COVER STORY
16
wall. She then pulled a revolver and shot him.”
Another music hall owner came to her defense, saying,
“The girl has been deeply wronged.” It is not known if Zora
ever faced criminal charges, or how the shooting victim, who
received a bullet wound to his stomach, fared. But the newspaper
account indicated that Zora felt no remorse over the
shooting. “She says she does not regret her action, as she was
only defending her honor.”
MARRIAGE
Life improved considerably for Zora when she joined the
Sells-Floto Circus, one of more than 30 circuses crisscrossing
the country at the time. Soon after, she met and married the
superintendent of its menagerie, Fred Alispaw, a young man
five years her junior.
The two animal lovers married quietly, but their adopted
family celebrated the union in true circus fashion. As they
began the nightly circus procession, the giant elephant that
led the parade had a collection of old shoes tied to its tail
and a banner on its side that read “Just Married.” Behind the
elephant came a group of clowns dressed as the wedding
party. The circus band played the Wedding March, and the
audience showered Zora and her new husband with rice.
Same location Since 1926
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SAWDUST AND SOLITUDE
Fred Alispaw, while superintendent of the Sells-Floto Circus, holds Scotty
the terrier and a lion cub Zora adopted.