CIRCUS FREAKS.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 46, 23 February 1929, Page 16

CIRCUS FREAKS.

LOVES AND AMBITIONS. A TEMPERAMENTAL LOT. FiKES IN THE CIRCUS. freaks are Invariably the recipients of s great deal of sympathy, Writes Mr. Clyde Ingalls, who for several fears has travelled all over the world !i search of freaks. Yet people will ifca surprised to learn that there are literally thousands of men and women Who aspire to be among their number, indeed, judging from hundreds of letters I receive daily from various people offering themselves as side-show exhibits, to he ft freak is even more alluring & proposition than to be a film star. L Freaks are not by any means the unfortunate beings people imagine. In ttie first place they enjoy being looked at: it is to them what applause is to an rrtist, and when travelling in public ihey will deliberately go out of their ■«ry in order to attract attention. '.hen the freak has a much better time of it travelling in a side-show than is would at home, where he is regarded as an outcast and treated as such. In the circus the freak commands a big .salary—a good freak act is worth £500 week on the music-hall—he is well Wed and fed, and lie enjoys the companionship of this kind. i Some of these letters are very amusW'. There was one from a man who iad a wart on the hack of his neck the shape of a collar stud," Offering his services for £10 a week. Another, who claimed he could pound a .•pillow with his head for twelve hours without tiring. Yet a third —this time girl—who offered to Eell kisses at 10/ '.a kis3, adding that she had been a great isuecess at a recent function.

f This function afterwards turned out ;!so be a charity fete for the blind! i Searching the world for freaks is a •aiflicult and tiresome business. Wild goose chases are frequent. I once travelled a thousand miles to see a "freak," only to be disappointed and iftnd that, as a commercial proposition, ■■he was "no go." "I'm a Whale." ; On the other hand; you will sometimes ("pick up a freak quite by chance. This "was the case with the giant "Sky High, Whom I spotted when he visited our Circus. I knew immediately I saw him I'ae was at least three inches taller than : ; the tallest man i had ever seen. Ho was then earning £3 a week; his income '•now runs into hundreds of pounds, j Although there are many people who 'Jancy themselves as freaks because of isome minor deformity, there are others who, quite unknown to themselves, are ! worth a.fortune to the circus showman. once came across a girl only 3ft 6in 'high, with peculiar pointed features. I jiad her head shaved and made up to 'look like a bird. I christened her the I "Cuckoo." She Is still one of our biggest attractions. Much depends upon the choice of ft 'jiaine. The more apt and striking the i name, the 'Bigger draw the freak is likely to prove. For instance, I christened i the fat girl, "I'm a Whale"—that tickled ; people —the giant "Sky High," and the ! smallest midget. "Major Mite," and so , on. These names often replace their : rc?l ones, and I know of at least one i freak, who actually had his registered. I T once went to Hamburg to see a | freak who was famed for her elephant j skin. After spending a tiring day going i from one booth to another —in Germany I the fair is spread all over the town and '/not in one square—l came across the I girl in a. small side-show. Her skin j was no more elephantine than mine. All ' the needed was a good wash. Vagaries of Love. When It comes to marriage it is ! usually a case of "opposite attracting , Opposite" 'in the freak world. The ; living skeleton is married to the fat : woman, the midget to the giant. The j pigmy fell in love with the snake- \ 'charmer and ran her errands for her. | Every morning he could be seen scurry- ! ing across the yard, carrying pails of J water for her reptiles. The fat girls never have any difllI 'cully in securing husbands. They earn i such good incomes. I. The freaks are very temperamental. ! .Whether this is due to their rise in the i world or their particular nature is open ; to question. The slightest thing upsets them. One freak left us because he discovered his salary was a sovereign less than another's although both their salaries ran into hundreds of pounds. Occasionally one comes across a fake I among the circuses of to-day, but they i are much rarer than they used to be. j Some time ago, when booking exhibits • for Olympia, I heard of a man who had two bodies. When I came to investi- ) gate the matter I discovered that a

j mail whose legs had been amputated i 3bad teen strapped on to the back or ; ''another.

| When travelling in America I once j visited a side show where some i "Siamese Twins" were being shown. ! They created a sensation until one day j some roughs swarmed on to the plat- ; form and tore them apart. They had been cemented together by means of j papier mache made up to resemble i skin and strapped round their bodies. ! The proprietors sued tho culprits for ; £10,000, but, of course, lost the case.