Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 56, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 March 1911 — Page 2

Training Circus Riders

ASILY the most adI mired of all the circus performers are the bnreB back riders-—male and female. No acts ao thrill the spectators as J do theirs, unless possl- . tff bly It be the sensational l/y' trapeze performances, each engaging the services of a large “family” K 1 of foreign acrobats l I which have of late years w / become a feature with / the largest American f circuses. However, not hwk evefh the aeriallßts, proPl tec ted by nets, brave Iw the dangers that confront the bareback riders, whose single mis-

•tep or wrong calculation may result In a fall more serious than the tumble of a trapese artist from a lofty bar. Moreover, the riders in addition to the dangers of falls have the everpresent menace of the flying horses’ hoofs and the possibility of kicks from horses, for even the most dependable of circus steeds have their moments of 111 temper when they indulge In kicking propensities. All these dangers are braved not only by the artists known as bareback riders, but tn no less degree by the men and women who present thoroughbred horses In “high school," or La Manage acts, which means, of course, the putting of high steppers through a variety of paces. the jumping of hurdles, the rearing of the mount on his hind legs and other dexterous feats of masterly horsemanship. Not only are the equestrian stars the most conspicuous performers in the eyes of the general public, but from the standpoint of the circus people themselves they are the aristocrats of the community that centers around the sawdust ring. Socially they are in a class by themselves among* the performers and caste Is generally recognized. Families devote themselves to circus riding through generation after generation to an extent unknown In other branches of the show business. Young members of these old equestrian families might almost be said to grow up on horseback: they marry In their own little circle; and herein they And their life work, until when too old for riding they retire to s peaceful life on a farm. The equestrians, forming the exclusive “set" of the traveling circus community are accorded the best staterooms in the sleeping cars in which the performers travel, and some of them further emphasize their position by putting up at a hotel In each city visited by the circus Instead of taking their meals at the big dining twit “on the lot” With such a situation it is only to be expected that the riders should receive the highest salaries of any of the performers—that is taking the Individual average. This matter of salary combined with the further problem of obtaining and

We may accept as quite well established the fact that hallucinations, to people who hare them, are real things, and that loss of memory is a real thing, and that double personality is t real thing. Of the loss of memory many cases are familiar. One of the most curious was that of a man who had been a cork cutter in England, says the London Dally Graphic, and went out to America leaving a family behind him. He was wrecked and lost all memory of his former life. He became well to do and prosperous and it was only by ♦' accident of going over a cork cubing factory that he recovered the clue to his former personality. His thinking brain was unstirred, but that part of the brain which directs muscular action enabled him by an act of unconscious memory to cut a cork —an act which no unpracticed person could do. It waa clear then that he had once been a cork cutter, and the Institution of further Inquiries finally identified him. To return, however, to the cases of duplex personality. The first one of recorded historically is that of a youth named Sorgel, in Bavaria, who waa an epileptic, and in one of the relapses into criminal frame of mind which followed on his epileptic seizures kflled a woodcutter. He made no attempt to defend or hide his act, hut childishly explained it. He continued thqg for a week after the crime, when hi* first personality was restored to Mm. He then completely forgot all the occurrences that had preceded or followed the murder. Although this case took place nearly 100 years Ifo his judges ware convinced of his Innocence Sorgel afterward died in a lunatic asylum.

Dual Personalities

transporting horses tor the riders explains why one sees so few bareback riders with the average small country circus. It needs the wealth and income of the big show to support a goodly company of riders. From one standpoint, the high salaries of the circus riders appears to be Justly deserved. Riding Is the most difficult of all circus stunts to master as well as the most dangerous to perform, once the knack of poising on a galloping horse has been mastered. As has been mentioned above, the average new recruit in the ranks of circus riders comes of an equestrian family and consequently he or she has the benefit of capable instruction at home. To attain the greatest proficiency in riding, as in any' other acrobatic line, practice should begin in childhood. A youngster under instruction under such circumstances is lifted by the father or mother onto the horse upon which the adult rider is practicing. At first the beginner must be held in place on the horse’s back, but gradually confidence is gained and the new rider can maintain his position with no aid save a steadying hand when there comes a sudden lurch of the plunging mount Finally he is able to take care of himself unaided and then gradually there are mastered all the tricks of mounting a horse at a gallop and the feature work such as leaping over banners and through paper-covered hoops. Some circus children serve an apprenticeship as bareback riders on

The larger number of these instances of dual personality follow on epilepsy, but one is recorded by Dr. Drewry of Virginia, 1596, of Mr. K. Mr. K., while apparently in perfect health, went to a northern town to transact some business, which he did quite ably and rationally. He then disappeared. He was given up for dead. Then, six months afterward, he was found, brought homp again, a changed man in mind and body. The six months interval was a blank to him and always remained so. He had spent them as an odd job man in a southern state. His recovery dated from the breaking down of a growth in his auditory canal, which had undoubtedly afTected his brain in a physical sense. But of the more curious canes of double personality, which did not begin and leave off suddenly, but which endured for a number of years, there are a number of instances. One was Mias Mary Reynolds, who for 15 or 1$ years had two states of existence, in one of which she was a melancholy, morbid young woman and in the other a gay, hysterical, mischievous child. The alternations, in which the child state lasted from five to six weeks, oontlnued at Intervals of varying length for 15 or 16 years, but finally ceased when she attained the age of thirty-five or thirty-six, leaving her permanently in her secondary or acquired state. The emotional opposition of the two states had, however, become gradually reduced, and the third state at which she eventually arrived was a rational state, removed from both of them. There are cases of nmltiplex personality. of which the best known Is that of the epileptic Lulso Vive, whose

Shetland ponies—notoriously steady of gait and so small that a tumble from the back of one is not so likely to result In broken bones. A. very ingenious contrivance has been perfected for giving confidence to new recruits among women bareback riders. It Is, In effect, a swinging pole supported at one end by a pole corresponding to the center pole of g circus ring. This pole swings round and round the ring, keeping pace with the horse galloping around the sawdust arena. At the outer end of this pole is a contrivance which grasps the timid rider around the waist or under the arms and which will enable her to take her entire weight off the horse at a moment’s notice. The reader will appreciate that with this support in reserve the rider need not fear overbalancing. If she doee lose her balance the pole will hold her up and enable her to regain her proper position on the back of the horse traveling directly underneath. Circus riders exercise great care in the selection of their horses — “rosin-backs," as the circus people call them, because of the powder that is sprinkled on their broad backs to prevent the riders from slipping. The ideal horse for bareback work must be good tempered; steady and unvarying in gait, and heavy enough to present a broad back as a moving platform for the performer’s feats. Circus riders, It may be added, not only ride In the circus ring, but also in the daily parade.

different states were distinguished by different forms of paralysis, as well as by entirely different moral proclivities, and there is the curious case of Miss Beauchamp, a patient of Dr. Morton Prince, a full account of which was given in the International Congress of Psychology, Paris, in 1900. Miss Beauchamp was a neurasthenia but clever young woman, who overworked at college. She was of a morbidly conscientious and rather reserved disposition. She was hypnotised in order to try the power of suggestion, and out of one of these hypnotic trances emerged a new Mlsa Beauchamp a person entirely different, from the original Miss Beauchamp in manners, ideals, education and temperament. This new Mlsa Beauchamp was called “Sally" Beauchamp, and one of the peculiarities of her michlevous temper was a profound dislike of the “other Miss Beauchamp." The case Is too complex and too curious for complete summary here, but it presents the am axing fact that in one brain may reside the possibility of the existence of two entirely different beings, different in mind, thought, disposition, health and temper. Quite apart from any attempt to deceive on the part of such “abnormal" cases, one of the symptoms of brain injury or Incipient brain affection Is the real ability to distinguish between the real and the unreal. One of tbs authorities in London on brain recently asked a young girl who had been deceiving her parents for some years with fables as to imagined incidents and imagined acquaintances what waa the difference to her between these imaginary things and the real existence, for example, of himself and of the room where they were standing "None at all," she replied.

ONE-SIDED BOUTS TIRESOME

Public Anxious to See Wrestling Match Between the Big Fellows —Mahmout Ready. If the wrestling fans of this country were asked to pick the four aces of the sport there seems little doubt that Champion Gotch, Mahmout, Zbyszko, and Hackenschmidt would be the choices of the great majority. Any two of these men matched in a finish

Yussiff Mahmout.

bout that was on the level would prove a remunerative proposition for the promoters and an attractive event for the fans. It looks like a simple proposition, but the optical viewpoint is deceiving, the problem being one of the gnarled dak variety. In times gone by the challenges used to read “man and money ready at the Red Lion,” or something along those lines. Nowadays match-making is a far more complex proposition, says the Chicago Tribune. It is easy jo get the lion to lie down with the lamb, but, judged by current events, almost impossible to get two Hons together. It is charged the men who pull the strings control the wrestling puppets and that unless the grappler has a string attached to him about the best he can get is a thinking part. This at least appears to be the predicament in which Mahmout, the Bulgarian heavyweight, finds himself. Always sportsmanlike in his matches, and without a doubt a high class performer, the big fellow from the Balkan regions seems unable to get on a match, and the charge is made by his friends that his failure to do so Is because he is outside the “trust.” There may be such a trust, and again there may hot. If there Is the sooner it is “busted” the better. Stronger amusement combinations have gone to the wall. The public which supports the game wants to see the biggest fishes In the wrestling acquarium, and will not be satisfied with the whale against the minnow matches now being served up.

BILL DAHLEN MEETS POLECAT

Painful Experience Comes to Manager of Brooklyn Team While Rabbit Hunting in New York. Bill Dahlen, manager of the Brooklyn National league baseball team, who. was at Fort Plain, N. Y., recently to attend a reunion of the family in honor of the seventieth anniversary of the birthday of his mother, has “sworn off’’ indulging in his favorite sport of rabbit hunting. Here’s the reason: Dahlen went on a rabbit hunting trip on skis, accompanied by his t*c brothers and some local hunters ol repute. Bill had a ferret to help him. For several hours all went well and he had bagged many bunnies. Then suddenly Bill stumbled on a hole which looked sure of housing a rabbit or two. He sent the ferret on its way and got the bag in readiness. In short order, with countless yelps and unusual noises, out dashed —not a rabbit, but a skunk. Dahlen’a friends are circulating a report that he will use its left hind foot for a mascot during the season of 1911.

Safeguarding Football Players.

All High school football players In Indiana for the coming season will have to pass a physical examination. A certificate must be filled out and signed by the physician, and then placed on file with Secretary Giles of the state organization. Furthermore, no player may take part in high school football contests unless he files with the principal of the school a certificate bearing th& written consent of either parent or of his guardian that he shall play.

Freshmen Are Barred.

President David Starr Jordan of Lei and Stanford university, pleading for one year free from the excitement of publicity between the high school and later university years, has recommended and the faculty has ruled that hereafter no freshman shall participate in InterooUaglate athletics.

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Baseball soothsayers are predicting big things for the Cincinnati Reds. President Murphy of the Chicago Cubs is said to favor a new ball for use in the major leagues. Kansas City, too, has tabooed the handicap wrestling match as the wind-up of a big show. Christy Mathewson says Johnny Evers is one of the best ever at “getting the Other team’s nerve.” Dr. Roller says the world’s wrestling championship lies among “Hackenschmidt, Zbyszco and myself.” Wanted, by 16 major league managers, a pitcher whom no one can hit and a batter who can hit any hurler. Some clever eastern statistician has figured that Abe Attell makes about 140,000 a year taking on numerous short battles. Tony Biddle says the real gentlemen who take in boxing matches at highclass clubs should be attired in full evening dress. Kid Howard’s coming star, Mickey Sheridan of Chicago, and Paul Sikora of Detroit, fought ten rounds to a draw near Cleveland. An inquiring fan wants to know how to become an aviator. He might try “changing his ways” of travel and sprout a pair of wings. Eddie Collins is cutting his reportorial eye teeth and Ty Cobb is shapening his editorial material for use In case he\fajls Iq-make good in 1911. Michigan university’s football eleven is |13,000 to the good. Now some of the other colleges will want to have the rules revised. It Is a difficult task for pitchers to put strikes over on midgets. This is one advantage of being of diminutive stature. Owen Bush of the Detroit Tigers, the smallest player In the

TALE OF MOIR-WELLS FIGHT

New Yorker Declares Battle Between Two Englishmen Was Funniest of His Experience. “I have seen many prize fights in my time,” said a man who has just returned to New York from London, “but the one between Gunner Moir and Bombardier Wells was the funniest In my experience. “Hugh Mclntosh, the Australian, and our own Jimmie Britt are running a high-class fighting exhibition business over there, and the big hall back of the skating rink at the Olympia was packed with fully 6,000 people —lords and dukes and countesses and duchesses and the biggest kind of swells, who had put up at least twe guineas ($10.50) a seat, at least the most of them. Wells was the undefeated champion, so called, and a 20round contest was scheduled. In the first round Wells jabbed the Gunner one with his left and knocked him down, and he was so long getting up that people began to leave the hall. In the second round both men were down, with the referee counting*, and neither got up on time. Then, in the first minute of the third, Wells was knocked out. The whole battle was over In ten minutes. It would be a good thing if a lot of our prize fighters who are always knocking out each other in the newspapers would go over and do some real work.”

RULE ON SCHENECTADY PUTTER

That breach between the United States Golf association and the Royal and Ancients of St. Andrews, Scotland, caused by the edict of the dictators of the golf world against “mallet headed" putters, is far from being closed. Although the meeting in Chicago did not Insist- upon the enforcement of the Royal and Ancients’ new rule, many golfers, especially In the east, are strong for observance of anything emanating from the venerable Scotch organization. The rule bars a lot of clubs that have been used many years, though it doubtless is aimed against only a few of the extreme type, notably the Schenectady putter. One definition given of a "mallet headed" putter la as follows: “One that is wider from face to back than it is long from heel to toe." But this definition is not comprehensive enough, for many putters now tolerated approximate this shape without actually conforming to It. What the Royal and Ancienta are undoubtedly fighting against Is the spirit of change with which this country attacks every sport that it takes up, The progressive disposition of

American* league, received the mosfi bases on balls. Pitcher Walter Johnson Is a knocks out as well as a strikeout star. He) says Washington must pay him $7,000' for this season’s work. Counting the days until the major league teams start on their spring jaunts seems to be the principal pastiming even in St. Louis. Clark Griffith, manager of the Reds,' is out with the statement that the Na- 1 tlonal league race lies between the Reds and the Cubs this year. Both Coster and Attell,. who fought recently, are laid up for repairs. Coster is being operated on for appendicitis and Abe is nursing a fractured shoulder blade. Eight National league teams will try out approximately 250 players for 1911. How many of these phenomß will even have a chance to warm benches in 1911? Connie Mack, when he reached Philadelphia from an extended honeymoon across the Atlantic, refused to discuss baseball, hut admitted there was no place like home. “Red” Kelley, who lingered at the South Side just long enough to win the title “former member of the White Sox,” will coach the Notre Dame baseball candidates this year. A medical journal records 19 deaths and 400 Injuries due to the football season of 1910. It may be a fine sport, but it Is a poor cause to require the sacrifice of so many martyrs. The Highlanders’ new ball park will #eat 40,000, and the patrons are to have every convenience in the grand stand they get at first-class theatres. The grand stand will be three decks and 20,000 will be able to find seats there.

POOL PLAYER WILL RETIRE

Champion Alfred de Oro to Devote Time in Future to Billiards, Says New York Report. Alfred de Oro’s match with William Clearwater In defense of the pool championship which he won from Je-

Alfred de Oro.

rome Keogh probably marks the passn ing of De Oro as a pool player. It laj de Oro’s eleventh championship con-j test and he probably will quit the I game to devote his time to threecushion billiards.

Americans extends to their pastimes.* Where the Britons are content to let the games of their forefathers reftialn as they were, the Americans insist on making those they adopt up to date. The Royal and Ancients cling to the Iron putter of their forebears. They do not want the center shafted monster or the mallet headed pretender to dethrone the tools that were good enough for their ancestors, even though Americans think they have proven that the innovations are a lot better than the ancient and obsolete types that existed a century ago. They have the ball already in this hustling, bustling conntry. The old guttapercha sphere once sufficed, but the American, manufacturers have found substitutes that could produce much better results, and now the market is clogged with a variety of balls, all better than the old one. Americans, for the moet part, think that the new clubs are sure to come, sooner or later. In any case, they can’t see the sense in clinging to any instrument that can be Improved upon.