MARVELS OF THE CIRCUS

Taranaki Daily News, 8 February 1928, Page 9

MARVELS OF THE CIRCUS

WIRTH BROS.’ COMBINATION. Once again Wirth’s circus has come to New Plymouth and gone. After all, there is no other entertainment quite like a circus. When we are very young, we mostly have, like Christopher Robin, to confine our experience of the fascinating wild animals to dodging the bears of our imagination as we march along the squares of the pavement. Only on the rare occasions of the visit of the circus are we able to see with our own wondering eyes the real lions and tigers, elephants and bears which have previously existed only in the pages of the story book. All these animals, with horses, a zebra, and others besides, are with Wirth’s circus this year, a fact which alone was responsible for drawing a large crowd to the menagerie exhibition yesterday, and an excited gathering of children which eyed the pitching of the circus tent throughout the day. If times are hard in North Taranaki at the present time, the attendance _ at the circus last night was no indication. In fact it was practically a capacity tent. To the lovers of wild animals, the. star turns were the performances of the animals themselves. Elephants and horses that marched, knelt, lay -down and carried through the most intricate evolutions were vivid testimony to the wonderful mastery of the mind of man over beast when it is applied to training wild animals. The most impressive animal feat of the evening was the marvellous bicycle riding of Pallenbarg’s bears, who seemed hardly less than human. Of the other turns, many were novel and refreshing. The lazy acrobat and the dainty lady (Chico and Grace) exe. cuted bewildering evolutions on the gymnastic apparatus, and the Zanettos juggled and balanced in defiance of all the laws of gravity and human infallibility. Mr. Alfred Clarke juggled also, but his efforts were carried out on the back of a fairly fast moving steed. Mr. Hilary Long carried out a number of amazing tricks while balanced on his head, and finished up by glissading on the top of his head at a terrific speed down a long taunt wire. The results of assiduous and patient training of animals was seen in the series of statue tableaux presented by Micve Doris and her horse Queenie, and what must surely be the world’s strongest man was the muscular man of the Redam Company who thought nothing of lifting up and down and swinging round his head a 2001 b. weight and three ladies in addition. A breath-catching display of trick cycle riding was given by Chester Dieck, the Indian cyclist marvel. He was certainly most adept, and earned considerable applause. As a final item, a “tin hare” was chased round the ring by a motley collection of dogs, local and otherwise, and was eventually caught.