CIRCUS AND JAPANESE VILLAGE.

Auckland Star, Volume XVIII, Issue 4, 17 March 1887, Page 2

CIRCUS AND JAPANESE VILLAGE.

FiiYHii's Equine Paradox and Willard's Japanese Villngo opened in Auckland for the first timo last night, and, however high may havo boon tho anticipations raised by thia grandioßo nomenclature, they could hardly have been disappointed. In other words, the "show" prorod a decided success, and wo have no hesitation in predicting for it a sustained "run" of good business. Tho " Japanese Village is located in the northern wing of tho City Market, tho walla arid ceiling being covered with tho gaudy parachutes, lanterns and screons which, the colossal visitors aio chiefly engaged in fabricating. Eight or riino fetalla aro fittod up as workshops for them, and therein almond eyed men and women were busily employed last night in making and painting ecroena and par.ieol.?, am) in ileilly carving bamboo canes, while a youthful shaver of tome six or seven summers, with elato and pencil in hand, was eagerly inviting tho visitors to set him tmns °.o that ho might di?pls>y hi-* proficiency in arithmetic to an astonished generation. All this w..s supplementary to tho circus proper, which was hold in Moseis Hesketh and Aitken's spacious Agricultural Hall, which is admirably adapted for performances of tho kind now undor notice. The programme which was presented proved to bo both novel and highly entertaining. It differs materially in its constituent parts from tho general run of circus business. In tho first pbee, thero was no interval halfway through, tho Hema of porforraance being continuous until tho ond wan rosiched, and socondisnly feats ot equostiianism, and of acrobatic skill in tumbling, vaulting, and. trape/.o display .wfio couofjicuous" only by their ab'-enco wliilo clownih gag and by -play v.-oro kept within very modera'o limits. Tho entertainment may hi c!a-sih'ed into two divieione, of which tho first was con- ; tribuled by Japanese performers, and the «ccond hy Mr Fryer and his remarkably well trained stud of horsr«. Sandwiched between thc*e divi-iona woro tho performances of Shillbto, tho mueiciil clown. After an overture by the band the entertainment, bcL'uu with feats of balancing by an adult Japanese and a child (i or 7 yeurs o!d, who was spun round upon tho uplifted feet of nn eeuior, and wont through with great miuyfiviU a variety ol difficult lunt-i, in which lie exhibited tho eupplenoM of auoftl and I ho limpness of a little hoil"i'hi>g. Another Japanese balancer showed h* much skill with his feot in the opening udij shutting of an umbrolla us an ordinary pvraon would with his lmndfl, tthilu a funambulist of tho ramo roco performotf on tho tight roiio without fmy bal mclr.^r paraphernalia except umbrella nr.d fan. A third balancer spun and twirlod with hi-^ uplf.od feet a barrel of no recall biim, and then oapp.d LiX di-3 play by oontruU'iiK tho inovsments of the barrel and livo tubs st,ickr ; d one upon the other underneath it. A i^urtii Jap opened tho eye* ot the youngsters and amazed their elders by ;i very clover exhibition of top spinning Shiileto, tho clown, introduced pome musical extravagances, such a-i tho Fau^t Family uped to figure

in. iio strummed out tunes on a beef-can guitar, piped out ethers on a bollowsMuto, i.nituttd tho drono and ckirl of the bagpipes on a whittle, manipulated the violin both without tho bow and with the bow fixed In ab.urd position?, and finally played " St. Patrick's Da> in tho Morning," and ono or two Chriaty minstrel airs upon a row of bottles suspended by their nocliH ivjui a framework of wocd. ak a reward ho received tho only encore of the evening. Tho equine performances followed, and commanded tho unqualified udmiraiion of tho spectators. First of all, eight beautifully groomed and shapely little ponies wcio introduced by Mr Fryer, and at tho word of command froori him went through a eeriea of military mameuvres with a precision that could not havo been excelled had each on 6of the octette been undor tho control of a separate and experienced rider. Thon came performances equally tkiifulby individual ponies. "Bobbie" plajed at skipping rope; " Byron " waltzed and polkacd round the ring ; " Byron " and " Hurapcy " played at hide and seek j "Sappho" outwitted the clown at hunting the flipper, or rathor handkerchief; " Draco " and "liumpty" nmueed themselves grotesquely at poetaw ; " Ualeigh " rolled a barrel up and down an inclined piano ; and " Knsign " showed his eingular fkill in leaj,ii!K, while two goats, named "Siubad nud Sebastian," brought down tho "house" by the eaee with which they rode horses and changed partners while their stoeetn were career ing u'ong at a gallop. Tho programme wound up with a aide-splitting performance entitled, "Circus lading Exposed," which really must bo eoe-n in order to b.j enjoyed. Mr Fryer's stud of hori-c;' tilce the oako for docility, intelligence, .and High training. Nothing superior to them ha* over boon s?en in Now Zouland, and we doubt if thore has over been anything hero to at all cquai them. Tho show is very entertaining, but the management would do well in future to shift tho front seats a littlo further back to that (heir occupants may not bo overwhelmed with loose oirth and sawdust, and also to improvo tho ventilation of tho hall by opening all tho window*