THE CIRCUS.

Waikato Times, Volume X, Issue 910, 23 April 1878, Page 2

THE CIRCUS.

Reeling sure that the -Waikato. folks would like to know the; truth about the greWt Circus,. your report^i 1 paid; it a visit of iaspcctjpn when tho crowd would not prevent a:thouough diagnosis of its contents. '■"■■■lt was shown : rouud'by ; the " playniate " of the perforoiing lions, Thjs gentlejtian is one of the most - remarkably self -possessed persons it has ever been my lot to encounter. V He speaks of the whole' thing as business, and appears to consider the danger he runs, whilst 1 trifling with the savage brutes as hardly an item' in the 1 oarg.iin with his employers. The- aspect, however,; of the gentle creatures was such as to inspire an outsider with anything : but coufidence in their good intentions when the matter became a qnestion of tempting head witlitorai'n sauce ! r f.J The first beast ; W saw was* a young rhinqsceros— a , -lady— fpui* years old. The gentle creature had not the usual horn upon her delicate nose, for the' simple reason that it would cost too much to build a cage to keep her in. Iron is dear just now, so the proprietor has amputated the offensive weapon. Her little eyes twinkle with a desire to get at one, and I felt, glad she was minus her horn* A sea 1i0n, .-. captured on the coast {'of .Alaska,' came next. Then, a iarge. ,cageful of most amusing; moiikevs) and a cage of two young lions, born in' the Menagerie, in -Sydney; Alongside of these was an African leopard. The cage of li ons — fcwo mules and one female — next claimed my attention. The lioness is three years old, and the two gentlemen eight years -'apiece ; these perform, .The co-performer told me that lie 'would go into any tageof lio.iS shewn to him at first eight. Ho said 'it , was his trade. 1 shought, '■;.'. It stakes a lot of men to make a world K • - .

I next saw : a f Teally magnificent speolmon of tlio Be ngvt.l, tiger j pacing grandly to amliro his.6a.gp. A cold trorcoi' passed over me as-ip-y atteuclant suicl ; in a pleasant po:uai|d|^incl of way, "-Uebteii fepep jbapk; a bit, h.e tnig-bt.hit you with hvs paw." lb did not tako me long (.0 get out' of range. Soiiie'p'retty playful spotted Jeopards and a con pie of emus nest

passed in review followed by a good sample of the Californian Cayote. ! A terrible beast is the. South American Jaguar. I think he conveys the sense of^the Bl&§jjj|{*L l a tcnt guide stii'Lw'fliiufPp forjj|e; to loo|k A c juple "bf^^ehas^^'e ,by^f^? N the worst tempered of all the animals, but I believe they had no t beea "lobs in confinement. I fel b inclined to take astbut cudgel and belato6itr" r tnelr^ pish and b^a%g|r^i^s. Tbly|\y6uld rush at the bors growling, aud showing 1 .Jheir^teelli. <Tlfeyj&fe£i?sed more my h^l'i ti'rig weight" th'ough than the Tiger/or <Jaguar^and/-I felt nWe comßative angeVtliairclread .at; their dempustra'ions. A puii of < spotlei Hj r en:is .quite, peaceably disposed = : porapai i ed, l ]j.Of. > t^e|,r.. more-, insignincant..brethreu came next, thenj aln Elk. The famous Steam Piano was the iie'xtf r wbti'dei\ )>"This performs during the first hour "of op.enidg. 3 TlreVe'are'abbiler aud valves arid key boardj'but ; not ; being- an? .engineer ... I : cannot pretend to accurately! descr'ijjs tlje f'niachme. „1 rtnilerstand this'' class of instrument to be very "raro. A. Kangaroo,- an ■■ American Deer, and across ugly old bison brought our itispectiou of the IVEenagerie proper tp a conclu-

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i "\^: then visited tlie.l Elephants and| Camel's tent. -Here ; .were fouj^. Africaii ; elephants a nctitht|S M*g& Asialb. Tliey^opened, tbeir 'huge niouths and irivited*; j us"-"to^n b i?ow biscuits down their little throats,, b'ub unfortunately we had, not the needful, so we drew out vof. reach. Tihey are chained by; the leg to p.)Sts % l! heardj'ifiri amusihg story iinent two 1 Ministers who ;liad gone td^theshow the d^ bfeforev:^ iuspecfc^privately the aj¥^agsnjentsi"etc i , ' They wers the Htfh^Ji- Fisher ?i and the Hon. J. .^heehaji.;' - ? 'A:.: pplig^m"ar!i^\v>^a sent (oy five shillings \Vp|l;^^^iscaits£and on his return the two ''swells" began feeding 1 thb large African elephant 1 with the calces; After ! a : little - -while 1 they ' transferred •; the'ir attention to the smaller fry, wlien the " papa" becoming indignant Uttered 1 " the - trumpet ; cry, : ; -and levelling fhis' trunk' a.t . the > Native Miuisteri: discharged a: quantity of fluid all; over' ihis spotless "Test. The .notoribns:. good humour of tke "First Colonial ; Born]' being proof against even this demonstration of ill-will, .the sagacious beast, turned and did ditto to. the Hon. Fisher. A fellow -who. was there said that centleman swore, but I don't believe him. c^ 1

i Some : good-looking ' camels, fbllowed, the whole being " topped off ' bj- the ponies aud mules. • There was oii'e. little pony certainly not more than thirty inches high. He would have suited, Ton^Thumb.) He: is a native of Java.

"We -then travelled into tho big tent where the Circus is held. It holds. 6,000 people, and was new? last Christmas: I make this remark because ib has lots cf patches now, aud it helps to account for the £400 a day expenses I am going to, allude to presently. The seats are so cleverly arranged that every soul out of the G,OOO can get a good view. I was told that ir, only takes, s ; x hours lo set up all the tents— covering, I dare ■ say, nearly three acres ef ground. There are 100. men attached to the Circus.-! While I was in this tent, the Fire King and the first lady rider came in. The former eats fire in the presence of the most hyper-critical audience without, supposing it, to be a trick, being detected. He is, in private, a rather pleasaut, good-looking young man — certainly, not a fire-eater, to look at, but, I understand, vary clever at his business. The lady is decidedly good looking, and very lady-like. I do nob know how she rides, as 1 have not yet had the opportunity of practical criticism,but, as I intend going to tho performance to morrow night, I shall then be able to form an opinion. They. tell. me, however, she is really wonderful. The fire-eater performs in a side tent", along with the euchre pig.- ■ Inl this compartment, there are some very nice views of American trapper life, skirmishes with Indians, etc.

Attached to tha main show are stables with corn mangers and stalls. Also a cook house where the laboring nieii sit down to dinner to the number of thirty or forty. The swells of coarse stop at an hotel. By the way, while I think of it, the performing pigs are called Bismarck, Senior and Junior. Fancy to what base uses the great Chancellor has descended. Bismarck . and a performing pig ! The iate of the world and a game of euchre. Ye Gods ! "the mighty Julius dead and turned to clay, etc.," is familiar to us as household words, but Bismarck -■ bub enough,-- Bismarck is clevei', so is the pig, and the world won't miss eitheroneahuudred years hence. To conclude. — After being mo?jt courteously treated, I learned the following particulars. That it costs Cooper and Biiley £300 to £400 per diem to run the concern. That the cauvas covers three acros of ground, that a. hippopotamus costa §30,000 a performing' pig in his raw state 10. to 123, a lion £200 and S3 on, the whole as usual being a money question; fchat the show employs 100 nie'4, ! aud in conclusion tlpt it ig far and away the best thing; of its kind I ever had the pleasure of inspecting."