FITZGERALD’S CIRCUS.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XX, Issue XVI, 16 April 1898, Page 476

FITZGERALD’S CIRCUS.

On Monday next the Brothers Fitzgerald, to whose enterprise Australasia owes its finest equestrian and zoological shows, will open their mammoth circus in Auckland. The occasion is one to which we all look forward, the youngsters among us with exuberant delight, the elders with more modified interest. Of theatres and theatrical entertainment there is no end, but such things as a circus and menagerie combined are like angels’ visits and appeal to us in quite another way from the ordinary histrionic entertainment. There is always something more novel in seeing animals act like men, as they do in the circus, than in seeing men act simply as other men or occasionally as animals as they do on the stage. The Messrs Fitzgerald depend a great deal on their performing animals for the patronage of the public, but unlike the ring-masters of our youth, they do not confine themselves to the education of sueh docile creatures as horses and dogs. His majesty' the lion, and my lord the elephant are among the most apt pupils of this latest show, and both have been so thoroughly subdued and trained that they are capable of performing the most marvellous feats. What shall we say but that the millennium is indeed near at hand when we see lions riding elephants, tigers riding ponies, and elephants riding bicycles—the last perhaps the most astounding performance of all and another instance of the fascination of the wheel. But these only represent some of the marvels which we are promised. Of course there will be the usual ample programme of varieties of all kinds, the daring feats of horsemanship and still

more daring gymnastic displays, the glitter, the frolic, the fun. During the week four matinee performances will be given on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.