QUEEN OF THE CIRCUS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21248, 30 July 1932, Page 2 (Supplement)

QUEEN OF THE CIRCUS

JUVENILE RING MISTRESS ELEVEN YEARS OF AGE EXPERT ELEPHANT TRAINER REMARKABLE PERSONALITY Olga Astley, of • Brook House Farm,' Chigwell, Essex, is the youngest' ring mistress and trainer of animals in tho. world. "While other girls play with flaxen-haired dolls, little Olga plays with an elephant. Although, only 11 years old Olga has been training the heavy-weight Princess Rosie for the past three years and has succeeded in making this five-year-old ele-. phant perform amazing tricks. So much so that the animal, still only half grown, is now worth a thousand pounds as a circus performer. Its youthful trainer hardly .weighs as much as oue of Rosie's feet. Olga, nieco of Mr. Fred Astley, the proprietor of the circus, is an unspoiled child genius. Tho demure little maid, with pretty face and graceful limbs, is more at home with animals than grownups. She is far from precocious, yet possesses that vital power of personality which permits a few favoured human beings to command wild animals many times stronger than themselvos. Experts who have been privileged to watch Olga declare they have never seen such perfect poise, cool command, and modest courage in one so young, says the News of the World. Inseparable Companions Olga and her elephant are inseparable. Rosie calls at the kitchen window for titbits, takes a bath, sits upon a drum, dances to a proper waltz tune, stands upon given legs when told, and even does a hand balance at Olga's command. That is, if an elephant can hand balance, and if standing on its front legs with hack legs in the air can thus bo described. " As jet I haven't been able to make her do a ccrtwheel," confessed tho youthful trainer hopefully. Every morning before schdol, during the luncheon interval, and on her return from afternoon studies, Olga may bo found with her circus:,,,,...'"'/ 1 . The circus includes eight performing does, who waltz, wear coloured uniforms and dresses, pull little waggons about, and do all manner of tricks at a sign from a teacher, who, like other little girls, just hates school. " I would rather be in the circus than in school," said Olga. "In the circus I can do things." Which is tine. Watch her with the dogs. Here they come to be introduced, beautifully- clean and white, all on their hind legs, with a little bark to say " How d'you do ?" Ching, Chow, -Tiaxie, Cherry, Daisy, Prince, Peggy,- and Little 'Un,. all dance the Lancers. They then.stage a tableau, / standing as still as wooden soldiers. When given permissjon to run loose they go .wild with joy at being near their little mistress. 1 Tie Power ol Kindness " People sometimes talk about cruelty J" exclaimed Olga. " All my animals love me. That, wh> they do what I want them to do. I have never even smacked any of them. Sometimes I have to wait such a very long time before I get them to understand what I mean, but I try to be patient. That is the only way to succeed." The cheerful way in which all the stars of tho circus welcomed her at each stall proved her words. Their demonstrations were unmistakable. The performing geese are a lesson in •S" dignity. There is' Mr.' Wu, a mandarin duck. This coloured Asiatic came of age last /week, and is so proud of the fact ££'■ that he carries his head so high he cannot see anybody pass. All these geese are very old. There are £«" several who " played " in a pantomime *2 before the war. The veteran is old ... Arthur, who is 45 years. He is like the ' proverbial cat with nine lives and has ~. been reported dead several times. Once a mule kicked him through a fanlight and -'-• nearly put paid to his account. Another time a ferocious dog bit him, but miraculously he recovered. " As' he quicks his way round the farm he seems to be boast'ng the fact that no one has cooked his •vgoose yet," declared Olga, Over Fifty Ponies to Play With The little ring-mistress is not quite sure . how many ponies she has to play with. \ There are over fifty, of which two do nothing but buck jump, while some, especially diminutive ones, draw a tiny Vicr ■_ toria in which a queen once sat. ... Olga drives her four-in-hand team with rare skil! and confidence. There is a pony . wh'ch talks and says " Yes " and " No," and " adds up sums better than I do," _7- assented its mistress. There is also the "../forty-year-old pony Natalie, now retired ...» from .the sawdust ring. Her harness cost £7OO and is studded with beautiful stones. Tho bit is of gold. Ever since Olga was a tiny baby she has wanted to be near the footlights. As •a child of three she started to dance on • her toes and has been on them ever since. ~h iAt four she declared her independence, and /her aunt allowed her to appear on ; the stage once as a great favour at Eastbourne. . Olga had her dance all ready and was waiting her introduction when she noticed Durrant, tho clown, ready to accompany her into the ring. " I thought I would go on to help her ' . gain, confidence," explained the clown to her aunt, "and she just told me to keep off. ' Little Olga brought tho house down, but as she was too young to obtain a per niit tho experiment could not bo repeated. Every day on her return from afternoon school the child trainer has a dress rehearsal, putting all tho animals through their paces in the model circus ring upon tho farm. Princess Rosie ia Ring When the dogs have done their turn ** *■■ -ind / snow-white tumbler pigeons have "..■• flown round in formation and fluttered " from the backs of prancing pomes, Princess Rasie enters the ring. With eagerness the elephant waits the will of the child. Sometimes a sharp word is ncces-.-"'sary to remind her not to anticipate w -;' tricks, for Ros<e is occasionally over-eager to do her " stuff." Only kindness could • V--'command such majestic strength to do its =>, bidding, and this slip of a girl has just to utter a word and Rosie performs un'"•grudgingly. :st r._- Ihen, with all the other animals watchwhile the old-fashioned geese, in f-.rrtheir funny little clothes look like fat aldermen at a feast, and Joe and Charlie, .•,vi-the monkeys, try to be good, Olga prac-j*-'tises her bare-back turn. As the spotl od circus horse Emperor gallops round the ring Olga rehearses to achieve her ambition. For, despite the fact that she is an expert animal tra : ner, has danced on her toes for hours every day since a child, and regardless of her amazing ability as a «'i< Olga's one desire is to be a circus rider. She can do most of the now. All she is waiting for is to - write " Finis " to her school days. Then ' on°/ S k 0 P ufc awa J r anc * spangles put a e questrienne vision in pow- • ered white will race round the arena of t ? mG B rca t circus and an audience of thousands appTaud one of the finest circus SfoSAS* 1 -