Thursday, July 21, 193S
LAUGH,
ÏCLOWN,
'LAUGH!
By JOSEPH W. LaBINE
Three months ago a spangled
crop of circus performers hit
the sawdust trail amidst prom
ises of the biggest season since
1929. Today, many of them are
hoping to get home without sell
ing the tent.
The circus season has hit
rough waters; in some parts it
has flopped altogether.
At Scranton, Pa., a few weeks
ago, the “Big One,” Ringling
Brothers, Barnum and Bailey,
folded its tent in a sea of mud
and headed back to winter
quarters at Sarasota, Fla.
Strikes, poor attendance and
rainy weather was responsible.
This thing wouldn’t have
happened in the days of old
P. T. Barnum or John Ring
ling, peers of the circus
world. But it happened this
year, for the first time in 54
seasons; it happened in a
profession whose followers
traditionally carry their ban
C L A S S IF IE D
DEPARTMENT
ADVENTURERS’ CLUB
SAVE
h e a d l in e s
fro m
th e l iv e s
OF P E O P L E L IK E Y O U R S E L F !
I.Vrrr7Tbrn<l
By FLOYD GIBBONS
Famous Headline Hunter
It’s the story of
one of the greatest disasters in the history of the Virgin Islands
■ y®8, and it s a lot more than that, too. It’s the story of a
heroic deed and a darned swell illustration of what the will to
live will do for a man—or u boy. Fellow Adventurers, let me
introduce to you Hurry Zielian of Brooklyn, the man who wanted
to stay olive. And now let’s get on with his story.
P A IN T
M t N. W . |«l Av«.. Portlaai«. ()r»g«ia
W rit« fa r Ita rg a la Prlr«a
“ H e If a n t e d t o L i t e '
J j ELLO
EVERYBODY:
Today, I’ve got a swell yarn for you.
o-
II”
Pain«. W b llf ««4 R • •la ta M
.
i n .l d . and ««I. F « H I P n rtlaad
* ffftU
FILM FININIIIXG
Kodak Finishing 20c
B e a u tifu l pictures on fam ous "Voloi**
paper, p<««lag« prepaid.
I t ' l l dav«h>i>ed a iu I II p rin ts • • • Ito
H ull d«vaJo|«d and I p rin t« • • • JO o
P rin ts from negatives - • • - Be each
Mend ruin. Include T a i In W aah
Il I ( 1 1 1 KO M. M A V E N A CO.
I l l M. t ih
T a ro a a , W a il.
It starts in St. Thomas on the Virgin islands in the year 1907, 10
Films Developed
c
years before the United States acquired that territory from Denmark.
Harry s father was a judge under the Danish government. He Uved in
New! Different!
St. John, but Harry and his brother Ed had gone with the local cricket
B terger b e a u tifu l derbled edge p rin t«
w ith votlMMaed bolder« end J J r e e l s t-
team to play a match with the team of the St. Thomas high school and
ln « h v iil.M iir iiid it . o u p o i i e f t ■
* e re returning on the sloop Sea Gull. There were 21 people on the Sea
O N E DAY S rffV fC ff
, Gull including the entire St. John cricket team and a woman with four
R h e to l i m ' i le b e r e t a r t e a
R. O. B e « 4 IR R . R e rtU n d . O r a « M
young
children.
They
set
out
from
St.
Thomas
about
six-thirty
in
the
ernize the show this year and there maybe it was the public; maybe it
evening on July 13—sailed out of the harbor close-hauled in a freshening
by destroyed its charm.
was the management.
breeze.
*
That's a fruitless argument be
Fortunately the Ringling reces
Their Sloop Cupsized in the G ale.
cause John Ringling North, grand sion has not made itself felt so
FENCING
son of “Old John” Ringling, insisted acutely among the lesser circuses
In three-quarters of an hour that breese had become a gale.
he was only trying to regain a bit Probably it’s because these smaller
A few moments later a “spinner” struck the sloop broadside
of the old Ringling touch by ar units play largely to non-metropoli
ELECTRIC FENCES
and knocked it completely over.
Woad<-rfwl a«« eontrjltera deeigwed lot g r e a t
ranging new costuming and hanging tan audiences who haven’t felt bad
In less time than it takes to tell it the sloop capsized and sank. Harry
er effectives««* »«« unpicted M fety. F era
for the circus this year.
unit » le«-tri Or« ten ani»« cl ten<*e Priced treat
business conditions so acutely. Cer was sitting at the stern, and he dived into the water as she went over.
I t i od «>
t ) **A«tn«id. Mattery er newer
Under the Smaller Tops.
tainly there’s no drouth so far as He called to his brother who had gone below a few minutes before the
prw.«ted. faletn-.en W aele/.
spinner
struck
but
he
got
no
answer.
For
a
while
he
treaded
water.
As
MffWMAf lOftAL IIIC T R IC » l t d ( r . f a i I t e / . C r .
numbers
are
concerned;
the
current
North is a Yale man and there
were mutterings last spring that the season boasts six railroad shows he did so he felt a small body rub against his and raised it to the surfuce.
PIANO«
circus was going collegiate. Per (two of them brand new) and 16 to It was a little boy—the four-year-old son of the woman who had been
ner through mud, water, starvation haps it was collegiate to import a 20 truck shows. Add to that more aboard the Sea Gull with him. He was deud, and Harry let his body
and payless paydays. We recall giant gorilla, “Gargantua the than 150 carnivals and hundreds of go again. It was four miles to shore, and it would be a miracle if
FREE TRIAL
something about that old bromide, Great,” and set him up for exhibi fair and celebration units, and you Harry got there himself.
Free I eetone - Free D eliv e ry
W
o rld *! Eam ou« .Make«
“The show must go on!”
have
a
picture
of
the
1938
circus
Three Begun the Long Swim.
tion in an air-conditioned cage, en
P m ap orttv« buyer« w rite fo r p a rtic u
Maybe the performers aren’t do closed in steel bars and shatter field.
lars s ta tin g t>pe and p ile « o f In s tru
Four miles to shore in a raging gale. Yes, it would be a
m ent desired
Tim McCoy of motion picture
ing their part, but that isn't likely. proof glass. Perhaps other minor
miracle if thirtren-year-old Harry ZleUan made It. But Harry
f a ile d rtaa n a
Maybe the audience is to blame, for innovations were collegiate. But it fame is reviving the days of the 101
B2< A E. G ra n d . P o rtla n d
wanted to live. He turned toward land and began to swim.
the circus has won popular approval will be hard for John Ringling Ranch and Buffalo Bill. Clyde Beat
He had barely started when he saw his brother Ed and his pal. Jim
more than half a century with the North’s critics to put their wagging ty and his cats frolic with the Cole
ALTO AM) TIU CK I'AItTft
same elephants doing the same fingers on the exact reason why his Brothers circus, which has a second my, passing him. He called to them and told them not to swim so fast_
D a v id I I odea A « to W r r t b l a g L’« .
show on the road under the name to save their energy if they ever expected to get ashore alive. Guided
tricks and the same clowns turning circus failed this year.
L a r g e at
M d a u t.i an<l | -
by the lighthouse at the entrance to the harbor of St. Thomas, they swam
the same somersaults, year after
Maybe it was the entertainment; of Robbins Brothers. Then comes on.
iMtrta. engine«. p .w e r plants. elo. I » w
Price«.
M
a
ll
orders
prom pt alien«
year.
Al G. Barnes-Sells-FIoto circus and
lion.
For a while.“ he says, “we could hear yells and cries from people
the
Hagenbeck-Wallace
show
Most
Time Passes. Customs Change.
K B. G ra n d a t M a rk e t. P o rtla n d . Or«.
of these are railroad shows with who were still afloat, but after an hour all was still except for the break
These past 20 years have been
of the waves as the wind continued to lash the sea to fury. We swam
20- to 30-car trains.
M’llOOIs« AND COLLEGES
fraught with change in the enter
for another hour, then Jimmy began to tire. Soon he was in a bad way.
This
year's
experience
in
the
cir
tainment field. “The Perils of Paul
.«•rnm etit Ovtlfled Wl L D K R S in
cus industry only goes to prove you
ine” on the silent screen gave way
dem and. N % graduates w e ld in g ; good
should
never
count
chickens
before
ay.
School o f aucceaaful G ra d u a te «
to talking pictures; Chautauqua ex
nd lvtdual Inetrtictlor»
they hatch. Last April the boys in
pired as a popular pastime, because
l» m
W F I.D IW G N C Iin O L
winter quarters said it was going to
1033 N E U nion. P o rtla n d . Orogon
people no longer cared for that kind
be a bigger year than 1929, which
of culture; the radio came along
somebody is forever dragging out of
and made provincial America cos
Moler Beauty Schools
the closet for purposes of compari
mopolitan.
O nly N at*) O rg a n isa tio n In tha N o rth ,
son. They looked at the greatest
west E a rn your tuition . W rite
Through it all came the circus,
M a t t le
Tacom a
Mpokaaa
advance demand for bookings since
unchanged. Whenever a progres
the present crop of sawdust was
sive manager suggested adopting a
an acorn, and they looked back on
new technique there was always
FIIKE BEAUTY COLKMK
two preceding seasons that were the
someone to object, because the cir
best in years.
for a short tim e only. In one of
cus is one kind of entertainment
the large«! am t oldrat
beauty
From George A. Hamid of New
achoola In the N orthw est.
M uat
that thrives on pure sentiment. It’s
have high school education Our
York,
one
of
the
biggest
eastern
always been a ballyhoo game, a
graduates are a lw a y s In dem and.
bookers of acts for circuses, fairs,
loud-mouthed bag of tricks which
P a la re lle a a ty Mr bool
carnivals and celebrations, came re
everyone knows to be phoney but
not Ind Avt Baattfe w a a h .
Harry dived as the sloop went over.
ports
that
the
demand
for
new
and
enjoys for that very reason. It’s
unusual acts far exceeded the sup I swam to the windward side of him, the better to protect him from the
never been bigger than the man in
ply.
ENGINE« AND PAKTS
the checkered suit and derby hat
waves and put my right hand under his left armpit. When I got tired.
“We could book hundreds more if Ed would relieve me. This went on for quite a while but eventually
who yells “Right this w ay!” out of
N ew and Itr h u llt G asolin« and Oleael
we could find them,” he said. "The Jimmy became so tired he couldn’t raise his hand.
fo r tru c k and In d u s tria l use K a p e rt en-
one comer of his mouth, the other
He sank for the
g ln r reb uildin g. Buda E ngine Agency,
demand for acts for celebrations, first time and grabbed my shirt as he came back to the surface. 1
corner being preoccupied by a cigar
—
F irs t Avenue Ho.. Seattle.
such as those around the Fourth of went under and would undoubtedly have drowned if Ed had not come
stub.
July,
is
three
times
what
it
was
last
to my assistance.”
So maybe the audience is to
WASHBIt PART«
year.”
blame for the Ringling recession.
Ed kept Harry’s head above water, but poor Jimmy went
W rin g e r R o lls , p a rts a nd re p a ir« for
Circus in Retrospect.
Maybe father’s getting tired of sit
down. He clung to Harry a few seconds and then sank. There
A ll m akes o f washers. W . L- M A T Co.
ting on a hard bench year after
Old P. T. Barnum, were he alive
S ecurity D ld g , P o rtla n d .
was nothing Harry and Ed could do about it. They were lucky
year, eating undigestible peanuts
today, might say the industry has
to get out alive themselves.
and watching the elephants. Per
become so big and complex that it's
IIEAHING All)«
Both boys were tired now—dog tired. BUT THEY WANTED TO
haps America is now revolting
collapsing. The man who started LIVE They kept on swimming. “We had been swimming for at least
against the old-time circus just as
out many years ago with a com three hours,” Harry says, “and the shore seemed no nearer than be
1)1? A I?? Even those who thought
it revolted against Chautauqua,
bined museum - menagerie - circus fore. Suddenly we heard a voice calling and for a time we did not
• It hopeless hear easily w ith
Ronotone
Preceptrun
W r ite fo r free
might
scoff
at
the
huge
institution
They CaU It “Collegiate.”
THE HARD WAY—It’s bad his successors now tote around so answer for fear it might be a drowning man who would pull us down
booklet Monotone P ortland C om pany,
121 F a llin g llld g . P ortland .
But you can’t make the old time enough to merely stand on a tight-
with him as Jimmy had almost done. But at length we swam in that
sawdust-trail followers believe that. wire but Hal Silvers, veteran big painfully on special trains.
direction and found Louis, Jimmy’s brother, captain of the Sen Gull.”
Certainly it’s a far cry back to the
If the “Big One” never hits the top aerialist, chooses to jump
How the Two Lads Saved Louis.
road again, veteran circus men will through a stick held by his two night of April 22, 1793, when George
By
this
time
all three of them were all in—so far gone that thej
IF YOU
always insist that it died because hands. It’s a good constitutional, Washington watched John Bill Rick
SUFFER FROM
etts leap through a hoop from the agreed to swim apart so that if one went down he wouldn't try to drug
John Ringling North tried to mod- • says Hal.
• r . t h . r R . r t . l Iro u b l,
back of his galloping horse, regain the others with him. They swam for another hour. Then, suddenly
no m . i r . r how Io n ,.
his footing and do a dance on the they heard Louis calling. "I’m going down,” he shouted. “ Ive got a
W K IT K T l l l i A T P ftR
M V PR P R ] ] P C . HOOK
saddle. That was one of the simple cramp in my leg!”
I I t . l l . how thousand, h . * .
i l l joys of a simple people, yet circus
Ed and Harry swam to him. One on each side, they held him up
h w n r n l o r .d Io H L A I .T I I
onZ H A P P IN E S S without
until
the
cramp
had
passed.
Louis
kept
his
head.
It
he
had
lost
it
showmanship today is substantially
S o ln , Io Iho h o .n ll.l h ,
and fought them, all three would have gone down together. After that
■1 l u a r . n t . r S I.lfollamw
the same, merely augmented.
M .lh o ri.,
they
swam
on
again.
They
were
swimming
in
a
daze,
almost
dead
Q uirk, l . a . l l n , R s .u lt.
It can be recalled that even in with fatigue, BUT THEY WANTED TO LIVE I
h
in
k
l iy c l in ic
the earlier days the circus was a
flr o a d w .r nw,„ P n rll.n d
More hours passed. They kept on swimming. At last they
humbug proposition. P. T. Barnum,
felt bottom under their feet and half-stumbled, half-crawled up on
an old man when he reached thè
a sandy beach. It was then between two and three o'clock in the
prime of circus life, chortled with
And Plenty of It
morning and they had been swimming for seven or eight hours.
inward glee at being called the
“Don’t you ever do anything on
Exhausted, they dropped on the beach with the waves lapping
“greatest humbug of his time.” He
time?” roared the boaa to hia new
their feet, and fell into a dead sleep.
knew the value of advertising and
clerk.
It was morning and the sun was shining brightly when Louis
was a genius at getting his name in
“Sure.” aaid the clerk. “That’»
the paper.
awakened the other two. They walked up the beach in search of other
how I bought my car and radio.”
survivors,
but
there
were
none.
Then
they
walked
to
the
cabin
of
a
na
It’s interesting to speculate what
will become of the dainty French tive woman who fed them and got a boat to take them home
Z-Z-Z-ZIPt
There’s a sequel to that story. A month later the H. M. S. Ingolf of
equestrienne and the almond-eyed
the
Danish
navy
steamed
into
the
harbor,
and
shortly
after
that
the
maid from Tokyo, the Hindu mys
tic and the rosy-cheeked English officers of the ship were drawn up before Harry's home while Governor
athlete, all of them members of the C. M. T. Cold presented Harry and Ed with life saving medals awarded
Ringling circus, all of them tempo them by the king of Denmark for their rescue of Louis. They wanted to
rarily out of a job now that the live, those two kids—but they weren’t too busy at it to helo the other
“Big One” has closed shop for the fellow.
C o p y r ig h t.— W N U S e rv ic e .
year.
For old followers of the open road
Prairie Chicken Hard to Shoot
Young Spiders Take Flight
this will be a catastrophe. It will
The prairie chicken, owing to i»"
In autumn each year young spi
be summer, with no circus tent to
move night after night, no blaring wariness and choice of open range ders take flight like the birds. They
midway. Just summer with green as habitat, is one of the most d i f spin a thread and allow it to fly in
Prairie Dick-W ell, what doe»
grass, birds and free air, a phe ficult of game birds for hunters to the wind. The insect cuts this loose
that tenderfoot I ahot think of mo
bag.
It
usually
rises
far
ahead
of
and clings to the end, and if con
nomenon many of them have never
In an argument?
the hunter and out of the range of ditions are favorable it goes on a
before seen.
Friend—Not much; he aaya you
long voyage.
This summer you’re apt to find shot.
nearly bored him to death.
some top-rank circus talent filling
Name Murray Means “ Seaman”
out the season with smaller shows,
Earliest Battle nt Armageddon
On Every Hand
The name Murray is of Celtic
anxious to make a living however
The earliest battle at Armaged
The stump orator wna attempt
origin
and
means
“seaman.”
We
they can.
don so far known, was fought in
ing to raise the crowd to a pitch
And next fall they’ll find the road consider it a different name from May, 1479 B. C., when Thutmose
of enthusiasm.
Murphy,
Murtagh
or
Murtough,
but
that leads back to winter quarters
the Third of Egypt defeated the
“What,” he bawled, “do we see
and home, or wherever they spend it is only a little different, says an Asiatic allies. This feat was dupli
on every hand?”
authority,
as
these
last
three
all
the cold months. Many of them will
cated in September, 1918, A. D.,
“Four fingers and a thumb '•
shake their heads and mutter: mean “sea warrior.”
when General Allenby led a British
came a voice.
division against Turks near the site.
“Never again—I’m through "
World’s Robust Health
What’« This?
But next spring they’ll be around
The world’s robust health shows
Identification of Handwriting
.Mistress—You know, I suspect
again and somebody will remem itself in the way it gets through
Identification of handwriting is a
that my husband has a love affair
times of transition, floundering al matter of great importance in law
BIG AND SMALL OF IT—This youngster feeds his “elifunk” friend ber the bromide:
with his stenographer.
“The show must go on!”
som e peanuts at winter quarters, Peru, Ind.
ways
with
each
new
ledge
it
reaches,
cases which involve questioned doc
Maid—O, I don’t believe It. You
Western New spaper Union.
but climbing ever upward.
uments.
are only saying It to make me leal-
ous.—U. of P. Punch Board.
r
PILES