Well, it broke up the show! Next to the fury of a woman scorned is the wrath of a crowd of country people who have paid their money for a thrill only to find themselves served with a very thin trick. They see no humor in the situation, and an exposure of this sort is a cruel blow at their pride and judgment. People with humor and philosophy would have laughed at the joke and polished it up for the benefit of their friends, but this hard-headed, serious folk could only find relief by pulling down the tent. In a far larger way this is what the solid, unreasoning and unimaginative element of a population will do to a state or a national government when some political trick has been exposed.
It was the “wild man” himself who saved the situation in the circus tent, and tamed the outraged audience. He pulled off his wig and beard and shed the claws which were fitted to his fingers like gloves. Then there stood revealed a small Irishman with a freckled, good-natured face.
“Sure,” he said, “the game’s up and I’m glad, because it’s a tiresome job. I’ve worked on a farm in my day, and I’d like to do it again. If any of you farmers here will give me a job, I’ll take it.”
“And me, too!” said the “mate”; when “her” frowsy head dress came off there was a red-haired young fellow of pleasant countenance. They both got farm jobs and lived in that community for several years. The “mate” finally married a farmer’s daughter!
It has been said that the primary effect of sound is the creating of moods; psychologists have spent much time in analyzing the connection between sound and fear and kindred emotions. It is easy enough to realize that sight must inform or directly affect the intellect. Theater managers prove the necessity of supplementing sight with sound when they obtain a full play of emotion by giving the audience appropriate music, which they stress during emotional passages. Perhaps what we are is determined by what we see, while what we feel is decided by what we hear. The deaf are frequently termed hard-hearted and even cold-blooded. I have known deaf persons actually to smile at cases of grief or injury which seemed tragic to those who could hear what the unfortunate victims were saying. They saw only the physical contortions. Suppose you with good ears and I in my silence, walking together, meet a little crying child. I can only observe the outward signs of distress; I see her tears and watch the little chest rise and fall with her sobs. My sympathy can be only vague and general—I may even smile to myself over the shallow sorrows of childhood. It will pay you to stoop over and hear the whole story, to catch every tone of the little, grief-stricken voice. I have no means of offering intelligent consolation, perhaps you can explain the trouble away or offer a quick diversion.
There are hundreds of instances where the deaf have undergone battles, shipwrecks or other frightful adventures with composure, while their companions were stumbling or jabbering with fear. These latter would tell you that the most horrible part of their experience was the cries of the suffering who faced death in agony and fear. The mere spectacle of the suffering did not upset the cool judgment of the deaf.
It seems evident that sound also has a greater stimulating effect upon the emotions of animals than do the other senses. A friend who has studied this subject says:
“I have imitated different animals many thousand times, and can easily deceive them at their own game, but cannot long deceive the average person. A dog relying on sight, smell and hearing—and maybe a little, a very little reasoning—although he may be very brave—can easily be made to flee in terror by the right sort of growling and noises connecting first wonder, then anger or terror. He hears a very ferocious dog, but can neither see nor smell him; here is something new, which he cannot reason out—he curls his tail, gives a frightened yelp, registers fear in other ways and runs with all his might.
“Recently I was out hunting wild turkeys, and had nearly induced one to come near to me when a stick fell from a tree, and without waiting to reason, away he went. My call would not deceive a person, but any sort of an amateur squawk easily deceives a gobbler. Not long ago, a friend of mine, while calling a gobbler, called also a wildcat who was trying to get the gobbler for breakfast. Animal sight may be ultra-human, but I am very sure that animal hearing is not.”
Doubtless we all rely on hearing to keep us informed concerning the fear instinct. Children hear a great deal subjectively, aided by their fears plus imagination. I am almost prepared to state that deafness is connected with fearlessness above the average, but I am not yet sure of my ground. Any defect of the five senses strengthens in a measure the remaining channels, and deafness cannot but assist concentration in those persons of studious contemplative habit, since it closes one avenue of interruption. I have noticed that with those of a philosophical turn plus strong will—or won’t—deafness saves nerve fatigue, from hearing many noises or remarks.