WIRTH'S CIRCUS.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1647, 14 January 1913, Page 8

WIRTH'S CIRCUS.

Messrs. Wirth Bros.' circus, which opened a-Wellington season on tho reclaimed land near TeAro,Station last evening,is probably tho best show of its kind that has visited New Zealand. Tho programme is packed with, items, interesting, thrilling, and amusing,, and tho entertainment . as a whole is organised upon a very lavish ( 6oale. Practically every seat in the big tent was filled - before tho performance started, and , tho all-round merit and varioty of tho succeeding, displays fully warranted this, liberality of. patronage. The oircus is many-sided in its attractions. First of all,there is a fine menagerie,' with elephants,; lions, a. tiger, polar and grizzly bears;, and-a hippopotamus as its principal occupants. A number of acrobats and, other artists aro responsible for numerous . daring and skilful feats, and somo of them continuo their work on horseback. The oircus. boasts, a little army of graceful equestrian performers. The:'.latter„ partiof,,the,entertainment is given over to a' 1 band'of American cowboys, Australian stockmen, and others of that ilk, who givo displays of fancy and rough-riding, lassoing, and so. forth. ' A troupe of performing bears, under their, trainer, Herr Schmidt, figured as "stars" in .the early part of tho oveninj. The troupe consists of half a dozen polar bears and a' couple of grizzlies, and tho bears are accompanied in the arona by two boarhounds. At tho bidding of their trainer the bears performed all sorts of quaint and difficult tasks. One polar bear was set to working himself along over a space of twenty feet or.so and back again,' on a gigantic boll."- Another showed equal skill in propelling a cylinder. In one scene five polar bears : were set to work a sco-saw, with one swaying obediently as "candle-stick," and one at cither end to keep the sec-saw going. -, Brown and white bears poised themselves obediently in all sorts of pyramids and figures. The boarhounds .were sot to jumping over and,under tho bears, and thou'gh now and then oho of the latter would reach out a longing paw,'they-made no serious attempt to harm the dogs. Some of the polar bears'wont about their work unwillingly, and growled menacingly, but tho two grizzlies took things more philosophically. One of them.is a born animal comedian. From time to.time it descended from, its, stand, waddled 'upright across the ring, laid a friendly paw on its trainer's shoulder, and poked forward an inquiring snout in search of a lump of sugar or some similar dainty. Tho other bears were driven 'into their cago with much whip-cracking,, but this one took its trainer's arm' and sedately walked over to the gate. '■'\- ' . . ... The circus boasts* no more daring performer than Hillary-Long. His specialty i consists in'standing on his head on a i trapeze and on'other precarious'supports. •: So placed on a trapeze; he lit and smoked , a cigarette, and poured out a drink from : abottlo and drank it. Still standing on r his head he ; maintained his equilibrium ! on the trapeze while it was set rapidly re- [ yolving. The Inst feat was,the most dnr- ! ing of all. It-consisted in sliding oh his > head down a : long sloping wire .which had ! been stretched from tho roof of the tent 1 to tho ground." ,":; , -. ', "

Tho Bastion Family ore a troupe of nine acrobats and contortionists, Tanging from a middle-aged man down,to a tiny girl. Their act as a whole is a. marvellous display of strength and dexterity. The two "senior'.members-of the party figure later iii a sensational ( fcat. One of them, standing upright, on a horse as it careers round the ring, supports tho other, head to head. Boljh men - kept their bodies straight, and tho movement of tho horso did not seem to disturb thoir balance in the leasf. . The cowboy and rough-riding turn ■which concludes the entertainment'is in itself full of variety. > Considerable, skill was shown in throwing the lasso, and in whirling long ropes' in graceful spirals. The cowboy and cowgirl fancy riding was an agreeable chango from the more familiar circus riding, which also had found many exponent* as the programme ran its courso. Tho ! Australian stockmen and their mounts gave a lively exhibition of buck-jumping, and a couple of Australian aboriginals distinguished themselves by careering out of the ring ! mounted on bare-backed buffaloes. ' I. A troupe of .elephants gave a clever | display during the evening, and onother remarkable animal appeared in "Earl Dudley," n horse which rides upon a wagon and waltzes and performs a variety of feats vrhilo tho wagon is in rapid motion. Other contributions to tho entertainment were wire-walking, , trapeze work, somersaulting on a bare-backed horso, and a great variety of equestrian feats. Ono performer had his feet strapped iuto the halves of a dress-basket and so handicapped lenped on to tho back of a rapidly moving horse and landed standing upright. Mention should bo made or thodozen or so of clowns, who contribute a gToat deal of agreeable fooling, and would .whilo away the dull moments if there were any. Some of thoso clowns are skilled tumblers and conestrian3. Tho boxing-act, in which a couple of them engaged, was particularly good. The circus will bo open to-night and following nights, and matinee performances will be given on- Wednesday and Saturday.