Even Gold Could Not Lure Him From His Life's Work

Chronicle (Levin), 29 April 1949, Page 4

Even Gold Could Not Lure Him From His Life's Work

Neither the lure of gold nor the eomforts of the life of the ordinary man-in-the-street has succeeded in enticing 74-year-old Mr. \V. Alton from shows and showmen, for with a colourful career of circuses behind him, he is still on the job and recently visited Levin with the dodgems.

He says that his wife, too, is a past siar of the sawdust. A French woman, she has played in every capitai in the world, but Mr. Alton says she iikes New Zealand best. She has retired now and is at their home in Wellington, and quite content to stay there. "She's looking after the chickens now," he said, "and believe it or not she loves it." Not so Mr. Alton. He a-lways likes to get home whenever he can, but his heart is still in the game. He says he staived off by practising acrobatic stunts in a Wellington gymnasium with two close friends, who later formed their bwn team as the Alton Brothers. At flrst they -were known as the Leonard Brothers and, under that title, he and the team once he'ped out the Levin Athletic Club, by acceding to a request from that body to pu„ on a few of their acts at a concert run by it in Levin. That was in June, 1894. To a "Chronicle" reporter who talked with him the Gther day he showed a letter from ihe club, ciated June 7, and signed by the then treasurer, a Mr. H. Mills, in which it was stated that the club, at a committee meeting, had passe.d a vote of thanks to the team for its assistance. His. two partners are dead now and Mr. Alton treasures the letter. ? In various circuses, Mr. Alton performed his acts until age prevented such energetic work, and for 30 years he travelled as a c'own Itouring New Zealand, Australia, the Far East and China. He visited ✓

Levin again in 1910 with Barton's -ircus — not the Barton's which re.oenhy played here, but one owned jy the father of the Barton now showing the Barton's Follies in Palmerston North. He was in the Philippine Is-ands in 1899, when there was an uprising against the Americans, . who had just taken over eontrol of the country foilowing the Spanish-Amencan War. He was also near Tien.sin, China, during the Boxer Rising in 1900. During the Russo-Japanese War he was in the vicinity of Port Arthur, but on all occasions he managed to stay out of trouble. Mr. Alton was touring Australia vhen the 1896 gold boom was on, out his love for the circus prevented him from leaving the show to join the search for goxd. He gave up circus work in 1925 and has oeen "doing agricultural shpws" since with the dodgems and roundabouts. He does not come out on - the road so often now, but he says he's "sti l very much on deck." The life seems to be in the -family for both his daughters, who are married and settled down, were the well-knawn ALon Sisters, who once toured New Zealand. They were also in vaudeville and at one time with the J. C. Williamson Company. He said that like afl acrobatic artists he had taken a few bumps in his time, but those were to be expected and had not done him any harm. Had they? Looking at Mr. Alton as he jumped nimbly down from his caravan . the reporter had to admit that they cerltainly had not.