We use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) during our scanning and processing workflow to make the content of each page searchable. You can view the automatically generated text below as well as copy and paste individual pieces of text to quote in your own work.
Text recognition is never 100% accurate. Many parts of the scanned page may not be reflected in the OCR text output, including: images, page layout, certain fonts or handwriting.
SHOWMAN
arms. For protection they wore only padding round the shoulders and a light steel helmet which didn't soften the shock of a clout on the head at all and occasionally cracked to let the sword go on down through the skull. But I must admit that Ross, a born artist in any kind of physical activity and an all-round athlete along the same lines as Jim Thorpe, made a fine show out of this gladiatorial business.
When the tug-of-war burst into temporary glory, I staged tugs-of-war at the old Garden, nailing cleats on the floor to give the tuggers the same purchase they were accustomed to on soft ground. When cakewalking contests suddenly flared up for no reason at all, I hurriedly whipped together a troupe of cakewalkers and sent them round the key cities for a brilliant cleanup. The whites flocked to see the fun— twenty or thirty couples of darkies cakewalking down the stage and being eliminated one by one— and the negroes flocked to compete with my professionals, being allowed to win now and again, of course, just to keep the contest gag going. I earned that money, for I was a good half of the show in my own right, being barker, chairman and judge all at once. No such racket as that lasted long. You had to clean up in a hurry before the next craze arrived. I know that flagpole sitting and marathon dancing and such have made the recent past pretty screwy, but you can take an expert's word for it that the late nineties were even screwier.
I must have been one of the best customers in the
232