Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, April 23, 1993 TAG: 9304230096
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MELANIE HATTER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"These are big tusks, aren't they," 5 1/2-year-old Michael Turk said to his mother.
Renee Turk and her three children and niece had missed the "Grand Animal Walk" heralding the arrival of the 122nd Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus on Wednesday morning from Shenandoah Avenue to the Roanoke Civic Center.
As the rain came, Turk and other parents brought their youngsters to the civic center that afternoon hoping to see the animals.
And they got the best view of the circus' most popular elephant, King Tusk, who didn't take part in the walk.
Hailed as the world's largest traveling land mammal, King Tusk had arrived in Roanoke on Tuesday evening in his own tractor-trailer. He's too big to travel in the train like the other animals, elephant handler Todd Franz said.
King Tusk stood in a tent attached to the trailer with his shoulders brushing the canopy. He is more than 12 feet tall, and his tusks measure more than 6 1/2 feet in length.
Metal rings on his tusks stop the ivory from splitting, which it would do because of their length, Franz said
The youngsters were awed.
"I think he's really big," Michael Turk said. "He should be the king of all elephants."
"I think he's stronger than all the elephants," added his 4-year-old brother, Daniel.
Their cousin, Catie Hatcher, 5, piped in: "He must eat a lot of hay."
In fact, King Tusk eats more than 100 pounds of vegetables and 300 pounds of hay and drinks 100 gallons of water each day.
What do you know about circus lore? Here's a teaser to test your brain:\ \ 1. Who was Gargantua, who appeared with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus in 1938?
a. A tarantula
b. A gorilla
c. A lion\ 2. What was the first exotic animal acquired in 1886?
a. A blind hyena
b. A miniature elephant
c. A giant gorilla\ \ 3. What now-commonplace invention was displayed in 1879?
a. The automobile
b. The pop-up toaster
c. The electric light bulb\ \ 4. What famous circus animal arrived in New York City on Easter Sunday, 1882?
a. Jumbo
b. Dumbo
c. Mumbo\ \ 5. What famous movie star rode a "pink elephant" in 1955 in Madison Square Garden?
a. Eva Gardner
b. Ginger Rogers
c. Marilyn Monroe\ \ 6. What part of the elephant is considered good luck to circus performers?
a. The ivory tusks
b. The hair
c. The eyes
\ 7. How did the phrase "toss your hat into the ring" originate?
a. In 1916, when President Wilson tossed his hat into the center ring, indicating he would run for office again.
b. In 1871, when P.T. Barnum tossed his hat into the ring after getting involved in his first circus with Dan Castello and William C. Coup.
c. When the greatest living animal trainer, Gunther Gebel-Williams, had his hat tossed into the ring by a monkey.
\ 8. Where did the phrase "get on the bandwagon" originate?
a. In the Midwest when a dozen clowns crammed onto a horse-drawn wagon and traveled to California.
b. In Brooklyn, N.Y., when Barnum's circus began traveling by rail in 1872.
c. In Baton Rouge, La., when presidential candidate Zachary Taylor visited the circus in 1848.\ \ 9. What famous American writer wrote that the circus "is the only spectacle I know that, while you watch it, gives the quality of a truly happy dream."
a. Stephen King in 1985
b. Ernest Hemingway in 1953
c. Edgar Allan Poe in 1843
\ 10. Who wrote the song with the famous first line, "He flies through the air with greatest of ease"?
a. Gaston Lyle wrote the lyrics; George Leybourne the music
b. Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel shared lyrics and music
c. P.T. Barnum wrote both lyrics and music\ \ Answers:
1. b; 2. a; 3. c; 4. a; 5. c; 6. b; 7. a; 8. c; 9. b; 10. a
RINGLING BROTHERS AND BARNUM & BAILEY CIRCUS: Tonight, 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, 3 and 7:30 p.m.; Sunday, 1:30 and 5:30 p.m. Roanoke Civic Center. $7.50, $9.50, $11.50. 981-1201.
by CNB