i8 TRAPPING WILD ANIMALS 



jump, he drifted down into the King's household, 

 that is, the women's pavilion, and caused an awful 

 uproar among the inmates. He had to do a lot 

 of explaining to convince the officials that it was 

 no fault of his, that it was unavoidable, as the wind 

 carried him there. I leave my readers to imagine, 

 if they can, the fright and feeling of the women 

 on seeing a man, a European, dressed in tights, 

 dropping amongst them from the skies. It was 

 weeks before the scare wore off, and it was spoken 

 of for years after. The last I heard of Wilison 

 was in Japan, when he intended to go from there 

 to Hawaii and then to Australia. 



As the steamer having the Wilison show aboard 

 left the docks, the old fascination of show life 

 seemed to grip me. It brought back wonderful 

 memories of the good old days when one-ring 

 circuses were the real thing. I look back on 

 those days with regret, days when I was the head 

 or Boss Property Man, for next to the Proprietor 

 the Boss Property Man was king of the dressing- 

 tents, and woe to the performer who slighted him. 

 When the Show would make its first start on the 

 road, the Boss Property Man would place the per- 

 formers 5 trunks in position. Pay day, the per- 

 former who neglected to give his fifty cents or 

 dollar to the Boss Property Man, would find his 

 trunk badly damaged, broken open or no trunk at 

 all on arrival at the next town. It was a custom 

 that few ventured to neglect, for otherwise they 



