WIRTH'S CIRCUS.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 68, 20 March 1916, Page 2

WIRTH'S CIRCUS.

■ ALMOST HUMAN SEALS. The huge tent set up by the Wirth Brothers on the reclamation near the tepid baths in Customs Street was on Saturday night more than filled as far as the seating accommodation was concerned. About half as many mere tickets as there were seats, were apparently, Bold, and the result >vas a surging crowd in the arena. . Those who had paid fori seats raised a howl of "sit down in I front," and would not allow the show | to go on until the management had i found some sort of accommodation for | the overplus. 8a1e.,5 of straw, the iron j doors of the lion house, odd boxes, I planks, etc., were pressed into the ser- j vice, and about twenty minutes late the programme opened. This time the big attraction of the big show is the collect-on of trained 6eals exhibited by Captain Hulings. There are half a dozen of these remarkable animals, and from the moment they floundered clumsily out of their cage into the ring, making queer noises like the latest and weirdest motor-horn, they I kept the audience in a state of wonder. !At the end of their turn the trainer was j loudly cheered. It is the cleverest half- | dozen animals we have ever seen iv I Auckland. The queer beasts seemed able \ to reason. One has seen all sorts of: unlikely animals trained to \o remark- : able tricks, but one has never before seen I them trained to juggle as these seals.! They balance balls, umbrellas, and other things uncannily on the tip of the snout. \ They can toss the balanced ball from '' one to another of the row, and the last one throws it knowingly back to the trainer. A remarkable feat was the balancing of a candelabra, which held three balls. After keeping the thing in the air for several minutes, the seal dropped it, and caught one of the falling balls right on the end of his nose in an almost human way. Three of them make a sort of music—one blowing a French horn, another banging a drum, and the third the cymbals. Yet another of the black and glossy company plays a Teal tune on a sort" of key-board to which electric bells are'connected. Mascot 13 a fine big fellow who juggles whil? nding a pony, and does other unexpected things. Tight-rope walking is also amon~ the accomplishments of these cunnin" animals. It was an astonishing performance, and caused much enthusiasm among the audience. In the other branches the circus is well up to the Wirth standard. Miss -May Wirth gives a neat exhibition o! , somersault riding. Mussa Mamiev, the Russian Cossack, does some of the darin* feats which are generally associated with his fellow-countrymen-picking un things while galloping by, shooting a rifle under and over his steed, and hanging on by one foot. Lou vain gives a nea. performance on the tight-rope, the htn 8 - PCrf ° rm on th * three Mrs, and the various other members of the company each contribute excellent iL ■ v Ch * pUn very like th * ordinal m make-up and antics. The circus wffl o, h? WmR S-" 6 Week ' Matinee* Jill be grven on Wednesday and Satur-