Sawdust & Spangles: Stories & Secrets of the CircusCoup, W. C. (William Cameron)
History
Sawdust & Spangles: Stories & Secrets of the Circus
Coup, W. C. (William Cameron)
Circus
From this town we proceeded to a large Indian encampment. There we
obtained permits from John Ross, Chief of the Cherokee Nation, and
erected our tents. The government had just made an Indian payment to
this tribe, all the money being in twenty-dollar gold pieces. Neither
the circus treasurer nor any one in the community could change these
coins for money of smaller denomination, and we were almost in despair.
Meantime some of the Indians climbed into a tree, seated themselves
comfortably in the branches, and prepared to witness the entire
performance free of charge. This exasperated me, and, seizing an ax, I
commenced hewing at the tree. Instantly I found myself the center of an
incipient riot, as there was a law in the Territory forbidding a white
person to cut down a tree. John Ross, however, quickly came to my
rescue and saved my scalp by an adroit appeal to his people.
We adopted the plan of admitting the Indians in squads, charging them a
dollar each and taking a double-eagle from every twentieth man. The
Indians seemed to enjoy the performance hugely, but were highly excited
by the tricks of the magician, whom they regarded as a supernatural
being.
DEVOTIONAL SERVICES UPSET BY A DEMON
At a certain town in Missouri a laughable circumstance occurred. Here,
for some time, a revival had been in progress. The revivalists had been
abusing the circus, its surroundings and influences, and had tried to
prevent us from exhibiting. However, we secured a lot adjoining the
church and opened our doors. John Robinson, the chief proprietor of our
show, was one of the best equestrians that ever lived, and at that time
was introducing what he called his Demon Act. In this act he dressed
and made up as nearly as possible like a demon. While riding his four
horses at breakneck pace around the ring, he would utter a series of
the most ferocious yells imaginable, at the same time working himself
up to a great pitch of excitement, until, as the auditors frequently
expressed it, he "looked like his Satanic Majesty himself."
On this occasion, at the close of his act, he jumped from his horses,
ran out of the dressing-room and boldly entered the church, exclaiming
in the stentorian voice for which he was famed: "I am victorious! I am
victorious!" The effect was magical. The revivalist had been eloquently
exhorting on the subject of the Prince of Darkness, and the overwrought
congregation took but one glance at the theatrical Satan, and then,
leaping madly through the windows and doors of the little church, broke
for the woods.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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