"A most fascinating narrative." - The Open Road
"Exciting, dramatic, humorous, and entertaining." -Harper's Magazine
"A most entertaining book, with lurid fascination." -The Freeman
George Conklin's 1921 book "The Ways of the Circus" is devoted to the author's stories and reminiscences of circus people, circus animals, a curious world with men, manners and morals peculiar to itself, and describe feats ranging from the handling of a lion to the tricks of sideshow freaks and the making of circus lemonade, written by one of the most famous of the old time circus lion tamers who traveled with most of the big "shows" of his day. He was with the Barnum and Bailey show when it made its famous five year tour of Europe, and is especially interesting in reminiscences of that period.
For nearly half a century George Conklin was a tamer of lions and animal trainer in general. He joined the circus when it was a wagon show and saw it grow into the wonder of railroad Pullman car efficiency. Every chapter has its wealth of incident and anecdote of things behind the scenes in the little caravan shows of an earlier generation and the mammoth consolidated shows of our time. In reading Conklin's reminiscences one acquires a picture of the patient, iron-nerved dare-devils who train the wild beasts, and of that daily encounter with uncertain hazards, where life is cheap and death is gaudy. The hard knocks, the cruel taskmasters, and the hectic nocturnal flights are set forth with vivid detail.
Pursuing the course of iconoclasm, Mr. Conklin reveals the back-scenes tricks out of which are evolved the hokum and the humbuggery, with glimpses of "big-top" practices which must send a shiver of horror down the spine of the average Presbyterian.
As a lion trainer he leaped into the lions' cage with whip and pistol, and made the lions and the leopards go through their tricks. He says that a lion walking rapidly up and down is not, in spite of popular belief, really dangerous. But look out for him when he goes and lies down in a corner. It is not true that a lion can not look a man in the face. A growling lion is not necessarily about to attack. Beasts are not stuffed with food before the performance; the carnivora are fed sparingly to preserve their health. Hyenas are weather prophets, and have other strange accomplishments, as well as dangerous characteristics. It is most difficult to ride standing up upon an elephant. There is plenty of room, but the skin slips about too much to give a secure foothold. Mr. Conklin, who has known many elephants, does not believe that they hold grudges for years or recognize their enemies long after their ill-will has been aroused by some act of cruelty.
In describing the dangers of lion attack, Conklin writes:
"While I presume I have handled more lions than anyone else in the United States, only once was I ever hurt by one enough to lay me up. I never knew for certain just what caused him to do it—whether I backed up too close to him or accidentally stepped on his tail or what—but at any rate, as I was doing this waltz act one of the lions in back of me suddenly reached out and bit me clear through the thigh. I reached round and struck him over the head with the butt of my whip as hard as I could..."
Another time, Conklin relates:
"An elephant man by the name of Cooley, who had seen the trouble, advised Whittle to go back into the cage at once and conquer the lion. This was bad advice, but Whittle took it. The second time he attempted to come out the lion sprang again, and before the attendants could drive him away he chewed Whittle's leg nearly off.
