Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1883-04-12
A CIRCUS ON THE ROAD
An Army of HIen. Horses and wild Animal.
TO be Provided for--Henvy Salaries and
Big Profits.

nun oHoW. Ahou ID WHdt tHOy pun ~
down at. But of this sum $2,7OO a
day goes for advertising. In brief, it
costs more to do the advertising, pure
and simple, than to pay for all the
other expenses of the show. But this
sum does not go for the newspapers
and printing of bills and cards alone
in the city in which they are perform
ing. The show has five advertising
cars. The first of these is FIVE months
ahead of the show. That is to say,
with chief and an assistant aud
twelve men. it is billing town to-day
that the show itself will not reach
until August next, and already in that
town the newspapers are being
worked" Two weeks after that car
leaves another one comes along and
does the work all over again. Another
follows in three weeks, until the five
advertising cars have passed through
the place and have done their work.
Then the advance agents of the show
get into the town and keep the excite
ment up until the show itself arrives
A show like the Barnum never goes
twice to the same place in a season.
sometimes not for two. They usually
clean out a district of all the loose
change it has, and the country for one
hundred miles around is laid under
contribution. The next day the show
jumps at least one hundred miles so as
to get out of the neighborhood that
has been worked. When it is realized
that the receipts are often $4,000 a
day, even in small places, the wisdom
of doing this is apparent at once.
The new tent to be used for the Bar
mum show this summer cost $4,000.
Three Hundred people took about six
months to finish it.
The Barnum show employs four
hundred draught horses and one hun
dred and twenty ponies and perform
ing horses. Many of the performing
horses are the property of the artists ,
For instance, Frank Melville, the rider,
has seven of his own which he uses in
the ring. He receives a salary of $3.50
a week for the season, but beside this
Barnum and his partners must
board and stable the seven
horses and furnish transpor-
tation. Nine ROLAND has i've
horses. She is also paid $3.50 a week,
and her beasts are kept. These salaries
are large, but they are supposed to be
for the risk as much as the skill.
Seldom season passes without these
people being injured more or less. One
Of the Melvilles was hurt last year, and
is only just now recovering Katie
Stokes, who got $50 week with the
Coup show, hurt her knee-pan, and has
not been able to perform since. She
now playing in one of Stetson's COM
panies for $25 a week. These are the
eventualities of the business.
The cost of maintaining and feeding
all these animals is very large, and
they have to be fed well because their
life is one Of hardship. Several quarters
of beef are bought each day for the
wild animals. An average of 100
bales of hay is consumed each day, and
oats. corn and bran are bought at the
rate Of 10000 bushels at time There
are twenty-three elephants with the
show. They eat hay, potatoes and
bran as staple food. Jumbo gets
each day half a barrel of potatoes,
half barrel of bran and about
one bale of hay. Besides this he is
giving ten loaves of bread, whole
loaf being given him at each mouthful.
Besides this the visitors give him
cakes, candy, apples and fruit at an
average of four or five bushels a day.
He can digest anything but nails and
guilds of tobacco, of the latter of which
he is very wary. Jumbo costs to keep
from $8 to SO a day. He has two
keepers, Scott, who came over with
him from England, being his constant
attendant. There is a special groom
attached to his quarters. Altogether
he has pretty good time.
The performers generally are pal
pretty good wages, for they only work
from twenty-six to thirty weeks in
the year. The young woman, Jutan,
who slides down wire by her teeth,
is paid 500 week. The perform
ance requires excellent teeth, and
when they give way false ones will
not do. Miss Jutan has great jaw
The leapers and people Of that sort,
excepting alone the extraordinary
ones, are paid from $40 to $50 month
and their keep. When travelling
there is a regular cooking tent with
the show, and from morning till night
meals go on, and they are good meals
too, better than can be got at most of
the country hotels. Very often the
very best and most highly paid per
formers take their meals in the cook
ing tent.
Nor is the life of the performer so
hard one after all There are 50
many of them with a show like this
that they cannot give acts which last
more than ten minutes each. They
perform twice q day. which makes