Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1884-05-10


WILD ANIMALs-wHY PEOPLE GO TO THE
C1RCus-THE PROCESS OF SECURING RARE AND
CURIOUS ANIMALS EXPLAINED-THE MODERN
MENAGERIE AND ITS ORIGIN.
"a collection Of wild animals is Just as neces-
sary to travelling circus like this as the tumblers
and bareback riders are" remarked Mr.. Bailey,
one of the proprietors of 1.-The greatest show on
earth" to STAR reporter. The speaker sat
near the main entrance of the tent in the midst
of the double stream Of people that were hurry
ing inside to witness the evening performance.
The circus proprietor was small man. plainly
dressed, with no flashing diamond in his shirt
front, as it seems that the proprietor of such a
gttering pageant ought to wear to be in har-
mony with his surroundings, if for no other
reason. Mr.. Bailey has succeeded, however, in
his business strange as it may seem. without
the diamond shirt front, and also appeared to be
we'll informed on the subject of wild animals,
which subject, evidently to his surprise, STAR
reporter had stopped to ask some questions
about
IA great many people. who have no practical
experience in the circus business, he continued,
watching, with some interest, the movements Of
the dOorkeepers, ''seem to think that the me-
nagerie part OF the show is rather an obsolete
lcdluIe Vi TIE HOUeTu circus. 1nat, however,
Is a great mistake. People expect to see rare
and curious animals at circus as much these
days as they did twenty or thirty years ago.
some visitors come here exclusively with the
idea of seeing the animals. and If they happen to
wander in the tent and witness the ring per-
Torrance why that is simply accidental"
AN OLD CIRCUS JOKE.
The listener laughed to hear this matter-of-
fact statement of fact that has long been the
staple of thread-bare jokes. Mr.. Bailey didn't
laugh; he simply remarked
= you didn't suppose that we would invest so
much money in animals il it wasn't necessary
DO you? 1t is necessary, and our collection of
animals is more costly each year"
''HOw much have you invested in your me-
nagerie?' asked the listener with some curl
Osity.
WELL" was the reply, 'the actual amount of
money invested does not represent the value Of
this collection as it now stands to US. For eX-
ample, there is Jumbo. He is worth 100000
to US, although he did not cost that much by a
great deal. But the fact that he is the biggest
elephant In the world distinguishes us from all
competitors. 1t is the knowledge used and the
enterprise employed in get, together rare
and curious animals that enhances the value of
this collection: We might have twice as many
animals as we have at present. but numbers are
of little value"
what makes circus menagerie valuable
Rare animals that excite the public curl
osity," was the reply Cages of birds, foxes,
wolves, bears and animals of that character
would not be regarded by the public as worth
going to see We seldom exhibit animals native
to this country The kind Of circus where there
were three or four cages OF bears is past OF
course we have got to have lion"
GOOD ROARING LION.
what does good roaring lion cost ?" inter-
rupted the listener.
"We pay 81, 200 for lion If he is good one,"
replied Mr.. Bailey, motioning to an employe to
clear tie entrance way of some idlers "They
or in England"
~ did not know that lions were still found in
this country, or in England either" ventured
the reporter. with a vague recollection of early
studies In natural history.
Not in wild state" said Mr.. Bailey. in an
explanatory tone; 'but lions that are born in
captivity. Most of our animals never saw their
native country. We raise cameis quite as much
as we do horses, and SO with other animals, and
those that we don't want we sell to menageries
place our stock In the same way We have now
number Of animals in the Central Park collec-
tiOn that We have raised"
II suppose elephants are the most expensive
animals" guessed the listener.
The first cost is not very great" was the re-
pensive. l can get good elephant in his ma
tive country for $500. but it will cost from 81 600
to 81. 500 to bring him here. They are the most
expensive animals to ship"
"HOw do you get rare anmals?" said the re-
porter, after pause in the conversation, which
was occupied by Mr.. Bailey in an animated col
loquy with one of the employees
1--WE have our agents in the coast towns in
Africa, Asia and even in Russia. and when we
send an order tor a certain animal he starts the
natives out and they soon captureOn it used
to be quite business for some men to make
trip and gather collection of animals and then
sell them in various countries, but the large
number OF animals now collected for various
purposes in all the principal countries and their
natural increase has lessened the demand in the
THE RARE ANIMALS.
"What animals do you regard as rare in these
days?" asked the reporter.
"The hippopotamus and rhinOceros are rare,
because they are difficult to keep alive and well
in captivity. We used to feed them too much
Now we give them less to eat and exercise them
more and succeed very we'll rhinoceros costs
about $4,000, but l have known as much as
SIC, GOO to be paid for One.''
1t was becoming evident that Mr. Baley's at
tentiOn was more absorbed in watching the
people pass the ticket takers and calculating
the possible receipts for the evening than Talk
ing about wild animals. Following the evident
direction of the managers thoughts the reporter
remarked that washington was good circus
town.
''It is good town for one day." was the re-
Spouse, in rather injured Tone ''but that is ALL
Monday night suppose we turned away five or
six thousand people. but they didn't come back
to-day. We had fair audience this afternoon.
and we will have pretty good crowd tonight,
but not as much as there should be- Baltimore
is better town than this"