The billboard (Oct 1910)

OCTOBER 29, 1910. X li e B i 11 b o a r a 13 THE CIRCUS OF THE PAST Breezy Sketches of Performers and Notes of Those Who Link Round Top History to Fame. Photographs from the Only Copies in Existence, and the Greatest Collection in the World—In a Series of Ten Issues By FRANK WINCH. As a foreword, I wish to state before commencing this series—which will undoubtedly prove interesting' to not only old timers, b-: those connected with the arena to-day-—^that my:. in- tention Is not-to write a complete his- tory. The man does not live to-day that can fully and completely chronicle! events of an era long since passed to memory—and those memories are to- day largely memories of the dead. Circus history we have had-^we Icnow in a general way whence it came and by whom—we know positively many of the trials, the troubles, and the Joys. My purpose is to give to the reader, he who is devoted to the great- est branch of amusement business the world has ever or ever will Icnow, an opportunity of j^ossessing some quaint facts, copies of time-stained programs and photograplis that cannot measure their sentimental value in dollars. A research that has covered a great many montlis, a delving into old col- lections sacred to the owner, and dif- ferent chats with many of the gray heads who once B.eauBrummeledin the sawdust ring, have developed many in- cidents, that, if ever in print, have long since slipped to the oblivion, enshrouding the character itself. It is interesting to study the circus in Its wagon day period. Possibly there are some who ma malce invidious comparison of the then and now. Just' how they got along, what was said by the press about the show, and what the show paid for to have it said, and how it Is handled to-day, should hold the attention of many beside the press agent. Naturally, In commencing this series, I start at the beginning, at least where the first paragraph In circus history was really written—P. T. Bamum himself. In an announcement made for the season of 1879, Barnum lays the foun- dation of the increditable. This very announcement could easily prove a summing up of the man himself, it's a masterpiece. Just the twang to it that made Barnum a by-word in every clime, incidentally has set a standard for nearly every show since to Imitate at least in announcements. Read it. "All the requirements I claim to pos- sess, and do possess, for a continued success of half a century, has enabled me to Invest hundreds of thousands of dollars in attractive features, all of which I have concentrated in my One Single Greatest Show on Barth. in which will be found the most expen- sive, novel and marvelous attractions hi the world. "No other showman in this or any other country possesses my facilities or advantages, therefore it follows that my show is without parallel, and be- yond and defiant of any and all rlvalrj". It has no equal, and I assert it never will be surpassed exce. t by myself in the future. "Whenever I discover anything new, or hear through my agent of any nov- elty which JI think will please my mil- lions of patrons, I GET IT, whether it costs a thousand dollars or fifty thousand dollars, for I am determined .the public shall see everything that is worth seeing, regardless of cost. "Among the principal features of My Greatest Show on Earth for the season of 1879, will be found the largest, most interesting, most costly, and beyond comparison the rarest aggregation of wild animals In any traveling menag- erie in the world. "To the perfecting of this grand zo- ological collection, I have made earth, sea and air pay trit .itc, and my brave rangers, hunters and agents have trav- eled to the uttermost parts of the earth to complete It; braving the dangers of the jungle, the miasma of the morass, the arid, burning plains, the snows of the polar circle, tl.e simooms of the desert, the ferocious cannibals of the African forests, and 'the pestilence that walketh by noonday' in the dread lagoons and poisonous swamps of In- dia. This superb and only exhaustive zoological collection in the United States, contains more costly and rare specimens of natural history, more monsters of the deep, rare birds, strange fishes, reptiles, amphibia, and wild denizens of every clime and coun- try, than have ever been before pre- sented to the public, and form a vast living school of instruction, where the student may spend hours in wondrous contemplation. looking 'from Nature up to Nature's God.* "In addition to magnificent speci- mens of the feline species, such as lions, tigers, etc., graminivorous ani- mals, such as the eland and various beautiful specimens of antelopes, the visitor win find the only two-horned rhinoceros ever exhibited in America, which cost me $16,000.00; a black, double-humped camel, a most beauti- ful animal, covered with fine, glossy, silken hair, as dark as Erebus. And by his side. In strong contrast, another double-humped camel, perfectly white. "These are the only real genuine black or white camels which have been exhibited in America, and were Im- ported this spring a: a larger expense than has ever before been paid by any- one, and no person could, for $20,000, obtain a pair equal to them in all re- spects. "Another marvelous curiosity will be found in the remarkable anomalous pachyderm, from the interior of Africa, which even the savants of Europe have not been able to classify. It has the head of the hippopotamus, the tusk of the elephant, the hide of the rhin- oceros, the body of the lion, and the feet of a camel. It weighs nearly two tons, and has been rimed from its peculiar form and strange combina- tion, ' the elephantus-hlppo-parodoxus, as it paradoxically combines several animals in one. "In this collection will be found a herd of eleven elephants, from the ponderous full grown giant of Ceylon, to the diminutive African, standing but three feet in height, among them being the most perfectly trained, intelligent performing elephants In the world. "A colony of two hundred monkeys, from the enormous orang-outang and himpanzee to the baby monke^ weigh- ing less than a pound, together with many attractions which will be more fully described elsewhere. "While most exhibitions advertise more animals than they possess, and many which the advertisers never saw, I hereby solemnly agree to forfeit and pay $50,000.00 if the proprietors of any menagerie now in the country can show that they have incurred the same expense, and if an equal number of rare wild animals was ever before seen In any traveling extiibition in this country or in Europe, or anywhere on the face of the whole earth. I am thoroughly In earnest In making this proposition, and pledge my honor and my money for Its due fulfillment. , "I desire also to call particular at- tention to what last season proved to be, one of the most popular and most Interesting exhibitions I have ever brought before the public. I refer to my magnificent stud of twenty royal stallions, for which I paid $100,000^ They are from the stables of the Em- peror of Russia, late King of Italy, the Imperial Ecuries of Poland, and those of the Grand Khan of Tartary. "They have continued during the vacation tinder the charge of their ac- complished trainer and exhibitor. Mr. Carl Antony, and in addition to the wonderful and beautiful feats which elicited such universal admiration last season, will appear in a number of new and most Interesting feats and evolu- tions. "The Colossal Pavilion, containing the great Oriental and European Mu- seum, Will atlord more interest, amuse- ment and instruction than all the com- bined attractions of any other show that travels, comprising as it does a vast collection of natural curiosities, from all parts of the civilized and un- civilized world, from every zone and from every country, together with life- like, automatic, mechanical marvels. Col. Goshen, the great living giant, the tattooed Greek •nobleman, and other human phenomena never befor.e seen, and which no other exiUbition can pre- sent. A feature of peculiar attractive- ness is the wonderful anomaly called the 'mysterion lady,' who. while pleas- ing everyone by her exquisite and clas- sical beauty, the bewitching expres- sion of her face, the grace of her move- ments and the Ineffable sweetness of her speaking eyes, leaves all in doubt whether it is a vision or reality—- whether she is endowed with life tr only a lovely myth—whether of ex- quisitely moulded flesh and blood, or but a marvelous piece of most subtle and ingenious mechanism. "Determined that each of the various departments of my greatest show on earth should excel in attractiveness anything I had ever befbre attempted, 1 have secured more noveltlesifor 1879, in addition to those of last year, than comprise the entire stock of any other traveling' show, and besides tBose al- ready enumerated, I have added to the circus department the' greatest array of talent which was ever combined in one exhibition, simply because I have been a' le to outbid all competitors by paying more munificent salaries than were ever before paid to equestrian performers. In proof of this, I- have only to mention my galaxy of star lady riders, comprising the beautiful and all-surpassing Mme. Dockrill, Miss Katie Stokes. SIgnora XJnda Teal, and Miss Emma. Lake, the four most beau- tiful, accomplished and popular eques- triennes In the world. In the com- pany will be found the most expert and dashing of athletes, wrestlers, tumblers, trapezists, leapers and equil- ibrists, as well as the most witty and comical of clowns, and the most accom- plished and facile general performers, forming an exhibition at once amusing, thrilling, beauUful and interesting, and free from every gross and questionable feature. '^The expense of this vast conglom- erate of novelties Is not less than $3,500.00 per day. I state this for a fact, and will forfeit and pay $10,009 to any" person who can shavv that the bare expenses of nmnlHK my establish- ments during the past six year.s has not averaged more than the entire grross receipts-of any other show dur- the same time, which has ever traveled either in this country or Europe, and in.maldng this offer. I promise every facility for learning the fact. "I never advertise anything which I do not possess, and do not exhibit, but I do not advertise more than one-half of the many things which are con- tained in my own greatest show on earth, for i have not the space to men- tion them. It will be readily seen by my patrons that 1 offer Store for less money than any one else in the busi- ness, and were my show diminished by two-thirds. It would still be large*' (Coatltmed on p«8e 45.) StMTBPONE MVJlPJiMiCE! MIS;ni01 t^acastiB OS so:^ IliTAIlOFTDFIBSTMiyiSITlffilf rotar mam- MADAME LAKE! lawr or • Ji- Th.xt U.