Modern Nomads

Evening Star, Issue 23175, 26 January 1939, Page 7

Modern Nomads

COME TO THE COOKHOUSE DOOR. Most of the cooking, however, is done on open ranges—well, open fires —outside the food van. There are two sets of cooks: a cook and an “ offsider ” (in

Dwellers in Railway Carriages

Along the Road With a Circus

They Travel, But See Not

“ When is a railway carriage not a railway carriage?” The question is not really a riddle, nor, perhaps, can it fairly be claimed as a general knowledge query. The answer is “ When it is an hotel room,” which will probably make the whole thing all the more confusing.

The point is that “ stars ” and workmen. associated with a visiting circus are not billeted upon private citizens, nor do they seek the secluded rooms of city hotels. They live in railway carnages, modern gipsies whose caravans go wherever the (railway lines are laid. At the present time a chain of carriages has been shunted on to the railway siding along the foreshore, and within these carriages is a community of circus folk, quite happy in their temporary and confined quarters. To the average person whose acquaintance with a railway carriage begins and ends with a journey from one part of the country to another, the idea of sorting up home within the sharply defined limits of a product of Hillside or some other railway workshop might be consWcred the last word in the impossible. It is not impossible to those associated with Perry’s Circus, nor has it been over the long years this circus has been on the road. In Australia the greater part of each 13 months is spent under the roof of a railway carriage, and no one is any the worse for that. The only difference between railway carriage life in Australia and in Now Zealand is that the Australian carriages are slightly more comfortable. They vary somewhat in each - State, however, and as each State has a different gauged railway line, when a border is reached shifting day comes round. . This circus will be in New Zealand for 12 months, approximately six in the South Island and six in the North Island. During the whole of that time, with perhaps occasional exceptions in the north of the South Island, where, because the railway as yet does not run right through the South Island, the company may take to the roads, life for the circus fraternity will be lived in carriages bearing the symbols N.Z.R. When the company is ready to invade the North Island their pleasant South Island homes will be vacated and new quarters obtained. ALL HOME COMFORTS.

When the company arrived at Bluff before Christmas the Railway Department was consulted and such carnages as were available for so lo'ng a period of outside ownership as the circus demanded, were considered with a view to suitable adaptation as moving hoarding houses. Several different types of carriages were selected: those with long bench seats capable of being converted into “dormitories ” for the labourers; bird cage carriages, the compartments of which provide rooms for the single men and women who perform in the_ sawdust ring; others which could be divided into “ double rooms ’’ for tho married folk, and vans which are now designated bathrooms, cookhouse, and official quarters.

The more pretentious quarters, the double rooms, consist of a living room and a bedroom. With curtains over the windows, small trinkets jotted hero and there, and battery radio sets judiciously installed, the carriages cer-

tninly take on a totally unusual appearance. The labourers are not so fussy about their quarters; they work' sind sleep mostly, and so long as they have a bed on' which to lie, their troubles are ended. "What do they want with curtains and ornaments ?

The bathroom contains two baths, the water for which is heated in kerosene tins. There is no routine Saturday bath night amongst these “gipsies.” Were it so in a company numbering in the vicinity of 70, an all-night queue would have to form. Baths are taken at the best possible time. The advance manager (Mr A. W. Shcedy) and his wife live in a guard’s van, which does not travel with the circus proper. They arc usually ahead of the main body, making booking arrangements and so on. Their quarters, although containing offices, are roomy and quite comfortable. Mrs Sheedy does her cooking on primus stoves, and. it is her boast that she can cook a dinner the equal of any served in a big hotel.

ordinary English, an assistant), for the labourers, and another cook with an qftsider for the performers. In each instance the one open fire serves. In wet weather, or when winds rage, this method of cooking under the clouded sky of heaven might not seem the most perfect in the world, but nobody worries, and the cooks know their jobs. Cooking for such a contingent of human beings is no small task, nor is it any smaller one catering for the cookhouse demands. Buying is done through one source, and the cost assessed to individuals later on. This ensures cheapest buying, but only the best food is obtained. One can only guess at the amount of money spent

TOURING WITHOUT SIGHTSEEING. Although circuses cover hundreds—thousands—of miles daring the course of a year the amount of country scon by the majority of the company is very small. The labourers, in particular, see little more of any town than that immediately surrounding the railway yards where the circus is unloaded. During the day these men work, or sleep, according to what hours they might have worked during the night; and when travelling is done it is mainly

in foodstuffs by ;i largo circus, but the meat bill alone for any one day is no less than £7. That sum, however, includes the meat that is fed to tho hungry lions—the ones in cages! Tho general response to queries is that “ We would not change this life for any other.” There must be something about this nomadic existence that appeals, and those living it arc content with their lot. Are all those people who live in huge modern homes as content?

at night, so that even the country passed through by the train is unobserved. Actually very few of a circus company see anything of the district which is being visited. Sundays sometimes permit a little sightseeing, but even on Sundays the animals have to bo attended to, and most of the company are too tired to wish to do anything other than sleep. Each winter, however, the circus hibernates for nine weeks, selecting some cosy corner “ to go to earth.” This year the circus will enjoy its

winter siesta somewhere in the North island, “ wherever it is warm, and there is no danger of getting snowed in.” (The circus folk say . New Zealand is cold.) Then there will be opportunities for some sight-seeing, but ouly in limitations, for_ repairs and overhauls will bo gone into. THEY SPEND THE MONEY, It has been argued that circuses take away money from New Zealand. Perhaps they do take some away, but they certainly cause a great deal to circulate.

It has already been hinted that the food bill alone is heavy. There is another item that is heavy—transport charges. The New Zealand railways alone collect 2os a mile In transportation charges. 'By the time the circus leaves New Zealand the railways^will have benefited to the tune, of £5,000 from this one charge. There are ground rents, advertising, hire of carriages, wharfages, and a dozen and one things that can only be obtained through the expenditure of hard cash. There was a day when no circus visiting a city could consider itself a decent circus unless some of the hands became involved in a scrap of worth-while proportions. Those days are past.. The circus hands no longer look for trouble, but it was also suggested to a ‘ Star reporter that “ the local lads in most places find the circus boys too tough, and leave ’em alone. A company on tour is governed by a • strict set of regulations. Any breaking of these regulations is punished by fines or other more drastic forms, according to the nature of the offence. Most of tho labourers, who in the past have been the main source of trouble, adhere to the regulations to the letter these days. Despite the satisfied avowals of the circus, folk perhaps there are_ still many who would not care to live as they do. Even so, as most of us have a streak of recklessness in our hearts, there is no doubt that many would like to be able to adorn railway carriages with intimate articles of apparel, using the spaces between as clothes lines—and get away with it!