Struggling circus folds its tent

April 5, 1939: More than 100 horses that once performed in the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus were auctioned off to meet the defunct company’s salary and tax liens. When Chick, a 1,600-pound dapple-gray Percheron, was led out in front of the auction crowd, a young woman ran to him, The Times reported: “It was Princess Sky Eagle, 23-year-old Ottawa Indian girl who had ridden Chick and his fellows under the big top for years and years. Throwing her arms around Chick’s massive head, she planted a goodbye kiss on his velvety nose.” The touring circus, which usually set up its show at Washington Boulevard and South Hill Street, had shut down the previous fall, plagued by debts. It was one of a number of circuses that did not survive the Depression.