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SATURDAY, JANUARY 21, 1899.FRICTION AMONG “ FREAKS.99PROCLAIMED PRODIGIES BYPLEBISCITE.which, had been used as a ballot-box. The result of the plebiscite was declared as follows: — Human Wonder, 1 vote; Phenomenon, 2; Human Marvel, 11; Marvel, 1; Human Paradox, 1; Barnmn’s Curies, 1; Curios, 1; Abnormalities, 1; Wonders, 1; Pro’digv, 21. •'When the resii'twas declared the “ What is it! shouted “ Pn; ho! ho! until he was sat upon, and the gathering concluded with votes of thanks. A representative of the press ventured to congratulate Mr. Tody Hamilton upon the splendid advertisementhe had obtained for Barnum and Bailey's, whichcalled forth from the chairman the indignantremonstrance that the^mpeting wa« not a “ put up job. And of course everybody believed him,so everybody laughed.H.D.LITERATURE OF THE FILIPINOSBREEZY BANTER AT BARNUM AND* . * • « • rBAILEY’S.' . . . ■ •It has long been conceded, the privelege of railway' servants to break the Sabbath bv meet-*ing to discuss business on Sunday. Now another class of workers who are employed every other day in the week have cla:med the same privilege and have seen fit to give the harassed prp.ssmaua seventh day’s work in the week. Last Sunday ithat congregation- of interesting characters who'» 9 .were formerly denominated the “ Freaks ” ofMessrs. Barnum and Bailey’s show at Olympiaheld a meeting to further consider the question| of their proper style and title, and the-wetJ weather notwithstanding, the representative of i the News of the Week ” \vcnt without his dinner to be present. This circumstance is mentioned bj wa\ of a bint to the Freaks to ; llor equal a single dav’s issue of a leading New meet.on some other day than Sunday if they again . Ycrk (!ai]v/, it wiH ,';e p,silv jnferred that thehave cause to assemble m solemn conclave. It; real significance.' of Filip no literature is still towas alleged—we will commit ourselves no further j nought m folklore and legendary. This, we-that the Freaks” once contrived to meet in arc (old bv the same writer, exists in the form ofmid-week to discuss the question of their appella-! traditions, ancient songs and ballads, and sometion, at -which-the utmost indignation was ex- i'eurious religious and h'storical dramas. Onepressed by everyone, from the “ Bearded Lady ” i 6?rjes of legends, some in prose and some into the- W hat is it P at the misuse-of the j verse, 'is devoted to the old wars between the word freak” as applied to themselves, and thesecond meeting, it was said, was called-in; con-Of the native Filipinos whose writings in the Spanish language have won them prominency the greatest was Dr. Jose Rizal, whp, on the publication of his famous monograph, was condom nerl and shot on a charge of blasphemy ant* — . * i *sedition. But as Margherita Arlina Hamm, j author of “ Manila and the Filipines, tells j us that, the entire output of printed matter | in the archipelago during a twelvemonth wouhisequence of the inquiries of newspaper editors and others as to when the said “ FreaksJ' intended go meet again.. A letter announcing tli... i . » - ,arrangement of a second meeting, and winding up* . .. . * .! “ You are cordially invited/' was sent to the editor of the “ News of the Week, to the secret* rj amusement of the staff, for in our opinion the. *. . .one man in St. Bride-street who is best qualified to- attend a meeting of “ Freaks is the person who received that letter. But he passed it on to the present dt;ponent,who desires it to beI verse,| Tagals and the Igorrotes; anoiher to particular heroes of each race. Yet another class, connected with the wanderings of the Malays before they had reached ihe northern part of the archipelago, “are songs of the sea, and full of theexaggeration and rude paeiry which marks the savage mind. Although in these legends allthe animals have a language intelligible among1 ^ ^ ii-1«' t li ^ dove can understand humanspeech. The legend of the “ bankiva is veryimpressive, and bears a curious kinship, as thawriter points out, to the story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. She tells it as follows (“The Inman.,The handsomest bankiva is selected bv thei f nuunderstood that his presence- at the gathering dependent, December 15):-^*# * . . * . . * . * • * , * ... « iwas solely as deputy tor the freak - originally i The jungle-fowl or bankiva posses'-! the power invited. * j of 'charming children bv a special civ or call. ButWe confess we went expecting io be spectators! they are only allowed to use this power eitherof an elaborate farce, and were surprised at the ' one day of the year or one week of the year, whenm ' ~ • . ■ . - * . ■ , ...seriousness—it may only have been assumed— {the sj-;rits give them the privilege so that they. r • • * .with which the curious persons interested tackled, ca i avenge themeelves against their chief enemy ‘ • ’ * • f ' ■ ,1 ’ • ‘ r *’the subject. One or two of them appearedamused, and a few bewildered, by what was going ;on, but these were the foreign: freaks with no! flock to lead d procession of jungle-fowl who fly knowledge of the Anglo-Saxon, in which chaste; from the forest to the outskirts of the village language the discussion was conducted. The! and there give the call. Grown people do notgiant looked blandly and benignly unconscious j hear it, b*t; little children hear it and are in-j either of the humour or the importance of the; tersely delighted. Babies turn in their mothers3arms and cco in response, and little todlers hurry as fast as their feet can carry them to‘see the strange bird that producer the-'.beautiful music. When t hey reach the little ring in which * the baitkivas are singing, spreading their feathersOccasion, and the “ What is it ? appeared to enjoy the situation hugely; yet even; those who listened without iindeistanding held up theirhands/when they were invited to vote, with an► * *. * .air of profound wisdom, which ought to have been perpetuated by photography. The spectacle • and dancing, they pause for a moment, and then, of the giant elevating a leg of mutton fist auto-! as the flock begins to move toward the forest* maticallv, wearing meanwhile the serene , smile they follow unconsciously. Into the forest andof the Oriental, was almost enough to reconcileinto the marsh, into the lairs of* serpents andthe man with the appetite to the loss of his tnto the haunts of alligators the helpless inno-dinner. { cents wander, drawn by the magic of the bankUMr. Graham acted as M.C., and, so to speak*: yas,‘ call. 7 hey seldom return, and when theykicked off. Then the “ Freakselected a chair-; do, they come b.ack as old men and women touiaii, and appropriately put Mr. Saul Stone, the: \vilom the village of the morning is another and lightning calculator, into the chair. Then Mr.; „iQnflGnarles Fr.pp, the Armless Wonder, was elected;^ efferent place, vsecretary, and elevated upon a table in order' native dramatic literature, we xe told,mat he might the better ;do his duty in.the sight j is extremely crude and at the same time veryuf all. Mr. Graham, still acting as M.C., -then • artificial. The writer goes on to say:•read a ©election from the number of tetters received by the “ Freaks since tlieir previous alleged indignation meeting. One of these, from la civ who ottered to gend the ** freaks “ some lightliterature to read, referred to them as ” peor things,' whereat the “ poor things laughed jconsumedly, even the living skeleton joining mlthe guffaw, for a man may be thinner ihan I Pharaoh’s lean kirie and stii resent the pitying description of “ poor thing. Another letter vra from an M.A. of Oxford, another from Basil \\ J-j hertorce, Canon of Wostm:refer, who suggested the title “prodigies, and still another from Mr. Tody Hamilton, the astute ach^rt.sing agen; of Barnum and Bailey’s show, who suggested thac the “Freaks should henceforward call themselves “ Warns, a suggestion which called forth v storm of derisive laugnter from the persons interested.The letter reading ended. Miss Annie Jones, the “ Bearded Lady, rose to move 'a resolution. Apologising for not being an orator, she proceeded to read a speech in which she stated she inclined to being called a “ human curiosity. Then came Mr. Charles Tripp, the “Armless Wonder, who“ It would seem as if the Malays had been influenced by the Chinese stage across the sea. They employ, like the Chinese, very rich costumes, use an open platform without scenery or stage properties, and employ sing-song delivery which to the Caucasian ear is very monotonous and unpleasant. Their plays are of three classes. One is of a religious type, something like the miracle-plays in old English civilisation. A second class, which is more popular, is known as the Moro-moro, named after the Moros or Mussulmans of Mindanao ard the Su!uarchipelago. These are heroic, or rather melo-«•*’ •dramatic, productions, in which there is a brave Christian prince and an equally brave but wicked Moslem potentate, a heroine who is captured orrobbed or otherwise injured, soldiers .of- thelt; *Cross and warriors of the Crescent, and any' , A . * 4 r* ,amount of fighting, bloodshed, and massacre.“ The heroine is always rescued, the Christianaddressed himself to Ladies and .Gentlemen and j prince always wins, and the luckless followerof Mohammed is consigned to defeat, disgrace,»• 'and death. These Moro-moros last from two to*six days, and produce so much excitement that when a g-cod company comes to a village nearly all labour i« suspended until its departure.”A peculiarity of the Tag-al love-songs is thatthey contain no allusion to kissing. This is ex-« ...plained bv the fact that osculation is.held in. less favour among the Mala vs than in somethe Press, the latter apparenti}* not deserving.-to be classed among the first two. The “ Armless | Wonder declared that the agitation was for ..the j benefit of curiosities in general, and he considered they had as much, right to he called affists as ther fellow showmen in the ring or on the stage. He made way i for the “ Lightning Calculator, Mr. Said'! Stone, who from the chair thundered an orationin which lie denounced the notion of describing any one who could do something out of the ecm-mon as a “ freak. They would not call Gladstone a M freak lie said, and as a mathematician he objected to the designation^ He blamed Mr. Bailey for the title because there were signs all over the place “This way to the freaks and the menagerie. He was not an animal, then he j must be a “ freak. As for the suggested titleWarn he treated it with scorn, he ,was not a and an y wav what was a warn P other races. Their songs music, but to dances.are set not only. (aFANCY;of ““ warn,Fairy fancy come to me. lying in this? scented lea,There was a big suggestion of forked lightning While upon the river’s tide graceful swans se-aHmit. flip lt;f Licrhtrnnp' Csilr»n1»tnr^5 ^ W- ! tabout the “ Lightning Calculator’s few remarks.j * *..Biily Wells, the hard-headed man, chimed innext, and the burden of his lay was that the “ Bearded Lady ” ought not to be called a freak by a lot of men with baldheaded faces—this brought down the house—who would be only too pleased to boast such a beard as she grew. Then came the Skeleton Dude,” who indulged in a biographical and self-laudatory oration, in which he described himself as the mcst wonderful creature in the world, and after him the Chest Expander ” and the Paper King ’’ contrived to repeat a great deal which had already been said. Just here the Lightning Calculator ” showed that he could not calculate enough to keep the meeting in order, for he allowed resolutions to be proposed and discussed unseconded, and he permitted persons to speak a second time to one resolution, and chaos, not to speak of an all-night wrangle, was threatened, when the Armless Wonder” moved the closure* and intimated that, he wanted his dinn°r badlv.This touched a responsive chord in the bosom of every ladv and gentleman present, leaving the Press out of the question, and in almost less time than i takes to relate, the way had been cleared for taking a vote. It was decided that every Fre ’k” should write his or her selection of \6U’tabIe title on a piece of pap r, and that the nan:#selected by the greater number should prevail. The democratic notion of a second ballot between the two names receiving the highest number of votes was not entertained. Mr. Graham counted tb« votes Tfoin the Armless Wonder’s ” hat,renely glideSoftly, as some dream refined, floating through a musing mind.r . ' *Earliest friend of childhood’s hours, builder of romantic bowera—Spirit of the reverie that so sweetly fell on me When the page of Eastern lore whispered of enchanted shore.Floating Edens and of men turned to stones to pave some glen!Soother of our sadder moods, dearer powers thysoul includes;a . »'* • , • *When we sit in shadows cast by some bittermemory past,Thou canst paint, upon their gloom, heavenswhere joy-flowers bloom.Thou canst of materials sour sometimes make a perfumed flower,And metliinks religion sweet should let thee lie at, her feet.For a rainbow oft appears when thou emilest onour tears !PERCY RUSSELL.Printed for the NEWS OF THE WEEK PublishingL^-.*djy.THE LONDON MORNING Syndicate! Ltcl., 19, St.. Bride-street, Ludgate-cireus, London.Jaouary 21” 1899 19’ St’ Bride'street* Saturday.
Newspaper Details
London News of the Week
London, Middlesex, GB
Sat, Jan 21, 1899
Page 12
Full Page
Clipped by
Kai H.
NA, 12 Jul 2023
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