WIRTHS’ BIG CIRCUS.

Otaki Mail, Volume XXVIII, 6 February 1920, Page 3

WIRTHS’ BIG CIRCUS.

There will be excitement for the children and entertainment for young and old on Monday, February 16th, when the big circus and menagerie owned by Wirth Bros., Ltd., and personally conducted by the Wirths themselves, arrives in Otaki about 7 a.m. The special trains, two in number, will bring the huge caravansary to town in the early morning, and what a bustle and shouting and trampling there will be ns the five ponderous elephants drag the lumbering waggons and strings of animal cages from the station to the circus ground. Almost before one can turn around the staff of a hundred workmen employed by the circus will have erected a canvas city of their own. covering an acre of ground, with 18,non square feet under canvas; a huge “big-

top” with tier upon tier of seats t

I accommodate thousands of spectators; | a great menagerie lent to house the i elephants, lions, tigers, bears, leopards, i panthers, jaguars, pumas, zebras, nitinI keys, seals, hyenas, and lynxes; stabj iing for 50 horses; an engine and j dynamo, with complete electric lighting | and power plant; a kitchen and mess ! tent; and half a dozen smaller tents, used by the circus company. In the afternoon the menagerie, with all its ' wonders brought from foreign heathen lands and the waste spaces of the earth, all its enthralling interest and educational value, will be thrown opgn to the public for a small charge to see the wild animals being fed. At night will be the event of tire year fur the children, aye, and for many of the “children of a larger growth”; for who does not love the splendid horses and their dashing jockeys and beautiful equestriennes; the wonderful performing elephants, as wise as most humans; the raging lions, snarling at their tamer, yet obeying his will; the marvellous feats of the acrobats, and the drolleries of the clowns? Yet these arc only the old stock items of the circus programme. In addition, the Wirtli Bros, will this year present a galaxy of seven super-star attractions, imported at great cost, and with tremendous difficulty, from America —the Eddy Duo, marvellous performance on the silver wire, turning somersaults; the Ccvinc Troupe, four ladies and two gentlemen, run, dance, leap and somersault on tight wires more easily than most people could do on the ground. The Three Garcias’ acrobatic feats have astonished three continents. The Zoo Sisters give a spectacularly beautiful butterfly ballets in mid-air, swinging from cords held in rheir teeth. The Flying Winskills, with their Charlie Chaplin clown, provide a comedy trapeze. act. Leo Montfort, in the loop of death, whirls around a fifty foot circle like a bullet on a string. Mile. Belle Onra, a world-famous lady gymnast, thrills her beholders with her grace aud daring on the high trapeze. Tex Bailey’s posing animals in living statuary faithfully reproduce worldmasterpieces of art. Last, but not least, Silly Danny, the clown, and his flock of trained geese, the first ever shown in Australia, are a revelation ot the results of patience and kindness in educating the stupidest of creatures. See the marvellous Howards."’mindreaders, aud others.

Zoo open from V to j p.m. on the Domain ground.