The Montgomery advertiser. [volume], March 23, 1924, MAGAZINE SECTION, Image 37

About The Montgomery advertiser. [volume] (Montgomery, Ala.) 1885-1982

Image provided by: University of Alabama Libraries, Tuscaloosa, AL

                
V
‘Bird" Millman, Champion Circa* Tifht-Rop* I
Walkor, "Doe* Her Stuff” 25 Slorie* Above /
New York'* I
Street*./
XT"*.
ENTER—Spring on an Elephant!
This happens after Winter has
unlocked the ice-covered streams
and ponds by retreating to the mountain
tops. Then the brooks of the valleys
Become yeiiow torrents; aroutus nowers m the
woods are pink and fragrant; pussy willows
appear. Our ears become attuned to new voices
singing old songs, voices of birds, lambs, calves,
poets and circus barkers.
Then Spring enter* on an elephant, for the vernal
•eason and the circus arrive at the same time, each bigger, better,
more gorgeous and glittering than ever before. The violet and tho
Crocus are heralds, they bring a subtle aroma to the breezes that
race across the fields. But the circus poster, with letters twelve
inches high, is a herald, too, a messenger of romance telling of
the “stupendous, startling, staggering” glories of the carnival that
takes place under the big top.
At the present time circuses of all sizes have left their winter
quarters and are headed North. Each one will be “the greatest
show on earth” to the small boys who see them. Whether they are
shown with three rings in Madison Square Garden, New York, or
one ring in small towns throughout the Middle West, the appeal
is the same. The same cries are heard, there are the same acrobata
and spangled bareback riders, bearded ladies and wild men
from Borneo. Their charm and freshness come, paradoxi
cally, because we know them so welL Like the Spring itself,
they have been hidden away during the winter.
So also do other signs reveal the spirit of the season
Off for ■ Rid* in an Oatricb Cart. How Thrao Cirla at Palm
Boacb, Florida, tha Miaaaa Irena Corlatt, Halan Naidnar
and Edatb Barr, Waicomad tha Coming of Spring
In the desire to play. For just as the small boy thrills to
the sight of the circus tent rising on the lot like a gigantic
mushroom, so the average grown-up responds to the call
of Spring in some special way. The lure of the open gets
in his blood. • '
He may fare forth to the beaches, to the opening of an
amusement park, to the first baseball game of the year. He
may begin to work on his pet motor boat, or paint his canoe.
Last year’s car may receive a coat of paint. Youngsters
take to tops, marbles and skipping ropes, while their parents
make for the tennis courts and riding paths in the park.
The spirit of play, which has been held partly in
leash during winter, is released to. the full. It responds
to the call of the season, whether that call is first
heard in the cry of a wild thing on the countryside,
the blare of a circus band, or the cheers of the baseball
crowd at the opening game.
But, somehow or other, the great, ponderous pachy
derms of the circus seem to typify the approach of the
season completely. When you see them marching down
the main street In the circus parade, each holding
with his trunk to the tail of the elephant before him,
while bands blare, calliopes shriek, and clowns bow
to pretty girls on the sidelines—then Spring enters
royally, on an elephant
l
A Sextette of Trminad Pachyderm* Trying Out
New Stunts at Tkair Wintar Quartan Sn
Macon, Gaorgia, Just Before tka • £
Circus Took to
tka Road.