| THE REAL CKB-SEHI BEHIND THE CANVAS. I
Vicissitudes of Life on the Road Pictured From Real Life.
Circus day in any Western town at
the present time, according to the New
York Herald, is very much like the
circus day of old, except that there is
vastly more of it. It is as much a
holiday as Christmas and the Fourth
of July thrown into one. The poor,
benighted little New York boy who
goes to Madison Square Garden and
thinks he has seen it all would have
some of the conceit taken out of him
could he be transported to some one
day stand on the Western prairies on
the day when the circus is billed to
appear.
The first gray slreaks of dawn find
the town already astir, with the rail
road station as the centre of interest.
In the old days it used to be turnpike,
but the time when the circus traveled
from town to town in caravans is no
more. Nowadays it is a very one
horse show indeed that doesn't own
its own rolling stock.
The small boy of course, pre
dominates. He has secured the loft
iest perch within the rauge of his in
ventive genius. Suddenly, from the
dizzy height of the tallest telegraph
pole he shouts, "Here she comes!"
The cry is taken up below. Half a
mile away, around a curve, a column
of smoke is seen, trailing away toward
the horizon and a few minutes later
the powerful locomotive, snorting and
puffing like a spirited horse, conies
into view. Behind it is a long line of
yellow cars, and far off, at the rear
end, glimmer the lights of the caboose,
which have not yet been extinguished.
Then comes the unloading of the
iro ; prosaic paraphernalia—the lingo
ten poles, the acres of canvas, and all
the other homely objects which are
quite essential in the rapid transforma
tion so soon to follow. Gangs of men
scurry hither and thither, apparently
all getting into each other's way, but
really working like the one great
machine of which each man is really n
part.
Wagon after wagon comes off the
train with military precision. Two,
four, and even ten horse teams are
coming from the direction of the stock
cars, all ready to start for the show
TIIE MEN'S DKESSIXCJ ROOM.
grounds. The townspeople are agape.
When Obadiah Jones's new threshing
machine had arrive a few days before
it had taken almost an entire day to
unload it from the train, if they had
undertaken to unload that pole wagon
it would have taken them a week.
Meantime, away out ou the prairie,
toward the east, a faint cloud of dust
has arisen. Toward the south a simi
lar cloud is seen, and toward the west
are others. The thrifty farmers, com
ing from far distant points, many of
them having been en route all night,
begin to come iu and look for suitable
camping places for their families and
their teams. The dust cloud grows
heavier and heavier as each moment
passes, until by the time the warning
whistle of the locomotive drawing the
second train is heard gray streaks line
'' ' ' IN^
ont toward the horizon in every direc
tion.
Two trains have been unloaded and
the eyes of the multitudinous small
boy are fairly bulging from their sock
ets. Where will it all end? A third
train conies puffing in, an ,j on this is
the menagerie. The «mall boy is now
in a state bordering 0 n nervous
frenzy. It is doubtful if he knows his
own name.
Off toward the show ground goes the
morning crowd. Surei - they will be
in time to see all the tents put up, for
has not the last train just come in?
To their surprise, however, the men
agerie tent, with its six great centre
poles, is up and finished. The horse
tent is in position, the mangers are
filled and the horses are munching
away at that breakfast which the
townspeople forgot to get. The cook
tents, one large tent for the working
men and another of similar size for the
performers, have been erected and the
choicest of steaks are broiling on the
ranges, whilst the fumes of steaming
coffee and hot biscuits, wafted upon
CLOWNS MAKING UP.
the morning breeze, smells sweet and
savory to the hungry throng now fill
ing the vacant spaces around the tents.
The camp cooks have already lighted
their fires and the great caldrons are
sizzling upon the cranes. This means
preparation for the midday meal,
which even now has all been arranged
and is bound to be ready for every one
shortly after return from parade.
That free glimpse of the enchanted
land behind the swelling canvas is
given at about 10 o'clock. Who that
has ever, seen it on a clear, Western
morning can forget the gorgeous bauds
of music, the'cavalcade of equestrians,
the opeu cages of wild beasts, the
funny band of clown musicians, the
general atmosphere of a voluntary
holiday, when every boy has money
iu his pocket, when his whole object
in life is to spend it.
But what of the streets in town dur
ing this interval? Excursion trains
have been coming in from every point
within fifty miles of the show town.
Every train has been crowded to the
very steps with eager, expectant peo
ple. Their tickets are in their hat
bands, where they will remain until
the conductor deniauds tliein at night,
for who has time to think of tickets
when there is a big show in town?
Thousands upon thousands of farmers
have come in from the surrounding
country. Their teams, unhitched, line
the sidj streets upon every side.
Vacant lota are filled with them and
tlio alleys and lanes of the town are
impassable. The sidewalks and store
doors are sought as places of vantage,
and an hour before the band strikes
up at the show grounds there is a solid
line of humanity from one end of the
town to the other.
By noon every face is turned toward
the show grounds. The side show
properly seen and its myriad of curios
and freaks explained, the tide turns
toward the ticket wagon. Another
pandemonium, in which each individ
ual iu the vast throng imagines he
must get his ticket first or be forever
debarred. A struggling, surging mass
°t humanity, with hands and arms
high iu air, clutching tightly to the
mouey which is to be invested in the
pas* >boards that will admit
them to the Anders of the big show.
The crowd carries itself along until
each of its component parts has reached
the goal. The money is snatched from
the uplifted fingers and tickets placed
in its stead, so quickly, yet BO accur
ately, that the bewildered, perspiring
purchaser scarcely knows how it was
done. Yet, he has his tickets, and
then begins a battle for exit from the
crowd. There is no relief however,
until the doorway to the menagerie is
passed, and then the orowd spreads
out within its spacious arena and be
gins the real enjoyment of the day.
A circus is a circus the world over,
and to describe the performance in
this particular Western town would be
but to repeat an old story. And yet
there are some old stories that are
always new. One is love, another is
the circus. The lithe limbed man, who
twists himself almost inside out; the
airily clothed women, who fly through
midair while you hold your breath;
the clowns, who make you laugh in the
same old way that they made you laugh
years ago—who can resist the glamour
of it all?
And the strange sights behind the
scenes! Lucky the man or boy iu that
town who rejoices iu the acquaintance
of somebody connected with the show.
He is the hero of the year. Countless
times does he retell the stories of what
he saw in the dressing rooms.
The evening performance is but a
repetition of that of the afternoon.
Within all is a scene of gayety, with
myriad lights blazing. Outside a dif
ferent scene presents itself. A few
minutes after the performance begins,
hundreds of hurrying men attack the
DOSING A SICK ELEPHANT.
menagerie tent. Its side walls come
down with a rush, its poles are carried
out in a steady line, its cages picked
up by waiting teams, who, at a trot,
start the procession of canvas covered
dens toward the railroad yards. The
great- top comes down with a run and
is unlaced into sections, rolled into
htige bundles aud loaded into waiting
wagons, almost before the last cage
has disappeared iu the gloom around
an adjaceut corner. The herd of ele
phants has stalked off into the night,
majestically and silently, following a
man who carries a lantern half a square
ahead.
The cook house, stable, tents, blaok
sinith shop, barber shop, band tent,
side show, together with the number
less other smaller tents, have been ex
peditiously, yet silently packed aud
taken to the cars. In three-quarters
of an hour the "big top" stands alone,
its gaunt poles reaching far up into
the darkness of the sky. At the rail
road yards everything is bustle and
activity.
The night show is out; the concert
is finished, and the last of the per
formers skurries toward his trunk,
which has been left upon the open
space where the dressing tent once
stood: a quick cliauge of costume, a
banging trunk lid, and tho last mem
ber of the company takes his way to
tho train. By midnight the show is
on its way to the next town.
Town Where Everybody is Irish.
Of Benedicta, Me., Professor Bate
man writes: "If there is another town
in this country like it I am unable to
locate it. The peculiarity of the place
is the fact that the population is com
posed exclusively of Irishmen. There
is not a family in the entire township
through whose veins courses any other
blood than that of the Emerald Isle."
—Lewiston (Me.) Journal.
An expert declares that he knows of
at least 600 counterfeits of the old
masters which are now hanging in pri
vate galleries in the United States, all
purchased at high prices.
SCIENTIFIC SCRAPS,
A Brazilian dootor says that coffee
is a certain cure for anaemia.
Trolley car ambulances arc to be in
troduced in the city of Pittsburg, run
ning independently over all the street
car tracks as called for.
Miss Eleauor Ormerod declares that
the English cockroach is in danger of
extermination before the hordes of
imported German black beetles.
What is probably the largest loco
motive in the world has just been com
pleted and weighs, with the tender,
over 285,000 pounds. It in for use
in Mexico.
Munich used to be notorious for its
excessive typhoid fever death-rate, it
being twenty-nine per 10,000 in 1856.
With the introduction of a pure water
supply and improved sewer system it
has fallen to less than two per 10,000.
The Semaine Medical publishes de
tails of the successful experiments
made in Naples by Cantaui in making
guinea pigs immune against the influ
enza "'Hjn by vaccinating them with
steri. Vtures of the influenza
*
Professor Lincoln Goodale of
Harvard university says that there are
now about '200,000 species of plants,
divided into flowering and flowerless
plants, and although nearly all of the
flowering varieties might be used for
food, only about 1000 are so used and
only 300 are frequently.
In a paper read before the Paris
Academy of Sciences, M. Jacquemin
communicated the results of experi
ments showing that leaves of fruit
trees, vines, etc., develop a strong
bouquet of the fruit when soaked in
alcohol. He thinks the quality of a
poor vintage might be improved by
the addition of some leaves during
fermentation.
The Islrtli of a
In the new number of the British
Central Africa Gazette a correspond
ent gives some interesting particu
lars of a new language which lias
sprung up within recent years in
Central Africa. It is, he says, "a
weird jargon, or perhaps language, on
a par with 'pidgin English' of the
far East, or the numerous other
tongues by which travelers and so
journers in strange lands make their
wants known to the natives. Many
may not know of the language, but it
is spoken by hundreds daily, and
flourishes mostly where the white
man has built a boma, anil in which
there is a Sikh garrison. The origin
ator of it is the Sepoy from over the
'black water' (sea). How was it first
introduced? When he first came into
the country did ho buy Dr. Scott's
grammar and dictionary and endeavor
to learn the language grammatically
and comprehensively, as the patient
Europeans do? No; although here
toduv and there tomorrow, as we are
in conjunction with his comrades, the
conservative Sikh evolved from his
inner consciousness a language which
is learned by his relief from India in
turn. Its component parts are Hin
dustani, Gurmukhi, broken Swahili,
broken Mauganja, possibly a little
l'ao and Sepoy English, forming a
whole curious in the extreme. Though,
of course, chiefly the military lan
guage of the country, it is occasion
ally the medium of communication be
tween the European and the Sikh,
and of when the white man's highly
grammatical book Mauganja fails the
Sikh will step boldly into the breach,
and with a few chosen words make
the native understand.
Power of the Marseillaise Hymn.
Nothing of the kind in this world
can be more impressive than the way
in which an audience of six thousand
French radicals receives that wonder
ful air, (the Marseillaise), says Col.
T. W. Higginson in the Atlantic. I
observed that the chorus of young
men who lead the singing never once
looked at the notes, aud few even had
any, so familiar was it to all. There
was a perfect hush in that vast audi
ence while the softer parts were snug,
and no one joined even in the chorus
at first, for everybody was listening.
The instant, however, that the strains
closed, the applause broke like a
tropical storm, aud the clapping of
hands was like the taking flight of a
thousand doves all over the vast
arena. Behind those twinkling hands
the light dresses of the ladies and the
blue blouses of workingmen seemed
themselves to shimmer in the air,
there was no coarse noise of pounding
on the floor or drumming on the seats,
but there was a vastcryof "Bis! Bis!"
sent up from the whole multitude, de
manding a repetition. The moment
the first verse was sung through for
the second time, several thousand
voices joined in the chorus; then the
applause was redoubled, as if they had
gathered new sympathy from one an
other, after which there was still one
more great applauding gust, and then
an absolute quiet.
lint the Dog Would Not Keep Still.
A dog caused some commotion at a
prominent East Side church Sunday
evening. He sneaked into the church
aud kept fairly quiet until the bass so
loist was singing a beautiful selection,
"Wait Thou Still." But the dog did
not heed the injunction of the singer.
He barked right out in meeting, and
some of the audience smiled. Just as
the singer concluded his song the dog
gave forth one sharp vigorous bark, as
if of approval. The singer did not
show any signs of interruption, but it
certainly was somewhat tryiug on his
nerves to sing while this dog was
walking up and down the aisle. The
preacher saw the dog before he barked,
and so ludicrous was the situation
that the preacher coutd not refrain
from laughing. The dog was hustled
out of church, but not until he had
entered a protest in the shape of balk*
and growls.—Columbus Dispatch.
AMBULANCE DOCS.
A Regular Canine Battalion For Service
in Military Movements.
One may see any day circulating in
the streets of the village ofLechensch,
near Cologne, a regular battalion of
A DOG OF WAR (NEW STYLE).
dogs. Their master is training them
for ambulance service in military
movements.
Each animal carries upon its back a
little saddle hirnished with pockets,
containing all tSliat is necessary for the
tirst dressing of wounds, as well as a
bottle of stimulant.
The dogs are taught to recognize
the wounded and to stoop down to
them, in order to permit them, while
awaiting the stretchers, to quench
their thirst aud to alleviate their suf
ferings a little.
A large red cross is marked on the
saddle, and leather straps serve to
fasten around the neck of the animal a
little lantern that is illuminated for
uiglit service.
The ambulance dogs figured at the
German manoeuvres last year, where
their usefulness was appreciated; so
this year their instructor has been en
gaged to train a whole pack. He has
chosen Scotch dogs, of medium height,
whose docility and intelligence in
learning are said to be remarkable.
The IHnmoml.
The diamond was not appreciated by
the most ancient people. Diamonds
are not mentioned in the Bible, nor
did the Romans, when in the zenith of
their splendor, Keem to know of them;
even the "Medes and the Persians"
seem not to have known of them. The
Jewelers' Review states that the stone
called adamant may be noted as a
possible exception. Adamant like the
diamond was distinguished for its
hardness, and it may have been the
diamond under that name. This be
lief is strengthened by the fact that
the diamond does not display its in
comparable brilliance except when
properly cut. Little seems to have
been known about the diamond until
as late as the seventh century. The
first absolute study of tUe art of
diamond cutting was made by a French
monk as late as 1500. Up to that time
what cutting had been done was very
wasteful, the facets beiug formed by
tediously grinding off the diamond at
a loss of the material now saved by
proper cutting. It may not be gener
ally known, but the finest diamond
cutting in the world is accomplished
in this country, the cutters being im
ported from Europe, where practically
all of the diamond cutting of the world
has been done up to within the past
twenty-five years. This superiority is
due to the progressiveuess of the
American, the workmen in the old
world being afraid to adopt new and
improved trades. The art of diamond
cutting is carried on in such rigid
lines that the difference in stones cut
in Antwerp aud Amsterdam is easily
noted. The commerical source of the
diamonds to-day is the marvelous
Kimberley nines of South Africa.
Diamonds will always remain tho
most popular stones. Fashion's whim
sometimes sets them to one side for
the pearl, ruby, emerald, sapphire
and turquoise, but their banishment
is always brief.
Shall Men Fly?
A flying machine has just been
tested near Berlin, and the observers,
including army officers, agree that if
selves the problem of aerial navigation.
It needs only a little tiukering with
the steering gear. It is a peculiarity
of flying machines that each, at its
trial, is a success, and needs only a
slight change in the guiding apparatus
to fit it for commercial uses. Yet with
the end of the century in sight, the
century of science, man is still tied to
the earth, derided by the humblest
thing with wings. After sitting up
nights with the problem and achieving
everything except the little change in
the steering apparatus, the man of
science is not able to soar,except when
he happens to be blown through the
roof by an explosion of his chemicals.
—Washington Post.
Novel Knee Between a Moose and a Pacer.
The moose is owned by Mr. Ger
maine, of Newark, Mont. He is a
peculiarly gaited animal, and at first
glance he did not appear to possess
A MOOSE OUTRUNS A HORSE.
nearly the speed that he displayed in
the race. It is really a long, low,
sweeping trot, and is not unlike the
gallop of the horse. After an exciting
race the moose, who showed signs of
nervousness when the crowd cheered,
won by a length. The above out was
made from an instantaneous pho
tograph.
HELPS FOR HOUSEWIVES.
Both for Dreiaed Fowl*.
In preparing all fowls for the table,
after the pin feathers are removed
scrub the skin thoroughly with warm
soapsuds, theu riuse with clear cold
water an<l wipe dry. No one has any
idea how dirty the skiu of a fowl is
until it emerges from such a bath, with
a complexion entirely altered.
To Waterproofs I)reM,
Mix two ounces of powdered alum
and the same amount of sugar of lead
with two gallons of rain water, and
when sufficiently amalgamated pour ott
the water from the sediment whicb
will necessarily settle. Soak the gar
ment in the liquid for about twelve
or fifteen hours, and when dry it can
be ironed and considered ready to
withstand the rain. It will of course
be- wise to subject only fast colors to
the treatment, and very tine fabrics
would be better left alone.
A Ciood Wood Polish.
In these days of uncarpeted floors
and Persian rugs a good wood polish
is always welcome. A polish that
hails from Japan is said to be very tine
for furniture as well as floors. It con
sists of one pint each of linseed oil
and cold, strong tea, the whites of two
eggs and two ounces of spirits of salts.
These several ingredients to be mixed
thoroughly together and poured into a
bottle, which should be well shaken
before the polish is used. A few drops
are poured upon a rubbing pad of soft
silk and the wood rubbed with it, be
ing afterward polished with an old silk
handkerchief. The process is a tedi
ous and fatiguing oue for the cleaner,
but its effect surpasses that of any
easier or quicker method.
IScdi-oom Slippers.
To make a pair of bedroom slippers
knitted in two colors, two knitting
needles, No. 18, a pair of lambs' wool
soles, a quarter of a pound of Berlin
wool in two contrasting colors, and a
yard of narrow satin ribbon for bows.
About two and a quarter ounces of the
dark wool and one and a half, or a
little over, will be sufficient for a No.
4 slipper.
The pattern is simple and consists
of eight rows. Cast on eighteen
stitches with the dark wool, knit oue
row plain and join on the light wool.
Then the actual pattern begins:
Slip two stitches, knit two with the
light wool, slip two dark, knit two
with the light and so on. The next
three rows are exactly the same except
that the light stitches knitted in the
first and third rows are purled in the
second and fourth. The remaining
four rows are plain and all with the
dark wool, two knitted, the next
purled, and the last knitted. This
completes the pattern and gives a
pretty rib, which will be necessary to
pin the strip of knitting round the
sole to test the length before taking
off the stitches. The shape of the
shoe is formed by one end of the
knitted strip being sewed very firmly
not to the end, but to the end of the
side, so that the first rib knit lies at
right angles to tlie final ones, to the
ends of which it. is joined. The last
rib thus makes part of the lower edge,
to be sewed to the sole. The extreme
corner should be turned under, which
gives a nice round shape to the toe.
To turn the toe make a strip of loop
trimming in crochet or knitting. It
is most quickly doue in crochet. Four
stitches will make it wide enough
and the loops are made in each
stitch in alternate rows, winding the
wool three times round the fingers.—
Detroit Free Press.
Recipes*
Ginger Snaps—One cup molasses,
one cup of sugar, one tablespoonfnl ot
ginger, one-half cup butter, two tea
spoonfuls of baking powder and Hour
enough to make stiff to roll. They
can be cut in any desired shape.
Chicken Pilan —Cut up the chicken
and put 011 to boil with sufficient wa
ter to keep it from scorching. Add
salt, pepper and a small piece of onion.
When the chicken is done add pieces
of bologna sausage, then stir in with
a silver fork one quart of rice and
continue to stir until the rice is well
cooked and dry. Serve on a fiat dish.
Cranberry Batter Pudding—To one
cup of milk add two well beaten eggs,
two tablespoons of sugar and two ta
blespoons of melted butter, one-quar
ter teaspoon of salt, two and one-half
cups of flour, one heaping teaspoon of
baking powder and one cup of cran
berries, coarsely chopped. Steam for
two hours and serve with a sweet
sauce.
Potato Pone—Peel four large sweet
potatoes, grate them and stir in,a ta
blespoonfnl of butter, one pint of mo
lasses and one pound of brown sugar,
a teaspoonful of powdered orange
peel, one-quarter pound of citron cut
in small pieces, and one quart of cold
water, four into biscuit pans and
bake. When nearly cold cut in square
pieces and serve.
Ribbon Wafers —To one pound of
fine sugar add one-quarter of a pound
of Hour and the grated peel of two
lemons; beat the whites and yolks of
two eggs separately, then add the
other ingredients to them; grease some
shallow pans with melted butter, roll
out the paste very thin. When the
wafers are half doue, cut in strips,roll
round your finger and return them to
the oven again to crisp.
Bed Cabbage Salad—Shred one-half
of a large head of red cabbage and
pour boiling water over it; cover close
ly for ten minutes, then drain. Boil
five Frankfurter sausages for fifteen
miuutes, and when cold cut into slant
wise slices; add to the cabbage one
tablespoonfnl of chopped onion and
one tablespoonfnl of chopped parsley.
Seasou with pepper pndsalt.and when
oold dress with French dressing.