The Circus Comes to Town: Seattle’s First Big Top Spectacle
As the Hingling Bros. circus unloads its menagerie and performers in the Northern Pacific yards, locals gather for a parade and show that promises 'everything advertised.'
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
THE CIRCUS A Brilliant Street Pageant.
The Hingling Bros. circus has arrived, and today the young people and also a large number of older ones are in their element. There is something about a circus that is very fascinating to the average person. Whether it is the smell of the sawdust, the music of the bands, the teams of the animals, the red lemonade, or the flash of the lions, nearly every one is anxious to be around the tents and witness the exhibition 'on the inside.'
The circus arrived in the Northern Pacific yards this morning from Tacoma, about 1 o'clock. Small boys were thicker than fleas, but neither the men nor the horses seemed to mind. It was really a sight worth seeing when the unloading began. Four, six and eight horse teams of fine gray horses pulled the heavy wagons away.
By 1 o'clock a tented city had sprung up opposite the Y.M.C.A., everything was in readiness for the big parade. Such a parade Seattle never saw before. Everything advertised on the billboards was there. The streets were crowded, and everyone declared the parade was a winner. There were the bands, elephants, trains of animals, chariots and riders, camels, and the big herd of 11 elephants. The cavalry band alone was one of the leading features. As the steam calliope, with its uproar died away, the small boy was in the seventh heaven of delight.
This afternoon the big tent is crowded to witness the exhibition. The performance is wonderful. That the Hingling Bros. have a big show is demonstrated by the fact that all the acts are given in triplicate. Many people thought they were going to see part of the Ringling Bros. show, but Hingling Bros. brought it entire to the coast. There are three rings, and in every ring at the same time are three similar performances.
There are three bareback riders, five trained elephants in each ring, clowns and acrobats. Other 'spectator features' of the performance are Griffith's act with his horses, Lockhart's trained elephants, the Da Costa family, and the trapeze work of Miss Millie Tumour.
The menagerie is fine. Besides the 51 elephants, there are lions, tigers, camels, a zebra, bears, buffalo, yaks, gazelles, ostriches, monkeys, parrots, dogs and many others. The horses themselves are no small part of the show for they are magnificent animals.
Hingling Bros. circus is perhaps the first one that has performed in Seattle and that has given everything advertised. The performance will be given again tonight, the menagerie being open at 7 o'clock, the show in the main tent commencing at 8 o'clock.
While modern Seattleites might look to the Space Needle or Pike Place Market for iconic landmarks, this 1903 account reveals a city still defining its civic identity through transient spectacles. The arrival of a traveling circus was not just entertainment; it was a major civic event that drew crowds comparable to today's sports championships or music festivals, highlighting how public gathering spaces have evolved from muddy yards near rail depots to structured arenas.
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