Grand Rapids morning telegram., 1884-12-08
SHOWN EMS RIVALRY.
Lively Experiences of Western BILL
Poster With the Agents of Two Com
peting Great Moral Exhibitions.


indianapolis News.1
''Those flaming tri-colored posters re-
mind me,n said an old bill-sticker to-
day, ''of my experience with two circus
agents in an Illinois town some years
ago. l was the city bill ll-poster, and
owned all the sign boards and advan-
tageous sights for posting. More than
that, was the only bill-pOster in town.
One night there was loud knocking at my
door, and upon answering it l at first
thought that "a stranger had mistaken
my house for the Doctors, for he was
out of breath and talked very rapidly
L soon learned his mission, however, for
he said: Excuse me for arousing you
at an unseemly hour, but it's matter
of necessity. l am the Advance Agent
for F's circus. | want to engage every
available inch of advertising space that
you command. BIS agent came on the
same train with me, and / suppose will
be here in five minutes. We show on
the 10th, they on the 11th. Now name
your price, First come, first served
told him, and as he said money was
no object, / agreed to stick his
posters on every board l had the
next day at double my usual price,
and a pocketful of tickets for the show.
didn't get to bed that night at all, for
the first agent hadn't turned the corner
when the representative of B.'s great moral
show brought me to the door again by
loud knocking. 1 told him that he was
too late, that F. had engaged ali my space.
But | must be posted if / paint the sky
4. J.
thing to stick them to- l happened to
think of several vacant lots in prominent
parts of the town, and before morning the
agent and L had awakened the owners and
obtained the exclusive right of erecting
boards on the lots. All next day | spent
in fairly covering the town with paper ad-
vertising F.'s show. Meantime had high
fences built around the vacant lots, aud
the second day / spent in artistically daub-
ing them for b. IS benefit. The town began
to take an interest in the rival circuses
Every show window and half of the pri-
vate houses displayed handbills of one or
the other of them. Business began to
flourish. / bought so much lumber for
new sign-boards that the price ran up.
Excitement became so general that the
IL Il
was granted the privilege OF putting up
posters IN the Courthouse yard. / divid-
ed the space between the two shows. Fin
ally the agents had second story added
10 each prominent sign, and even Ian
terms were hung out at night to
make all the posters legible. f.
bribed the janitor OF the Court house TO
display streamer from the domes, and b.
succeeded in having his colors displayed
from the steeples of two prominent churches.
+. plastered the roof of the railroad station
with giraffs and Zulus, and b. rented a
residence, which he caused TO dazzle with
pictures OF the alligator and the Circassian
woman. By the time the first circus was
due there seemed 70 be nothing in the bill
posting line that had not been done. The
very air was thick with the odor OF coIored
inks and paints. But there was one great
closing act. The morning Of the 1oth-F's
day-was just the kind Of day for big
crowd; bat for some unaccountahle reason
the country people didn't show up very
numerously. One who came told whv. He
said that a few miles out on every road
leading 70 town arches had been built across
the roads and On thefn hung words. ~The
circus has been postponed until to-n.or-
row. the fith. The tiger and the zooloos
have broken loose; lock out for your chil-
siren and catfle.r
+. was 50 mad over the r,nanness a his
rival that he actually postponed his show
until the next day, when the people came
BY thousands. There were enough peopie /
70 I'll both tents. snd before morning the I
crowds of both shovs coznn,inelei IL one
frsrernaI drunk.
Hsslsa's memory : sbess . b hsaored |