A young girl with dreams of being a trick rider was arrested after running away from home and following a circus from town to town. A report from the August 25, 1894 edition of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle:

“Lizzie Finck, the pretty 14 year old girl who was arrested on Thursday at Patchogue for following the circus will be given over to the custody of her parents tonight. Lizzie was identified as the daughter of John Finck, formerly of Brooklyn but now of Mount Vernon, N.Y. The circus manager, who caused the arrest of the girl, says she was noticed to be a regular attendant of the show at both afternoon and evening exhibitions in every town the circus had visited for a week past. As the girl invariably appeared in a different costume every day, the circus people were greatly puzzled and hesitated about causing her arrest.

It was not until she appeared at Sag Harbor on Wednesday that the manager decided to have her taken into custody should she follow them further. The next day she was promptly on hand for the street parade at Patchogue and among the fist to purchase tickets for the afternoon exhibition. 

The complaint was made to Justice Hegeman, to whom the prisoner made a garbled confession. She declares she intends to be a circus rider and that the present interference with her plans will not in any way change her ideas. The girl’s father was telegraphed for.”