Cincinnati Enquirer article from April 11, 1901
Courtesy of Proquest Historical Newspapers and the Hamilton County Library
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This is an excerpt from a Cincinnati Enquirer article, dated April 11, 1901. The writer visited the Terrace Park quarters of the Robinson Circus and left us with a colorful description of what he encountered there.
"Twelve miles out on the Pan-Handle, in some of the prettiest country in the Miami Valley, there is a busy beehive. A large plant, covering 25 acres and employing nearly 500 people, is just beginning to run at full blast, and from early morning till late at night, the rat-tat-tat of the hammer and the buzz of the saw, intermingled with the sharp commands of teamsters to their horses and the creaking of heavy wagons, loaded to the capacity with goods and merchandise of all descriptions, are heard above the rustling of the trees bending beneath brisk winds.
"Now and then, in this great plant, stranger sounds are heard as of jungle beasts roaring in anger or birds from another clime uttering their plaintive notes of fear at the uproar. If you chance by the place at certain hours of the day, you will hear the most terrific music, as of a hundred horns all in discord.
"The plant is the winter quarters of 'John Robinson's 10 Big Shows and the terrific music is made by the latest and biggest feature, the elephant brass band, members of which have been playing together for only a few weeks and are not yet in harmony."
You can read the entire article HERE.