Bailey Circus

At Towson, festival ends with 'Circus'Towson State University's 1995 Maryland Arts Festival concludes with five performances of Theatricks' "Circus Berserkus" in the Studio Theatre in the Fine Arts Center, Osler and Cross Campus drives.Maryland-based Theatricks specializes in innovative family entertainment and features company co-founder Tom Dougherty, a former Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus clown. Show times are 10 a.m., noon and 2 p.m. July 29; and 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. July 30. Tickets are $7. For more information, call (410)

The zebras made a run for it. Spotting a door ajar, three striped members of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus broke out yesterday from their temporary home in Baltimore's 1st Mariner Arena. But they didn't get far. Evidently bewildered by the bustle on Hopkins Place downtown, Mali, Giza and Lima -- geldings born in Missouri seven or eight years ago -- allowed themselves to be corralled by trainer Karin Houcke and two handlers within half a block of their exit point. No need for a lasso, since each animal wore a bridle.

Elly Annie Schneider, 90, who was known for many years in the circus world and on the big screen as Tiny Earles, and later as Tiny Doll, and who played one of the Munchkins in The Wizard of Oz, died Sept. 13 in Sarasota, Fla. Ms. Schneider was born in Stolpen, Germany, and came to the United States in 1925 to join two sisters and a brother, all of short stature. She was 39 inches tall and never weighed more than 46 pounds. She became an American citizen at age 21. At first the siblings used the name Earles, the last name of the man who brought them to America.

Friday morning, light rail cars will be filled with 3- and 4-year-old children from St. John's Co-Operative Nursery School, their brothers, sisters, parents and teachers for a trip to see the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus at the Arena in downtown Baltimore.The children are getting pretty excited about this ride, according to Jane Soverns, the school's director. They plan to wear their nursery school T-shirts and are busy making silly circus hats, just for fun.Soverns said that the circus is sending a clown to meet the children as they board the train at Cromwell Station at 9:15 a.m. He will ride with them, escort them to the Arena and lead them to their seats.

Rudolph S. Gebhardt, who went from being a circus performer to a banker, died Sept. 10 of a blood clot at his Clearwater, Fla., home. The former longtime Glen Arm resident was 86. The son of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus performers, Mr. Gebhardt was born in Baltimore and made his circus debut when he was 9 at the old Madison Square Garden in New York City, performing with his family's horses act. After the 1939 circus strike, he and his family free-lanced and worked for other circuses, horse shows, fairs and rodeos.

Rail transport experts say heat is the chief cause of cracked wheels on rail cars. Regular inspections can often detect such cracks before they lead to a catastrophic failure, but not always. "When a wheel fails, a portion of the truck the wheel is riding on can drop down ... getting under the train and causing a derailment," said Colon R. Fulk, a railroad operations consultant with Railex Corp. "Where this happens on a curve, an overpass or trestle, you can imagine the outcome." The Maryland Transit Administration found a crack in a wheel of a light rail car after the April 23 derailment of an out-of-service car. No one was hurt, and no other cracks have been found, but riders have experienced long delays and crowded trains as the agency has pulled cars out of service for inspection.

TC Celebrating what may -- or may not -- be the 200th anniversary of the circus in America, the Greatest Show on Earth will ride the rails into town next week with a cast of new acts and old favorites for a return engagement at the Baltimore Arena.The 122nd edition of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus opening here Wednesday night features (so they say) "talent from the four corners of the globe" -- listing in a press release Mongolia, the People's Republic of China, Moscow and the Philippines.

Recently, when the people who run Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus proposed bringing a mini-version of their three-ring extravaganza to the grounds outside the U.S. Capitol, one couldn't help but be struck by the irony: Would the show inside the building upstage the one outside?If the circus can't secure a spot on the Mall in Washington, it might consider bringing its show up the parkway to Howard, where officials for county government and the school board are preparing for their annual budget deliberation.

`Wonders of Winter Weekends' The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, officially closed through February, is briefly opening its doors for two Wonders of Winter Weekends - this weekend and Feb. 18-20. Visitors can enjoy $2 admission, tours of the new Polar Bear Watch, live entertainment and more. When the zoo reopens March 1, three new trams, stroller-friendly and wheelchair-accessible, will transport visitors around the zoo. Wonders of Winter Weekends run 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Saturday through Monday and Feb. 18-20 at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, Druid Hill Park.

THE CIRCUS IS COMING Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus' Red Tour clowns around at 1st Mariner Arena Wednesday through March 19. The Red Tour includes the comedy of Bello, who was named America's Best Clown by Time magazine. Also, enjoy Taba and his Bengal tigers, Sacha Houcke and his elephants, zebras and camels, a high-wire act and a husband-and-wife human cannonball team. Tyron McFarlan, the 34th ringmaster, hosts the action. ....................... The circus is at 1st Mariner Arena, 201 W. Baltimore St., Wednesday through March 19. Show times vary.