The Billboard 1908-06-06: Vol 20 Iss 23 (1908-06-06)

JUNE 6, 1908. The Billboard CIRCUS MAN’S REMINISCENCES (Continued from page 10.) Hemmings and his son will appear on the ballet stage as follows: They will go through their extraordinary feats of strength and agility a la Rizley. They will perform some of the most wonderful feats ever witnessed. Professor Hemmings lying on his back and throwing the children in the air in somersaults and catching them in various positions.’’ Now-a-days, it is quite the fad among performers, especially with leading men and leading women with stock and repertoire companies, to present thelr photographs to admiring patrons at receptions. That the custom of these presentations Is not peculiar to these latter days, is shown in another old bill that Mr. Hemmings hes in his serap-book advertising a performance tu the Royal Circus October 31st, 1847 In this bill the following announcement is made: “CARD OF NOTICE.—-Professor Hemmings will present. gratis, a lithogravure of their act as perforwed by command before her most gracious majesty, Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, and Her Royal Highness, the Duchess of Cambridge and Prince of Hesse. Parties wishing to purchase these lithogravures can bave the same at a shilling apiece."’ That there were enterprising showmen in those days as now is illustrated by the following notice: “Professor Hemmings in feats of gymnase and classical drawing-room entertainment. The act will take place in front of the colossal giass curtain on a big scale of magnitude and splendor, and will form one of the most thrilling tableaux ever witnessed. The looking-glass curtain is in a richly carved frame and is composed of 1,500 feet of glass of the largest plates ever made, and was made by the Royal Albion Glass Company for the occasion, and silvered by Mr. Lehman of New Castle street.’’ It is presumed that this is as at a novelty as the Crystal Palace itself. e Hemmings Brothers appeared at the performance noted above in 1847. Mr. Hemmings has a large scrap-book literally filled with cirevs bills and programs of spectacular and pantomime performances, and press notices from the newspapers. These performances were given in the 40's and early 50’s in England. The scrapbook was kept by his uncle who, as aforesaid, died of cholera in 1849. Continuing, Mr. Hemmings said: ‘I learning to ride and also to do the when the Rizleys first appeared in England in Birmingham. Then the Hemmings Troupe followed the Rizleys in their steps performing this act in not only all the theatres in London and was tight-rope the provinces, but also on the continent, in Italy and in Belgium and a month in Paris. The Rizley act was a great novelty. We used to perform it between the acts in Italian operas in Italy and in France.’’ After his uncle died, Mr. Hemmings was thrown on his own resources—he was then about fifteen. ‘I found it very hard to get along,"’ said Mr. Hemmings, ‘‘as we were not acknowledged performers until twenty-one years of age. I went up to London and had an interview with a man named Batty, who was then manager of Astley’s Theatre in London. In those days It was customary to aprentice boys and girls in the show business as in any other trade. This was customary also, I believe, with American circuses. Anyway 1 was apprenticed to Batty, and at the World's Fair in London, 1851, I did a principal riding act. “Batty was in partnership with a man in a hic undertaking called the Hippodrome, in the vicinity of the Crystal Palace. The grand entry was called The Cloth of Gold. For awhile 1 worked at both places as did many of the other people, appearing in the afternoon in the Hippodrome and at the Theatre in the evening. 1 remember my brother and I appeared in a big spectacle at Astley’s Theatre entitled St George and the Dragon. In 1853 we did eques trian work at the Rosemary Branch Gardens at Islington, which was destroyed by fire. We lost everything we had, horses, costumes and all I was now absolutely penniless. I then went with Mlle. McCarty’s Company for two seasons In England. This was a circus under canvas During the winter I played in the theatres. In the spring I joined Spence Stokes, then a noted showman. He had a big card with him in the person of Ella Zoara, who was a great principal circus rider, and also a female impersonator. His make-up was realiy won derful and he performed his act with this make np with such success that no one ever suspect ed him of being a man. His sex was kept a secret and he created a great sensation on the Continent Ife was introduced into the various courts of Europe, and titled noblemen went wild over him and made him costly presents It was about this time that the matting ring was introduced, thus revolutionizing the circus exhibitions on an Interlor stage. After this, I worked with Pablo Pranques’ Circus. Wallett. the famous clown and veen’s Jester, Wayed clown to my principal act “About this time, Mr. Smith, of London, bought a cireus—it was during the Crimean War—with the intention of introducing military evolutions on the stage as soon as the siege of Sebastopol was over, but the siege was so long continued that he had to send the company on the road. You see in those days circus ac tors were engaged all the year around In the summer we played under canvas and in cold Weather we played in London and in the larger cities of the provinces in buildings “A modern may be winter exhibitions given by Frank Bostock, Francis Ferari and others Those were great days. I remember that at Dunmore and in other places as well, it was customary, in the fall of the year, to give what was called the ‘‘Flitch © Bacon" festivals. A man and wife, who counterpart found in the could prove that they had not quarreled for a certain length of time, were presented with souvenirs. At these festivals they used to call on London his ballet girls from the festival. ‘They for talent, and Smith used to send the Drury Lane would appear in the grand Procession and then circus performances would be given afternoon and evenings. My last en cagement In England was at a two weeks’ winter cireus given at Foxhall Gardens In London."* In 1855, Mr. Hemmings met a man by the hame of James Amandez, in London. He was from Aemrica and was playing an engagement in London, He persaaded Mr. Hemmings to go to America with him, and George Reilly, the vaulter and juggler on horse back. They sailed on the steamer Ericsson, of the Collins Line, running between Liverpool and New York. The captain was Captain Eriesson, the inventor of the famous Monitor, which later fought a battle with the Merrimac. Mr. Hemmings remembers {ft as an extremely rough voyage. On the trip the steamer carried the first big invoice down to} of canary birds ever brought to this country. hey were shipped to the old animal dealer Richy, in New York. The weather was so bad coming over that these birds died by the score, so that in order to realize enough on what was left to break even on the order, Richy, after getting the birds into New York, shipped them to California, where he got $5 apiece for them. Richy was a well-known animal dealer in those days, having a place on the Bowery and one at Hoboken, and Frank Thompson, who was connected with the Cincinnati Zoological Gardens in their infancy, was for a long time an agent in Africa for Richy. Mr. Hemmings, in undertaking the trip to America, was like the children of Israel when they set out from Egypt for the promised land. He expected that America .would be a land flowing with milk and honey; in other words, he expected to find plenty of work, but he was disappointed. It was in the winter when he arrived in America and he found out that circuses were different here from those in England. In England a circus performer could work all the year round, but here there was only work for bim in the summer time under canvas. There was only one winter circus and that was Gen eral Welsh’s Amphitheatre in Chestnut street, Philadelphia, and if you could not get booked at this place you had to lie idle until the fol lowing summer. Mr. Hemmings stayed in New York a week and met an old friend by the name of Shirinni, an Italian equestrian, who had been his tutor at Astley’s Circus in London. After trying to secure a date at Barnum’s for his tight rope act, and getting turned down by the manager because he asked for $50 per week, he arranged to go to Cuba with Shirinni and they worked at Havana at the Plaza De Tauras in a circus, for about two weeks; then a Spanish officer Gardner was there because his son pad run off and got married without his knowledge and consent and he came there to investigate. This son of Dan Gardner was the same Bill Gardner who was the advertising agent for the Barnum & Bailey Show recently. and who died soon after the death of James Bailey, the millionaire circus owner. Dan Gardner bad been out with a company and had not received his salary, having the same experience as Hemmings. “Well, we talked over our prospects,”’ said Mr. Hemmings. “I told Dan I was thinking of taking a trip back to England. but Dan said that as my father and mother were both dead, there ‘vas no reason why I should return to England, and I saw the-wisdom of his advice and stayed in America. Dan proposed that, om account of both of us having had the unpleasant experience of not receiving our salaries on several occasions, we frame up for ourselves, and this was the beginning of the partnership between Gardner and Hemmings “There was a place in Philadelphia knewn as Camac’s Wools. It was used as a pasture. We lookeed it over and thought it would be a good place for a show. We went to see the owner, who had turned it into a sort of a driving park, and made a proposition to him to give performances in the open for the purpose of attracting crowds to the place. We made a _ proposition to bim to give performances for $100 per day, furnishing five people, horses and all nec essary properties. The man had a bar on the grounds and he recognized the fact that this Was a very good proposition, so he closed the deal with us. The show was given by Gardner and his family, together with myself, making five people. An advertising man was engaged and a free exhibition at Camac’s Woods on the line of the old 10th and .ith streets railway, was advertised for the following Monday. Well, AUGUST FROEBEL. August Froebel, the well-kKnowr perfect extant took and charge of the show on a commission basis took it ‘‘en tour’’ with ox teams through Cuba While in Havana he received a letter from Welsh to come to Philadelphia before engaging with anybody He came back to Philadelphia and opened up here at the Ctireus, where the Casino now is, working there all winter and doing his act known as Don Juan on Horseback The following spring he left Philadelphia with a campany touring the weet The year 1857 was a long and disastrous one for all outdoor shows. The horses belonging to the show died of cholera, and the show stranded owing him $1,190 salary. The following winter Mr formed his act with the Van at the Old Broadway in New in the days of the original one of the most popular in America. The following summer Mr. Hemmings went with the Sloat & Shepard Show. The following winter he played at the National Circus in Philadelphia. The next year he went out with Sloat Shepard, and received his salary regularly. The following fall he went to Cuba and played in Havana all winter. Returning from Cuba he met Dan Gardner, the clown, at the old Flor Hemmings Amburg York. This was Van Amburg Show, perCireus ence Hotel in New York, the recognized headquarters of the circus people in the old days. National | ~ expert par accountant. originater of the ‘“‘Froebel System of park accounting’ in use by many of the leading amusement parks throughout the world; has joined the forces of the Laemmile Film Service The tremendous and rapid expansion of the Laemmile Service necessitating the establishment of six branches to date, and more to follow, in the large business centers of the United States. in order te give to their customers that ‘quality service’’ for which this company is noted, requires expert attention to details Mr. Froebel’s wide experience in general business, particularly in a business of such a mag nitude as Carl Laemmile has built up. will po doubt greatly improve the already superior Laemmle Service Mr. Laemmile is to be congratulated on securing the services of so able an assistant Mr. Freebel will enter upon his new duties as comptroller and travel uditer, May 24 The system at the new Forest Park. Chicago, which will open May 30, is being devised and will be installed by Mr. Breebel. whe claims it te be. without question, one of the tightest checks ever put on a business of this kind, and the company has spared no expense fo make it the most to make a long story short, we did a phenemenal business Cars were packed from the day in April, when we opened. until the Fourth of July, when we had 35,000 people on the grounds; but the Fourth was our “Waterloo. The Volunteer Fire Companies were out there and they became involved in a fight The papers came out next day with big headlines: “The Riot At Camac’s Woods." This was the death knell of this place as a resort After this we gave our exhibitions in various places around Philadelphia. We were at Gloucester for several weeks. We gave the first show ever held under canvas at Atlantic City This was in 1860, and this is where Bill Gardner had his first experi ence in advertising a show. He joined the show in Atlantic City and did his first advertising for Gardner & Hemmings Our engagement in Atlantic City was a disastrous one. big storm came up and broke up the show. Ww then returned to Philadelphia.”* After this Mr. Hemmings again went to Cuba. He remembers that at one performance in Cuba during the visit of the Emperor Maximilian which was a benefit for the Spanish soldiers who took part in the Morocco War, the receipt« were over $9.000 While in Cuba on this last trip he was in correspondence with his old partner, Dan Gard ner, and in the winter of 1861 they opened at . 7 Gilmore's place on Walnut street, under the name of Gardner, Hemmings and Madigan for a five weeks’ run. Mr. emmings remembers that one of their special features in this engagement was Blondin, the high-wire artist. who walked over Niagara Falls. He proved to be a great card during this engagement. After the engagement in Philadelphia, they went 4 Baltimore and played at the old Front Street eatre. It was about this time that the war broke out and that injured the circus business and their tour, like those of other companies, met with disaster. A great many circus and theat rical companies broke up on account of the war. In the winter of 1862 they came back to Philadelphia, and John O’Brien was made a silent partner. Desiring to get started making money as soon as possible, they conceived the idea of putting on a circus in Washington on account of the bange pumber of people congregated there because of the war. A man dy the name of Grove, who had a theatre in Washington, came on to Philadelphia to open negotiations to put the show on in Washington on a percentage basis, and a deal was closed with him. They had great difficulty in getting their stuff to Washington. They could hardly get it shipped, either by boat or by rail. They opened in Washington, where the market is now, under a 120-foot round top, and did a fine business under the name of Gardner & Hemmings. After opening there, a man by the name of James Nixon, started an opposition circus in a building In the main square, featuring Cubaus, the wonderful Spanish dancer. ‘‘Desiring to get something sensational to compete with the Spanish dancer, we went to New York and ar ranged with Barnum to bring down the Albinos, Tom Thumb and Commodore Nutt. Nixon had an advertising agent who was so injudicious ip his writing as to brand P. T. Barnum as a humbug. arnum saw the paper containing the slanderous article and came down to Washing ton in high dudgeon. Bill Gardner was our advertising man and Barnum told him to find the best newspaper man in town. Gardner did so, Barnum engaged him and the result wae that the next day the newspapers were filled with articles attacking Nixon, which had the effect of putting a stop to his blackmailing methods. After the Washington engagement they played Alexandria, Va., for one week, and then went en tour. The returned to Philadelphia the following winter and opened at the old National. Theatre on Market street. They did a good business all winter the Van Amburg Show, under the name of Gardner & Hemminvs. This gave them twelve cages of animals besides elephants and camels. The show was advertised as the Gardner & Hemmings Show and Van Amburg Menagerie. Although they paid the Van Amburg people a big percentage, they made money on the season. In 1865 the company was run as the Gardner, Hemmings & Cooper Show, James Cooper coming into the partnership in 1866. They hired the Van Amburg Menagerie and exhibited it with the circus. In 165 they hired Dan Rice as a special feature at a salary of $1,000 a week. In the fall of 1867, Dan Gardner sold his interests in the show. . and in 1868 Mr. Whitney bought an interest in the show. These three partners ran the show through the seasons of 1868, "69 and ‘70. In the fall of 1870 Mr. Whitney was shot during a riot at the front entrance of the show at Rayville, La., and died in Vicksburg, Miss., a few days later. Hemmings & Cooper bought Whitney’s interests of his heirs, and ran the show in 1871 and 1872, during both of which seasons James Balley, who later became the owner of the Barnum & Bailey Show, was their advance agent. In the winter of 1872 Mr. Hemmings sold his interest to Cooper, and has since lived in retirement in Philadelphia. Mr. Hemmings can talk by the hour of his experience in the show business, and it is quite interesting to hear him tell his reminiscences. Mr. Hemming’s wife was also a performer, being considered in her day one of the most beautiful and graceful equestriennes before the public. Besides his scrap-book , Mr. Hemmings has in his home in Philadelphia many souvenirs and mementoes of his career, first as equestrian and acrobat, and later as circus owner and manager. FAIR NOTES. No longer is it mere conjecture that the coming County Fair to be held at Elkwood Park, Long Branch, N. J., during Labor Day week. will be the most successful of the many fairs are to be held throughout the country this The fair association has engaged the of Theodore H. Cole man. as manager of affair. who has heen vrominently identified with this kind of work for many years and has achieved a nationa! for his success as manager of va held in adjoining states The agement states that every day of the week will have many distinct fe: Monday the Lewisohn races will be which there will be three trotting and ning events and already some of the orses in the country have been entered Ocean Races will also be an event of im; expected to draw lovers of the from every part of the Ur Prizes aggregating $25,000 will be distributed at the track tesides the races a dog show will be held which will be on par with the greatest in the country A giant mid way over two thousand feet long will be one of the attractions and at the theatre a continu ous performance of high-class vaudeville will be given The officers of the association are as follows: Mayor Chas. O. McFadden, president; Poland, first vice-president: John G. Sex second vice-president: M. G. Kahn, and W. R. Warwick, treasurer. one of that season services the renutatior pu lon rious fairs und is thoroughbreds States ince Geo ton tary secre VAUDEVILLE. Mme. Alvano, prima donna soprano, umd her son, Donald tenor, are now pearing in vaudeville in the South, have cepted a four weeks’ engagement at the Theatre, Macon, Ga. Mr. Samuels, With Four Faces,"* Selmona He is Raymond Carle ind Carle Al. Gilbert, robust apac Lyric known as “The Man will hereafter be known as now booking a new act by formerly of the team of Hazel that funny Hebrew. has inst finished nine weeks on the Royer and Balsden time and is now working on the and M. Cireuit Lillian Hale and Co. are scoring a hit om the Sullivan and Considine time. In 1863 they opened with. ore eee ee aa Seer ro oe sei nen a e_ ee ee