At one time, while in Texas, we were doing an act called An Indian
Chase for a Wife, in which we used several guns with blank cartridges.
The act opened with a lively fusillade and the reports brought a great
crowd to the tent. The Texans appeared to come from every direction,
many of them with revolvers ready cocked. The fact that many of them
had been drinking greatly increased the perils of our situation. After
careful consideration of these facts I decided not to give a night
performance, and ordered an early supper so as to be able to load by
daylight and, if possible, get out of town before nightfall. The seats
were soon taken out and the side wall was dropped.
I sat in the cook tent, eating dinner, when a great crowd suddenly
surrounded us. The leader, who claimed to be the town marshal, had his
revolver pointed directly at my head, and I could see by the inflamed
condition of his features that he, like the rest, had been drinking
heavily. Realizing my danger, I knocked the pistol down and it went
off between my feet. This was taken as the signal for a rush toward me,
the crowd evidently thinking I had shot at the marshal. The noise
attracted the concourse that had just left the circus and they drew up
in line with revolvers cocked. A slaughter of showmen was clearly
imminent.
I leaped upon a box and tried to pacify the infuriated Texans, while
receiving, at the same time, their abuse. I was entirely ignorant of
the cause of the disturbance and demanded to be informed of the reason
of the uprising. Getting no reply, I appealed to them as law-abiding
citizens, and for the first time in my life this appeal was useless.
By this time our entire force had collected, and as the show was the
"First Hippodrome" and altogether the largest circus ever in the south,
we had at least five hundred attaches, three hundred of whom were
powerful fellows and well armed. This was the first time that I had
ever thought of permitting my people to fight. Our gang was headed by
my boss canvasman, "Put." I momentarily expected the attack, but just
as I got down from the box a detective who was hired to travel with the
show rushed upon the scene and yelled: "In the name of the United
States Government, whose officer I am, I command peace!" It was
surprising to see that crowd scatter, and certainly this was a
master-stroke on the part of the detective. He earned more that day
than I ever paid the agency for his services. In ten minutes all was
calm and peaceful.