SOUTHERN OREGON MINER
PAGE OF READING FOR THE FAMILY
THE-NOMADIC CIRGILS
Circus Clowns Cater to ths Popular Fancy.
Prepared by National Geographic Society.
Washington. D. C—WNU Service.
N MIDSUMMER the circus sea­
son Is at Its height Since early
spring troupers have been don­
ning their costumes dally, and
trained animals from every corner
of the globe In colorful trappings
have delighted young and old.
Geographically, the circus has
been a great eJucator. Long before
ajtomobiles. motion pictures, and
radio broke down the barriers be­
tween Isolated regions of the Unit­
ed States and the advancing world
outside, the circus was taking its
artists, its comedy, its music and
Its nomadic college of zoology Into
almost every state and territory.
The world's largest circus might
even advertise that It carries the
original New York cast, because It
takes on tour precisely the same
show that opens in Madison Square
Garden.
Whatever else the peripatetic
amusement venture Is or is not. the
fact remains that It Is real. There
are no circus “doubles" to perform
the difficult feats, and there are no
substitutes for those who may not
feel "up" to the ordeal of two
shows a day, “rain or shine.” Years
ago leaders In this field of enter­
tainment learned that the formula
for permanent survival Included a
whole-hearted attempt to give the
public something It never had be­
held before, surrounding it with a
dazzling array of sustaining attrac­
tions. This hard-and-fast rule has
persisted through the years, amid
a procession of magic names: Jum­
bo, Tom Thumb; Chang, the Chinese
Titan; Zachlnni, human cannon
ball; Tom Mix. whose Rough Rid­
ers carry the spirit of the old West
to every state In the Union: Goliath,
monster sea-elephant; Ubangl sav­
ages from Darkest Africa.
Because the circus is nomadic In
Rs quest for business. It always has
been of necessity a fighting Institu­
tion. Therein Iles one of Its major
blds for fame. Like a gay explorer
who finds each day’s Journey a fresh
problem to tackle, the circus strug­
gles against a perfect maze of dal­
ly entanglements that threaten to
ensnare It like a colossal Gulliver.
The circus has battled the weather
and it has fought grafting officials
who threaten to dig up some ex­
cuse for fining or tying up the show
unless complimentary tickets fly
thick and fast.
Hu^e Daily Overhead.
The managements for yenrs have
fought the argument that they take
t<»o much money out of town. Peo
pie overlook the fact that every big
circus spends a large sum In every
city in which it plays. The dally
overhead of the largest circus Is In
excess of $15,000, and a consider­
able share of It is spent locally for
lot and license, straw, lumber. Ice
cream, soft drinks, billing locations,
and food for GOO horses. 36 ele­
phants, four herds of camels, hippo­
potamuses. an<l other large' appe­
tites In the menagerie, as well as
for the three meals a day of the
show personnel, whose gastronomic
requiremeuts would stagger the
chefs of a huge hotel. The commis­
sary uses dally 250 pounds of but­
ter, 200 pounds of coffee. 25 bags
of table salt, almost a ton of fresh
meat, 200 gallons of milk, 1,500
loaves of bread, 200 dozen eggs,
half a ton of vegetables, a barrel
of sugar, 50 pounds of lard. etc.
Mud Is by all raids the outdoor
showman's worst enemy. It sucks
at the wheels of his wagons until
elephants must be pressed Into
service to extricate them, and It
dampens the spirits of his prospec­
tive customers. Wet weather Is bad
for monkeys, apes, giraffes, and cat
animals, which are subject to throat
and lung congestion. Add to this
the fact that canvas triples Its
weight when wet. Conquest of the
golden fleece could be little more
difficult than the tnsk that con­
fronts a circus manager who must
drag his nomadic city from the
clutches of the mire in time to play
a matinee fterformance In a town
a hundred miles away.
In the old days, before movement
by railroad was general, traveling
was much worse. Springtime found
country roads Impassable. Four­
teen horses were needed to pull a
hippopotamus den when circuses
traveled overland in wagons. Cir
cus laborers still shout "China!"
occasionally when the train ronrs
Into the city of exhibition. This
Is a circus term of another genera­
tion. When a driver, seated atop
the first wagon In the caravan,
sighted the show's destination, he
called "China" to Indicate that after
an all-night struggle they literally
had dug their way through.
Rivalry Used to Be Fierce.
Previous to 1929 most of the big
circus units battled with one an-
Do You Know—
That cigars a yard long are
common among the Indians
of the Amazon hinterland?
They are inveterate smok­
ers and the long cigars are
smoked by the whole tribe,
each cigar being passed from
mouth to mouth.
C McClure Newspaper Syndicate.
WNU Ssrvlca.
other up and down the country from
Maine to California and from Can­
ada to the Gulf. Sometimes they
employed the most vitriolic phrases
In characterizing rival circuses as
worthless.
When electricity first
was used to Illuminate a circus tent,
competitors solemnly warned the
public to stay away from that show
“because electric lights are known
to he extremely dangerous amt
blinding to the eyes!"
Most Interesting were the “paper
wars" conducted by the big and
little shows prior to the late sum­
mer of 1020. The big circuses often
bough? advertising space on barns
and buildings In the dead of win­
ter. so thnt the location would not
be snapped up by rlvnl concerns.
Some of the shows had a playful
little habit of covering ench other's
posters when two shows saw fit to
piny the same city on the same day
or a few days apart.
One of these pnper wars heenme
so Intense when two circuses chose
to book a California city within a
few days of each other that the
barns and billboards of the sur­
rounding countryside were plastered
with a covering of circus pictures
28 sheets deep. The opposition bri­
gade of circus number one went out
each morning to cover the adver­
tisements of the rival show. The
brigade of circus number two went
out every evening to recover with
Its own hilling. They watched ench
other so closely, these tireless ad­
vance men. that each knew when
the other's crew left town to cover
paper In the country.
At Inst one of them played n
master stroke. Two nights before
the first show wns due to nrrlve.
the brigade hired a hearse, climbed
Inside with posters, paste, and
brushes, and quietly loft town to
do their work without attracting
the attention of their competitor*.
The advance advertising cars of
the big shows carry large crews of
ambitious workers who often aver­
age a posting of 10,000 to 12.000
sheets of circus lithographs a dny.
A crew of 30 men can bill a large
city In a single dny, so well do they
understand their work.
White Elephant Competition.
Sometimes the tented enterprises
tried to duplicate their rival's ace
attractions. Barnum once Import­
ed a sacred white elephant from
Slam. It wasn't pure white, but
rather a cream color, and It cost a
lot of money and trouble. Adam
Forepaugh, then Barnum’s leading
competitor, copied the Siamese al­
bino by applying a generous coaling
of white paint to unclothed pnrts
of a gray pachyderm. His elephant
was so much whiter than Barnum's
that the public decided Forepaugh
had the real article—until one day
during a street parade In Philadel­
phia, when a cloudburst exposed
the Imposture.
Even then skeptical show-goers
refused to believe that Barnum's
white elephant wns any more genu­
ine than the one they hnd seen
exposed. Somebody asked Barnum
what he wns billing as his chief
attraction that season. He smiled
and replied. ''I’ve got a white ele­
phant." Then and there he sup­
plied a distinctly American angle
to the age-old white-elephant allu­
sion that to this dny Is used to de­
scribe something expensive which
cannot be disposed of to any ad
vantage.
The big shows fought each other
until the summer of 1929, when a
great consolidation was effected.
Now six of the largest tent shows,
all Ringling owned, contend for pa­
tronage In friendly rivalry and try
to keep out of one another's wny.
Most outsiders think that every
circus picks its complete route at
the beginning of each season. In
reality, they are routed only about
six weeks in advance. Agents must
study crop and factory conditions,
epidemics of disease, and proximity
of rival attractions, and must ar­
range to send the circus where
Î
BEDTIME STORY Î
I
By THORNTON W. BURGESS
ANOTHER GAME OF HIDE
AND SEEK
.
\f<»U remember the game of hide
I and seek Danny Meadow Mouse
played with Buster Bear? You re­
member what a very dreadful game
It was for Danny? But hard ns It
waa for Danny, it didn't begin to be
ns hard ns the game Lightfoot the
Deer waa playing with the hunter
In the Green Fernet.
In the case of Buster Bear and
Danny,, the latter hnd simply to
keep out of reach of Buster.
As
long ns Buster didn't get his great
pnws on Danny the latter waftsnfe.
Then, too, Danny Is a very small
person. He Is so small thnt he can
hide under two or three leaves
Wherever he Is he Is pretty sure to
find a hhllng place of some sort.
His small size gives him advantages
In a game of hide ami seek. It cer-
Lightfoot Listened and Watched
talnly does. But Lightfoot the Deer
Is big. He la one of the largest of
the people who live In the Green
Forest. Being so big. It Is not easy
to ffide.
Moreover, a hunter with n terrible
gun does not have to get close In
order to Kill. Lightfoot knew all
tlds ns he waited for the coming of
the hunter of whom Sammy Jay
I
warned him, lie had leurned many
lessons In the hunting season of the
year before and hit remembered
every one of them, lie knew thnt
to forget even one of them might
cost him hla life. So, ntnndlng mo­
tionless behind a tangle of fall­
en trees, Lightfoot listened and
watched.
Presently over In the distance he
heard Sammy Jay screaming "Thief,
thief, thief!" A little sigh of re­
lief escaped Lightfoot. He knew
thnt screaming of Sammy Jay was
a warning to tell him where the
hunter was. Knowing just where
the hunter was made It easier for
him to know what to do.
A Merry Little Breeze came steal­
ing through the Green Forest.
It
came from behind Lightfoot and
danced away toward the hunter with
the terrible gun. Instantly Light­
foot hogan to steal softly away
through the Green Forest. He took
the greatest care to make no sound,
lie went In a half circle, stopping
every few minutes tn look nnd listen
and test the air with his wonderful
nose.
Can you guess what Lightfoot
was trying to do?
He waa trying to get behind the
hunter so thnt the Merry Little
Breezes would bring to hint the
dreaded man scent. As long as he
collld get thnt scent ho would know
where the hunter was though he
could neither see nor hoar him.
If he hnd remained where Sammy
Jay ha<l found him, the hunter might
come within shooting distance be­
fore Lightfoot could have located
him.
So the hunter with the terrible
gun walked noiselessly through the
Green Forest, stepping with the
greatest enre to avoid snnpplng a
stick underfoot, searching with keen
eyes every thicket and likely hiding
place for n glimpse of Lightfoot and
studying the ground for traces to
show tlmt Lightfoot hnd been there.
C. T. W Burfsss.—WNU Barrie*.
Average Net Worth of Families Up
---------
«-------------------------------
the remaining 50 per cent were
mortgaged.
The average amount of life Insur­
ance
owned per family was $7,710
Minneapolis. — The average In­
sured ..'.mlly has 30 per cent more In 1933, and $8,199 In 1935, an In­
cash In the brink today time It had crease of 0.3 (ter cent.
The average net worth of earh
In 1933, nnd Ims reduced the mort­
gage on Its home by 10 per cent In family. Including the equity In
home, hut exclusive of life In­
the anrne two-year period, accord­
ing to a survey of 10,000 policy surance, wns $2.053 In the spring
holder families by the Northwest­ of 1933, and had risen to $3,440
ern National Life Insurance com­ two years later, the survey showed,
an Increase In nvernge wealth of
pany In Minneapolis.
16 per cent. The 10,000 families
An average reserve of $350 per were selected nt random from pol­
family of cash on hand and In icy holder lists.
banks, was reported as of the
A special survey of urban hous­
spring of 1933 In response to the ing conducted li, 61 cities by the
Insurance company's questionnaire; United States Bureau of Foreign
this compares wlttl. $164 per fam­ and Domestic Commerce showed a
ily at the present time, an Increuse reduction In the average mortgage
of $108, or 30 cr cent.
on owner-occupied homes of 3.29
A reduction In the size of the per cent from 1933 to 11134. The
average mortgage from $3,461 was fact thal the reduction for the two
shown In the reports. Approximate­ years from '33 to '35 totaled 10.22
ly 49 per cent of the policy hold­ per cent In the Insurance company's
ers Investigated were home own­ survey would seem to Indicate that
ers; the average home valuation the nvernge family Is paying off Its
was $5,301.
Half of the homes obligations
at
an
Increasingly
owned were clear of encumbrances; rapid rate, the report concludes.
Special Survey Shows Home
Mortgages Reduced.
10,000,000 in Abyssinia
there Is a probability of doing good
Ethiopia, or Abysslnln, Ims a to­
business.
Routing a circus is a tal area of 350,000 square miles and
business science.
a population of 10,INN),000, consist­
Business men In progressive cities ing of Semitic Abysslnlans, Somalia,
ustinlly are glad to see a circus Arabs, negroes and Indians. Very
billed for a visit to their commu
little land Is cultivated, the Idea
nity. It Is a barometer of pros of landed property scarcely being
jierlty, this nomadic canvas city known.
The rainfall, 30 to 40
with Its tremendous overhead, be­ Inches, heaviest In midsummer, pro­
cause It cannot afford to visit cities vides much of the water for the
which are In the throes of financial annual overflow of the Nile * q
depression.
Egypt