CIRCUS SHIFTING.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2460, 26 March 1909, Page 6

CIRCUS SHIFTING.

ELEPHANTS AS ‘‘HANDY MEN.” ALL BY THE TORCHES’ FLARE.

(From the “Dominion”’)

The band strikes up at the signal of the whistles; the incredible tights-clad lady is contorted in mid-air; under the big* main canvas the performance has begun. The last small boy is dragged ■past the last regarding tiger in the. menagerie tent adjoining, and a single whistle, long and shrill, calls a dozen brawny follows to take part in the performance that begins outside. It is the last night of the circus, the night of shifting camp. Under the big white dome the king of beasts cowers under a brown man’s eye and whip, performing his equestrian tricks. Beneath the smaller dome, his tawny mates and cubs are shifting house. Sharp on the whistles shriek, half a dozen men are pulling down the walls of the. menagerio tent on- the side furthest from the wind, and loosening pegs. The cages of the beasts are coupled up in a long line, and run out by the elephants: Leo fells, yawning from his “turn,” is wheeled to join his mates. Down comes the leeward canvas, then the windwand, then the' top. When the performing tigers leave the ringed arena, the menagerie vtent is on the ground. It can be taken down and packed with all accessories on thewaggon in twenty minutes, and putup again in tui hour.* Already a unique procession has commenced to wind down Jervois Quay .•> The restive wild' beasts, in.their joined cages, are trailing to the railway station, drawn by the wise and patient elephants. “Half-price now to the circus!” „: ■ .

HORSES AND ELEPHANTS. The menagerie tent, 300 feet in circumference, is being rolled by Skilful hands; tent pegs of various dimensions are bestowed in separate lorries, grooms are feeding the ponies, tethered along a line fence. Coatless, bare-armecl men scurry hither and. thither, kicking up tlio sand; large acetylene torches, hissing and flaring in the wind, show them where to avoid the tent ropes; an elephant, waiting his next task, looms up vague and monstrous against the grey wall of the tent; the “property” tent, which, half an hour before contained the gear and hundred trappings of the circus, is rolled up on a waggon; work now for the elephant who is now trumpeting his weariness of inaction! The tent and its accessories are wheeled round to the entrance of the ground; the Indian buffaloes, with stolid, shaggy faces framed by their wide horns, are tethered to the waggon’s rear, the elephant tragdes off, drawing his load, and thebuffaloes shamble after, to the station. The two horse tents are undisturbed; each tent is divided lengthwise by a" wall of canvas, and the horses munch* provender from cunning bags sewn into the canvas wall. They will be the last to go; in fact they will not go until Sunday. Clever little Lady Moreton is well rugged to protect her from the cold. A DUSTY DESOLATION. It is an easy shift to-night. The train will leave for Carterton at 2 a.m. on Monday, but there is no more sense than propriety in working- Sundays, and busily the clearing" up goes on. The space before the main tent is a dusty desolation, with torches flickering to and fro, carried by men. who know their errand, and elephants waiting for fresh tasks. The elephant is the “handy man” of the circus—navvy and artist, too. He can dance a waltz step'or assist to roll up a tent with equal composure : he can play a mouth organ or shift a ton; ho is an example of doeility to all the beasts; inscrutable, imperturbable, how much more than man lie is the master of his soul. He is’not offended when the nervous visitor shrinks back from his insinuating hand. He is capable of devouring the “Dominion” whole, and is about to do so, when his watchful keeper snatches it from his trunk. It is told how once in Lithgow, New South' Wales, when half an inch of ice covering the vast tent- made it impossible for the men to roll it, _ the elephants performed the task. In windy towns, like Wellington, the circu3 tent is specially stayed by _ “storm-guys,” which go from peg to point and point to peg all round the great circumference. Twirl and quip are still going on inside; hut the men are removing these additional stay ropes. CLEARING THE MAIN TENT. The circus disgorges its multitude of pleasure-seekers; the bands of workers hurry in. “All you men to those chairs J” In incredibly short time, the chairs are doubled up and on a van. The lighting • man, with his assistants, is pulling down the double square of light above the arena; a single square goes up to light the operations. Ihe cross above the wooden platform is pulled down and does not go up again. Several scores of burners set into these crosses must be carefully detatched. andstowed into their receptacles. Tne torches, carried hither and thither by brisk men,' augment the light that comes from the diminished centre frame. The big iron cage in which theanimals perform is at the.station a long time before. When the -tigers' made their exit, it-was pulled apart by understanding hands,' and stacked high on a lorry.. . Now, as before this/ everything'is done by method. Half a dozen men aretaking down the walls of tho great . tent; ten minutes show a long gap,: with the great smooth sea shining just beneath the lights'dancing,to reflected lights on’- the,far: 'side' "of;-the harbor... Way now for the elephants! One of them slowly'draws tho “board ” waggon,, as it is called, round the inside of the tent to take the seats which a gang of men are rapidly removing. Another follows, trailing the “loop” waggon, which must take the “stringers” (seatsupports) in quick process of removal by another gang. Outside a man is. piling up the “jacks”—V-shaped structures that support the “stringers”—as fast as they are detatched by a third set. .The “storm pegs,” big thick wooden pegs, that surround the tent, are out before this, but hammers are still loosening the iron pins, Git 4in long, and steel •pins 3ft. Gin. long, which hold the other tent ropes. _ These go into the stage waggon, -which an elephant is drawing round. The great “king” poles, which support its outer roof, and other poles have all their special guardians and places. : The king poles, quarter poles, and canvas of the : big tent make a burden of seven tons. One-ele-phant can pull the “jinker,” or heavy waggon, loaded with, this weight, but he is allowed assistance. In' tiro performer’s tent, behind their entrance to • the main tent, the “artists” are busy ■packing up their smaller belongings, 1 arid getting'into common clothes. ! STRANGE SCENES AT THE ' ; Aj . ; • STATION,... ’ j MThe/.-big tent is: 138. feet-in diameter;; 140 men, knowing each his task, have the' ■ • * ■ . ’ ' • • " \ / ’ , .■ ‘ .

seating and, platform packed, the canvas down, and rolled up in. six sections, on a waggon, and everything in order for the station in a little' over t\ro hours. The horses are left picketed till the morning. The entertainment programme was rushed through on this last -night to enable the real work to proceed, and it is not much over midnight when the last load arrives at tho railway station. There, too, surprising scenes have been enacted, with elephants again in tho main roles. “Where is Aliee?” was demanded by a foreman when the tigers set out .to catch their train. -And the answer came strangely, “Oh, Alice is loading the giraffe.” Alice is a lady elephant who is of great assistance when the animals entrain, because she works hard without any foolish bustle. And the other elephants, ladies and gentlemen alike, give tlieir services in the same calm, capable manner, when the chaling timers, tho impatient lionesses, the “touch-me-not” giraffe, with her air ot some mincing, delicate fine lady, the clumsy buffaloes, the zebu,_ and othei animals are ready to entrain. Heavy rails make a sloping gangway rrom the platform to each truck. The cages with the animals inside are placed upon the ■rails, and the' obliging elephants push them up. The wheels are taken off the larger cages, so that they may not be too high to go through tunnels; the wheels of the lower cages are blocked up and vacant portions of the truck tightly wedged up,, so that the cages may not shift. In all the heavier operations the elephants.play an rntelligen and almost indispensable part. ihe three buffaloes and three camels share a truck: My Lady Giraffe has a special carriage to herself, with a man-servant to attend on all her wants; the elephants, when their turn comes, go two into a truck, “head and tail” fashion, like children of a large family, which they are. The “zoo” carries about with it about 30 wild animals, over 40 horses, about 50 workmen, and close «n 40 “artists,” besides the managerial staff. A few of the workmen make “shakedowns” for themselves at the station, so that they may know it anythin o- is molested. "Workmen and managerial staff go through to Carterton bv the special train at 2 a.m. on Monday, the performers following by an ordinary train.. QUICK WORK AT THE OTHER END. •

Usually, performers are timed to arrive at a show town about M a.m.; on arrival they will usually find the tents erected, and preparations well in hand for the evening’s show.r No act is leftout of the programme at the smallest town, nor anv of the animals at the railway station. Otto and Emil and Itcderiques Brothers, rehearse tlieir act like the humblest performers, and are keen on finding out- new tricks. The feeding and physicking of the live stock is a large responsibility. the seven elephants consume among them a ton of oaten chaff hay a day, and a bottle ot whisky in a bucket of water is the sovereign remedy when ail elephant takes a chill. Three weeks from now, the company will know a little more, of the art- of shift in sr camp than they do at present, if that is possible. Durifig that period tho circus will show in a different town each night.