The name, Flandrin, suggested a French origin, but we now learned that it was only a part of the usual circus hocus-pocus. Actually Flandrin was a German, named Heisse. Early In life he ran off on a ship and sailed around the world. It was on this trip, from an old circus man turned sailor, that Flandrin learned his first tricks, performed on shrouds and cross-trees. But the Heisse family had reclaimed the runaway, taking him back to Germany where he eventually was graduated from Heidelberg. There he married and remained for two years of post-graduate work, during which he met Josie LaTour. It was LaTour who lured him from the laboratory to the circus, and she gave him his French-sounding name. For her new inamorata, she obtained a small place with a family of European acrobats. At her urg
