FOR OUR BOY'S & GIRLS.

Auckland Star, Volume XXVI, Issue 268, 9 November 1895, Page 3 (Supplement)

FOR OUR BOY'S & GIRLS.

With the World's Greatest

Acrobats.

A Chat With Mr J. W. Cragg.

Reclining in a Bwinging-chair in bhe fronb garden of hia houae in Kenningbon Road, looking delightfully cool, I first caught sight of Mr J. W. Cragg, the father of the world ■ renowned troupe ef acrobate. I could ecarcely believe thab bhia quieb, homely-looking genbleman waß the man who with hie family nightly astonish the vast audiencea at the Empire with feaba of skill and daring'; one leaa like bhe acrobat as he is popularly depicted ib would ba difficult to imagine.

« Walk in,' aaid Mr Cragg, as he led the way into hia charming drawing-room, the walla and tables of which are literally covered with curios, testimonials and diplomaa from all quarters of tho globe. In ono corner Btood a glase case containing an enormous gold wreath of oak and laurel leaves, tied with scarlet ribbon, bearing the inscription in French, 'Souvenir presented to the Cragg family by the propriebora of the Folies Bergere of Paris.' Accompanying this handsome testimonial of esteem for the family ia a certificate of the Diplome d'hotweur, the Craggs having the distinguished honour of being bhe only broupe of acrobats who have ever been awarded this distinction, a facb of which naturally they are proud. The family are greab travellers, there is scarcely any parb of the civiliaed world in which they havo not given their performance ; and it is evident from Mr Cragg's conversation that he is nob a man bo go abdub with his eyes .hub. His reminiscences of America, China, Australia, Net* Zealand. Java, Egypb, the Philippine Islande, and a bosb of other places too numerous to mention, would fill a fair-sized volume with most interesting matter.

•Yea," said Mr Cragg, 'the troupe are all my own family, and each member haa been trained by myself. I began wibh bhem ab bhe earliesb poeaible momenb ; even when they wero babies of seven monthß I have commenced training them by holding them up whilab I lay in bed, balancing bhem on my handß, and immeneely they enjoyed the fun, too, 1 can tell you. All my children have appeared on the stage when they were two yeara of age, and one of my Bona, Cremorne, made hia debut ab bhe age of seventeen months. We are incessantly practising new feats ; we are obliged to do this, as no sooner do we bring out a freeh act than ib ia instantly practised and presented by other membere of our profession. We do not go through our regular performance until we are on the stage, bub we undergo a course of practice every morning. * If you will step thie way I will show you our gymnasium,' and Mr Cragg led me down a flight of steps into a large room about 60 feet by 25 feet, fitted up with every gymnastic appliance bhab mind can conceive. 'Ib is here,' said Mr Cragg, bhab all our feaba are pracbieed. You ccc bhia appliance,' and he pointed to a thick leabher belb auepended from each eide of bhe wall by a stoub rope, one end running over an iron pulley; * thab ia what we call the lunge, and is used when any of us are practising an extra dangerous feat. It is worked by the belt being fastened round the body of tho performer ; then one of ua Btanda with the rope that runa over the pulley in hia hands, and the practising commences ; should a mistake be made, the member who is holding the rope instantly hauls at it, and the performer is lefb hanging eafoly in the air. No, we have never yet had a serious accident, I am glad to aay. The troupe coneists of myself (I am j*ust upon fifty), my eldeßt aon Edward (who is thirty-two), Alfred, James, Cremorne (named on accounb of hia birth having taken place the day that horse won the Derby), my daughber Victoria, who was born in the colony of that name, and who is just twenty-one, and Arthur, my youngeab, bhe baby, I call him, although he ie sixteen. All my boys have bheir hobbies! I don't get much time for relaxation myself, a6 I am the president of the Music Hall Benevolent Fund, and the chief of a email philanthropic society, into which members of the profession only are admitted. "The Water-rats" we call ourselves, and my title is tho " King Rat." Three of my boya are married ; two have children whom they are bringing up in the same manner aa I trained them. So you see there are plenty of Craggs budding,' said my informant, laughing. ' Whab audiencea do you like best ?'

' Well, we geb on well with all audiences, bub I mueb say I think bhe Americans are mosb enthusiastic.'

4 Where do you geb paid besb?'

4 Oh, in America, by a long way. Ab Koater and Bial's, where we have been appearing, and where we are going back bhia autumn, we receive £160 a week. Paris comes next), then Australia, and in England the pay is lowesb of all. Ib is a very curious facb, bub over here ib seems impossible for English arbisba in our profession to get an exclusive engagemenb on anything like good berms, bub if a foreigner comes be can obtain one on his own term& ab once. Of courts, we much -prefer an exclusive engagemenb. Ib makes our work much less fatiguing. Mow, for instance, we are performing at the Empire and tbe Tivoli, and we give the two performances inside of thirty minutes, which is a bib too quick, and"*takes ib oub of us tremendously. We don't have on the other hand to waib too long between our shows, as the limbs are apt to geb a bit stiff, and if we once geb cold ib is much more difficulb to perform. We travel from one hall to another in a covered wagonette, which I drive myself, and, strange as it may seem, when you consider how hob I must get afber my exertions on the stage, 1 seldom or never catch a cold. By-the-bye,' continued Mr Cragg, ' talking of salaries, look ab this,' and he handed me a contract from the proprietor of a theatre in Milwaukee offering bhe broupe £200 a week and all bravelling expenses into bhe bargain.' 'We had to refuse it, too,' said my informant, regrebfully. 1 All bhe boys are teetotallers, but smoke cigarettes incessantly, and I myself drink and smoke in moderation ; no heavy drinker is any good in our profession. We can eat almost anything. ' I waa the originator of the evening dress costume for acrobats, which has been copied all over the world. I am tbe proprietor of the troupe, and take the money, paying my sona such ealariea as they could nob obtain elsewhere. This I do to keep the troupe together. Of "course, bhe Baby only has pocket money—2s 6d a week ;be is a good boy, too, and eavee Ib 6d oub of bhab.' I waa inbroduced to the Baby, and he informed me that he loved bia profession, and would nob miss a nighb for anything ; ho goes to school every day, and is even now taking lessons during the vacation.

' What induced you to starb aa an acrobab?' I asked.

' I wae originally in the printing office of

a Manchester paper,' replied Mr Cragg, • but I was alwayß fond of gymnast_Cß, and commenced practising with a companion in the park. Then we joined the gymnasium of a young men's institute, where we soon became proficient on tbe trapeze, $od ono nighb we appeared aba benefib performance ab the Casino, and our show was such a success that we were engaged at a salary of £2 a week. We threw up our posta io the printing office, and I have been aa acrobat ever since. Thab was in 1862, bob it was nob unbil 1872 that we appeared as a troupe. My wife also was an acrobat, and ao you see bhe family geb bheir acrobatic instincts from both aidea of the family, and I consider my girl ia quite equal to any of the boys in her performance." Mr Cragg is a man of property, having invested come of his money in building a very handsome bheabre in Leigh, Lancashire, which he assured me waa doing extremely well. The feats of this wonderful family must be seen to be fully appreciated; it is impossible even to give the faintest idea on paper of the Wondere they nightly perform ; and as I wended my way home I began to wi&h I had been posßeased of a parenb who had baken ib inbo his head to Btarb braining me for so lucrabive a pro* feseion ab bhe early age of seven months.