END OF FAMOUS CIRCUS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21130, 12 March 1932, Page 2 (Supplement)

END OF FAMOUS CIRCUS.

BOSTOCK AND WOMBWELL'S.

MENAGERIE GOES TO ZOO.

JOURNEY'S' END AT WHIPSNADE.

" ON THE ROAD " FOR 105 YEARS.

'After 105 years ,on the road the famous Bostock' and Wombwell's circus and travelling menagerie' has ceased to exist. Tho last show was given at Glasgow on Saturday, January 16, and then the animals, which had been sold to the London Zoological Society', were entrained for .Whipsnade, the country zoo, Ori Sunday, night, the .whole show was put on a special train for the long.journey to Dunstable. The two elephants—- " Dixie and ■ "Rosie "—were tho principal members of the cargo, each with a waggon to herself. In addition to them ■were 10 lions, two tigers, a Polar bear, two spotted hyenas, two wolves, five jeopards, a striped hyena, a brown bear, two dromedaries,- and a number of smaller animals and birds.

THe-. loading". ,'bf tb'Qvtrain- at Glasgow great number of people to the railway. At Dunstable another crowd was waiting to see tho last lap in Bostock's long journey. Tho dromedaries and the elephants marched in procession from tho Btation to the zoo at Whipsnade, but the other animals were transported in their covered cages. " Dixie," the " star " elephant of Bostock's, was given a place in the open air, tethered to a tree near the waggons. Hero she took a mild interest in strangers who came to look at her, and occasionally she scraped a little earth up with her trunk, casting it over her head. " Rosie " was taken to a shed further along in the park and introduced to " Nejiran," an elephant- which came to Whipsnade from Regent's Park last year. The two appeared to become good friends as soon as they met. " Rosie "is only eight-years-old, and her new companion is 45. Elephants' Pathetic Parting. Mr. H. de Winton Wigley, writing in the News-Chronicle, said:—Whipsnade is " Journey's End " for the menagerie that has travelled thousands of miles. I watched the pathetic' parting of Dixie pn-iffijjtbsie. They tried to lead Rosie away to the elephant house, -where she was to join the Princess, the zod's own-elephant, but Rosie would not go without Dixie,, so Dixie shuffled along with her, plucking twigs from the trees on the way.- ' Rosie walked into the elephant's house, and was chained beside her new friendjL but it „was with the greatest difficulty that they got Dixie away. She was reluctant to leave, and several times tried to turn back. It was the end of an association between these friendly animals that had lasted many years. They have »ever'jbeenseparated beforp.^ Dixie is not to stay at the zoo, and it .■was announced that she was for sale at £SOO.

The cages were drawn up in a semicircle on planks in one of the paddocks at Whipsnade. .. The waggons weigh five tons each, and could not be manoeuvred into position on tho uneven planking by the heavy tractors. So they went to Dixie's tree and brought her along. She got behind " the five-ton waggons that defeated "an army of men and a tractor, and lowering- her head pushed. The laden waggons rolled easily along. "All the afternoon Dixie was employed on this task, and it was child's play to her. She even found time to take apples and biscuits from the admiring crowds.

Pits for Lions and Tigers. A big pit is being dug in the chalk hill for the lions. It is an island " and a yawning chasm separates it from the visitors. The lions will go there ;when it is finished in the spring. The ferocious Cecil, accustomed to the blare of show life, will gaze over a farreaching, peaceful Valley in the leafy land of Buckinghamshire. ' ; The tigers are : to...have :a .similar pit, but .the chasm will be wider,- for a tiger can jump 30ft . ..

The hyenas are to have a special space prepared for them, and it must be a safe place, for the hyena has a stronger jaw than any animal and " can bite through almost anything." Another enclosure ■was'made for the leopards. The red kangaroo was turned loose in Wallaby Woods, where it met lots of friends. The two crowned cranes were taken out of their cages and found themselves at liberty in the woodland, which is a fairyland when springtime comes. Later on the Bostock wolves will be turned out and will find themselves in a forest of tall, straight pines with more of their kind sleeping at night among the trees-. • •• rr

The : two dromedaries changed their stall for the freedom of a tree-lined paddock. The pelicans, tho parrots, the brown bears and the monkeys went to Kegent's Park. There axe no monkeys at Whipsnade, but there are to be some, and they will not be housed. They will roam free in an open-air monkey colony,, and tho problem of preventing their escape will bo solved by digging another pit with precipitous walls. S£»?3ger'jj Adventurous Career. " You know my life has been one long adventure, a series of ups and downs, joys and sorrows, pleasant surprises and bitter disappointments, but I must say I've enjoyed every minute of it." This is how . Mr.. Frank Bostock, who joined Bostock and Wombwell's Royal Menagerie forty-six years ago,, and has been manager for the past eight years, summed up to a representative of the Daily Express, his adventurous career on the road, which has now eorne to an end V'l'h the disbandmcnt 4 of the menagerie. I'or more than ail hour Mr. Bostock recalled outstanding events in his roving career;-of how he had:—l«un away from his guardians to join tho circus at Aberdeen; entertained the Earl and Countess "I Athlone and Lady May Cambridge at Braemar; narrowly escaped death at the bands of a man who ha<l already committed murder; and escaped from a French mob shouting, ." Burn the English'" * " I,CJW did you join the circus?" Mr. Bostock was asked. He paused for a : moment. Then he said :—" It's a tale that ■ 1 have never told before. Even my own men know- nothing about" it—but- I'm finished. $o here's the story.

Four Years Tasting Tea. ; " I left school af. Leek, in Staffordshire, 'f• v, ' lon I was fourteen. My parents were ■ dead, and I was apprenticed to a tea firm. For four years 1 tasted and blended \ v tr.-i, but, immediately I was eighteen I ran Rv.-ay from my guardians and joined Bos —" tock and WombwelPs Circus at Aberdeen. 1 have never regretted tho step T took. Mr. E. H. Bostock, my cousin and brother-in-law, owned the circus, and in three years I was in charge of number two ■ mcrragerie. As manager, 1 roamed i" Britain and Ireland and the Continent. 1 in- " vv:,s fourteen' years touring' Europe, and *' lore ' s scarcely a corner I do not know. . ... I have had so many adventures that it is to recall the main ones. "We were at Senlis, in France, near Paris, when tho war broke out, and had to rush to St. Malo for safety, but oven there the danger was not finished. I had

twenty-two Germans in mv show, and the fact soon became known to the public; feeling against the Germans was so menacing that we had to build our vans in a square so as to bo able to defend ourselves if an attack were made. The British consul saved the situation. The Germans were interned, and the consul personally assured the crowd that the show was British.

" During the Boer war, when we were touring in France, we had a few narrow escapes. On one occasion ' » mob threatened to burn our vans and tents to the ground. 'Burn the English,' they shouted. We dashed to the Riviera for safety, and eventually reached Italy, where we were treated like lords and ladies."

As Mr. Bostock recalled his experiences, Siis eyes shone with enthusiasm. If only I had time, I could tell yon of the aristocrats T have met. but .my mind is tired," he said. " One incident occurred at Braemar which I will never forget. The Earl and Countess of Athlone and Lady May Cambridge visited the performance, and when the show was over the earl stayed for a time chatting to the. men, a few of whom had served abroad under him." " Have you ever had any serious accidents?" Mr. Bostock was asked. " I have been the luckiest man alive. The tents havo been blown down repeatedly, but always when the people had left. I havo had c- number of narrow escapes on such occasions, only a few minutes preventing a disaster —but luck has been with me all the time. The only time a lion escaped was in Wales last year, but wo caught it before it left the fipld.

- " Regarding lions and their trainers, I have had few acidents. T havo never had a trainer killed, and all the trainers 1 have known have lived to an old ape. Fred Worrihwell is an example. He or.ly stopped training lions when ho was too old to climb the steps leading to tho cage, " Most of tho enjoyment has gone out of the game," Mr. Bostock went on. " There was a time 'when the show life was the happiest on earth. Taxation has knocked all the enjoyment out of it. The Inland Revenue officials for years have made us miserable. That is one of my main reasons for selling out. I admit

it's a game in which one can make a pile of'money quickly, but 'it is also one in which money can quickly be lost. It took £6OO a week to run .the menagerie." Suddenly Mr. Bostock's mind switched back to 1 ranee. " I almost forgot the most thrilling moment of my life. I was wakened about three o'clock one morning by a loud hammering at my waggon door. When I went outside a wild-looking creature grabbed me and prepared to batter me. Luckly some of tne men heard the uproar, and the man ran . away in the darkness. " In the evening the gendarmes arrived and asked me if a suspicious-looking character had been in the vicinity that day, and they described tho person who had called at my waggon before dawn. He had committed a murder the previous evening." So far Mr. Bostock has not decided how lie will spend his time in retirement. "I will never entirely desert the animals and circus. I may follow in the footsteps' of my ancestors. You knotf, until sixty years ago the Bostocks were farmers. Not one of them had ever been connected with the circus."

Tlie interviewer stood 'aside us ono of Mr. Bostock's men came to bid him good-bye. The parting was dramatic. They shook hands, but neither spoke for a time. " Good-bye, Harry, and good luck," said Mr. Bostock quietly. " Good-bye, father, and God bless you," was Harry's reply. Mr. Bostock watched the. bent figure move slowly towards the door. Then he turned to his visitor. " It's hard to part. That's Harry Vain, who has been our drummer for thirtytwo years—now he's gone. These are the moments that knock a man out."