know, but lie ought to have stayed nnd finished it. Truth. "Doctor, my wife lias liiHniuuia liei tt'.vaUo niLSt of the nUhi. Wimi suaiu do for her?" "Get home earller."-Llfe. "Does your husband spend muck F nt tlie races.'" "No. George doesn't draw a very large salary ."-Town Top ics. He Let's kiss aud make up. She lf you kissed me, I'd have to makeup all over again, sure enough. New York I 'ress. Mrs. Sequel I understand your hill band can't meet his creditors. Mn. Equal I don't believe lie wants to, pechilly Truth. Customer I would like to have a nice gown to wear around the house. Salet innti Size of the house, please?-Phll adelphla Record. Dyer Colonel Kaintuck hasn't laugh ed in years. Duer Why? Dyer-Sonw one told him his laugh sounded like rippling water. Town Topics. "Galushy is n fellow who under stands economy." "That's what! he has just had a composite portrait made of bis three other wives." Puck. Block Riches do not bring happi ness, my sou. Cblpp Neither doei poverty. And riches do not prevent happiness, and poverty does. Truth. She Tho Billlngtons have an eight pound boy, and I suppose we ought to send a gift of some sort. He Why not send BUllugton a pedometer? Puck. Nodd I've got to raise one hundred dollars this week. Todd Is It a case of necessity? Nodd I should say My wife will come back If I don't Truth. Miss Gotham It must be awful to be burled alive! Miss Penu (thoughtfully) Well, I don't know. I have spent ill my life In Philadclphla.-Sonierviat Journal. "Clarlbel" Is respectfully Informed that milk does not come from milk weed, nnd that pies are not plucked ready grown from the pie plant. B ton Transcript. Gertie Where do you ge t shaved, Freddie? Freddie On the faee-ha! ha! Gertie Pardon me, Freddie; I mew where do you get shaved on the faee? Roxbury Gazette. Richard Whnt mnkes you so sore that she will marry you? Harry-Wei you see, her mother nnd I have engea dered a mortal hatred of each otber. Boston Transcript. "Well, old man, I've spent every cent of money I have In the world on raj doctor." "Does he know It?" "I gi" he does. He has pronounced me 8 well ina ii." Buffalo Courier. Mrs. KIdd There, now, thank good ness! I've sung the baby to sleep. Mr. KIdd Poor little chap! When he Is 25 he won't dare to go to sleep over woman's singing. Truth. She For my part 1 would never for give a young man who would kl" 1 girl ngalnst her will. He Nor I; out do you suppose a young man really e'er did? Somervllle Journal. rip A lawyer's highest aim should be to keep his clients out of law. Fh True; but the trouble Is so many of them are conteut to take a humbler view of the matter. Truth. "The butcher offered me his hand thli morning," said the hired girl. "I deed?" "Yes'm. He tried to sell It me with the steak, but I made him take it off the scales." Cincinnati En quirer. "What made vou return from Eng land so soon?" "The Prince of Waif manifested a disposition to become chummy with me," replied the wealth but eminently sensiblo American. Puck. "What are your politics, my manf asked the portly visitor of the prisoner behind tho bars at the penitentiary. "Well," replied the latter, hesitating "1 haven't come out for anybody yet Buffalo Times. Mrs. Hendricks (proudly walking on of the sewing room) Well. Perry, no do you like my bloomers? Mr. He drlcks-Oh, they do very well; hut. de" me, how much older than usual thej make you look." On the following &tf a neat package, Intended for the fa away heathen, was forwarded from U Hendricks home.-Clevelnnd Leadet ,