The Ghosts Of Circus Animals Past

I took the above photograph of a tiger cub last week at the Denver Zoo.  I walked up to the glass, and the cub immediately ran up to the window to check me out.  Within seconds, you could tell it was thinking to itself "borrrrring," and went back to romping with it's brother.  As they played together and growled a bit, I was reminded of Forest Park, Illinois, home of my first apartment - a studio right across the street from the Daisy Hill Meat Packing Plant and a Chicago "L" train barn.  Forest Park has a lot of cemeteries, and it is famous for having more dead residents than live ones.  Woodlawn Cemetery is where the 61 victims of the Hammond Circus Train Wreck are buried.  The names of many of the victims were unknown, and so the headstones say things like "Smiley the Clown" or "Greta the Fat Lady."  Many animals were killed in that disaster, too, and it is said that some nights you can hear the ghosts of these animals growling, roaring, or otherwise making their presence known. Cynics say it is simply the sounds of the animals from Brookfield Zoo, located 5 or 6 miles to the south, heard when the wind is just right.  I hate cynics - don't you?