AHEAD OF A CIRCUS

Northern Advocate, 22 February 1926, Page 8

AHEAD OF A CIRCUS

TWENTY-SEVEN YEARS’ RUN. AN INTERESTING CHAT. The life of a circus advance manager is one of the most colourful avocations a man can follow. Mr G. L. Peterson, who passed through Whangarei on Friday, has had twenty-seven years of what may bo called the "grand ton# of Australia and New Zealand.” During that long period he has "blazed the trail” for Wirths' Circus, and in the course of that time has visited every town of any size in both countries. That a Wirth circuit is something not lightly to be entered upon may be gathered from the fact that it occupies two years. ■Chatting with a reporter, Mr Peterson gave some very interesting information relative to circus travelling in Australia. Seasons of six weeks each are made at Melbourne and Sydney, after which the circus steers north, going as far as Cairns, which is the farthest north point of railway -communication. Trekking back to Sydney, the circus entrains in its entirety for the great trip across tlio Australian continent. At Albury, on the Victorian border, a change of trains has to be made, ; due to the short-sighted policy of the Governments of Victoria and New South Wales in laying down tracks of gauges' in . . the ‘ respective; States. The journey, to Melbourne accomplished, another change of trains has to bo effected. The next terminal stop is at Port Augusta, nearly 200 miles north-west of Adelaide, where the party entrain on the transcontinental, which, after passing through Kalgoorlie, ultimately drops the circus at Perth. THE ACME pF COMFORT. i “One of the most luxurious railway services in the world,” said Mr Peterson, referring to the transcontinental system. "When the train is boarded at Port Augusta a servant inquires the hour at which you prefer your breakfast, and whether you would like a shower or a warm bath upon arising. Following .the system adopted by th© larger passenger steamhsip services, meals can be obtained at practically all hours. Breakast can be had between the hours of 7 a.m. and 9 a.m., and luncheon.is served between 12 and 2 p.m. Near the dining carriage is. a perfect .lounge, where the afteirdinner hour can be made more pleasant by a ] fine orchestra. The long run, through country covered with eternal saltbrush, would be monotonous in the. ex- ( treme were it not for the many comforts provided. ■ But, with, the broad gauge and dead straight line, one would never dream he was on board a train. The journey between Port Augusta and Kalgoorlie, a distance of a thousand miles, is accomplished in 36 hours. Five 1 hours later the train steams into , Perth.” ' ‘ GROWTH OF NEW ZEALAND. Mr Peterson was much impressed with the remarkable signs of progress he has seen in every part of thh Dominion. The growth of the' cities has. been especially brought before hik notice by the, difficulty, not hitherto .' encountered to the same extent, of securing adequate space in central positions for the circus locations. He found that most of the spare lots have been built on, and- that the only suit? able areas are some distance put of th© - cities. Many of th© local authorities he had encountered were requiring outr rageous terms for showing licenses. This would have the effect of driving most of the small shows off tho run, thus injuring tho-general public. "Some,people have the idea that a circus comes to a place, takes all theavailable money ,and moves on again, without leaving anything behind but empty purses,’’ said Mr Peterson, who went on to explain that a circus was really a large family, which purchased extensively at every place visited. 1 Large quantities of meat and milk had to be purchased for the animals, while the elephants consumed vast quantities of hay. All these commodities, as well as provender for the 150 people en- • gaged, had to be purchased locally, and, besides this, the Government de-, rived big revenue from the circus. As a matter of fact, the railway received £6OOO, and the steamship company collected £SOOO for transporting the circus to and from Australia. “So you, see,” said Mr Petersoh, “we leave at least a good percentage of our earnings in every place we visit.”