ST. LEON’S CIRCUS IN EARLY FORTIES.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 2232, 29 January 1921, Page 2

ST. LEON’S CIRCUS IN EARLY FORTIES.

In ilie year 1842 there was pitched oil the corner of York and Market Streets, Sydney, now occupied bv the imposing warehouse of Henry Bull and Co., a calico sidewall, supported by freshly cut saplings, which grew in prolific numbers in the immediate vicinity. Large tallow flares were used at right time to illuminate the interior, where seating of the crudest de-i script ion was provided for spectators. An orchestra consisting of a couple of fiddlers, a tin whistle, and a sheepskin, drum, discoursed the popular melodies of the day. Here ii was that the amusement seekers of Sydney gathered nightly. There were separate galleries for the Vice-Regal parties and the various elite, while nothing at all was provided for the “gods" of the period. On the walls of the city wfre pasted “huge” ( ?) one-sheet posters, announcing “Bus St. Leon s Circus had the honour of presenting a first- class company of eight actors of eminence, also the only man in flu* world who ever stood on a horse’s hack. Phis, then, was the origin of the circus in Australia. The St. Leons of to-day arc the great grandchildren of the Gus St.

Leon of ’42. If only their ancestors could see to-day the circus provided by his descendants! The eight “actors of eminence” now number 58. The “calico sidewall” gives way to a huge canvas marquee, measuring 80 yards long by 00 yards wide. The array of beaiitiiul thoroughbred horses and ponies would, indeed. be a revelation. Yet St. Leon’s Circus of to-day embodies all these modern improvements, and is regarded as an institution throughout the Commonwealth of Australia. St. Leon’s Circus will appear in Fnxlon on February 4th. •