The Arkansaw traveler., 1885-07-04
HOW 4 CIRCUS Is RUN.
Hid Bits. 1

AASN SA SANSO0 kS NONs
 Hid Bits.
 Each circus has its general. Talk to him of any city or town in the country. and the thought immediately occurs to him; An. yes a town Of & 900 [Ss 900, Sio 900 or SI7ooo, as the case may bel profit" He knows almost to a unit the population and how much can be made out of 1t. He knows also the character of the inhabitants, and he is acquainted thoroughly with the railroad and other facilities for getting into the place. He maps out the route at the beginning of the season, of course changing it as much as possible every year. There are twenty four advance agents, who follow each other in regular rotation. They look after the advertising, the provender for the animals, the lodgings, and contracts of various kinds. These agents are pro- vided with checks. They give checks on the show for the amounts contracted for. The treasurer takes up and pays the cheeks so that when the show arrives it has no trouble in any direction. It has happened few times that the firm has been swindled, but it never refuses to honor a check, "to keep up the credit of the circus" Not one of the great ex- changes in New York is better posted as to the monetary condition of any town or circus managers well know it is useless gong into place where there is much commercial depression. The character istics os town are studied before going into It. For instance, it is known when the miners of Pittsburg are paid of, and right on top of the event, comes the "show." tvery rarely happens that a miscalculation is made, but if money is lost anywhere, that place is given a wide berth next season.
 The weather, too, Is watched almost as carefully as it is by the signal-service bureau. The great aim of the circus is to strike fair weather everywhere. When 1t is extremely csld in the north, the cir GUS IS enjoying the warmth of the south and the dollars of the genial southerners. When it becomes too hot in the south, then it wends Its way in the opposite direc- tion. Moreover, 1t never attempts to com pete with cheaper entertainment. If Bar mum is billed for Maryville, Miss, and a twenty-five cent show gets ahead of it the big circus passes on. The general knows, too, how long it is profitable to stay in town.
 The army of employees is divided into tive divisions-the performers, the ring attendants, the stable and menagerie at tsndants, the trainmen Gin circu. parlance "razor-backs ?" and the canvasmen. The canvasmen number two hundred out of seven hundred-a large number, but not too many to cope with the huge tent which is put up in the country. On the trains there is a special place for every thing and everybody. Indeed the train men could load the train almost blind- folded, the arrangements arc so precise, and have been so long in smooth work ing order. The canvasmen are the first to be packed of. They touch nothing until the teamsters have arrived on the ground with the canvas, and then, when the tent is up, they sit down and just watch the others "doing their bit" So 1t IS with the trainmen when they have loaded or unloaded the cars they will not put hand to anything else, and perhaps if they did they would only be in the way. Every employe has special duty to perform and does not consider himself engaged for anything outside of that.
 One of the heaviest items in the expense is the bill for advertising. The huge colored posters seen everywhere in the vicinity of the show are costly. The ad- vertising bill in the season averages daily, $2 700. Yet the expenditure results in a good return. The salaries vary all the way from SIo to $500 a week. Whati a circus performer with an income equal to five times that of the secretary of s,ate2 An, but recollect," says the circus man, " that this doe. not last all the year round. Recollect too, the risks that are run. If limb is broken then the occu- patton of the poor performer is gone, and if he or she has not saved enough for a rainy day, poverty is the result. These high priced performers also have to en- gage others to assist them, and some times the engagement of quite family. The stars provide their own costumes and apparatus"