The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-02-24
THE "FREAKs" ARE DooToRED.
Some Interesting Information About
Dime Museum Curiosities.
From The NeI0 York Star.

From the NeD York Star.
1.-The American people like to be hum
bugged.n AS with P, 7. Barnum, go with
the managers of the fakes, freaks and
foliesn class Of dime museums, side show,
and travelling stores, this truism is indelibly
stamped in letters Of gold on the corner.
stone Of their existence. Were it not for
this phase of public character their profes
sion would he in vain.
The Legitimate as well as the "illegti-
mate business is found among dime muse
ums and lowprice SHOWS, and there are
those who do what they avertise and work
on general business principles, although
they may not api cal TO the higher tastes
and do not contribute to the culture which
Matthew Araod looked for IN vain among
Americans A rather confdeatIal dime
museum man not 10 z ago was led by q
Springfield Republican reporter to talk
about his brotherhood, aud the facts here
set forth are mainly rs he described them.
He bad in his exposition" IA snake charMer,
an Ably sluian beauty, a bodiless wonan,
and a Jwo-headed cali (stuffedj. The mus
cum was in tent ABOUT thirty feet in diam
eter and the curios vera arranged around
the sides. Two or three Claring sheets of
canvass were retched about the entrance
TO depict what the show contained. To be
sure, the snakes on The illustration were
thirty feet long, while the realities were
about thirty incnes, and the calf was rep
re ented as es eclally lively, but the Abys-
slnian and TIE bodless woman were fairly
portrayed, except for an amount of physi-
cal beauty which the originals could never
nave possessed.
The account of these attractions which
the proI rietOr gave was delightfully."- naive.
The snake cnarIner, he asserted, was the
daughter Of a real Indian Charm sr who
was brought over by Barlum. She be-
came 5aau1red with a concert ticket seller,
and as he had ambitions to start museum,
married her ana tleir only child, was then
doing the snake actn on the post office lot
in SpriDgliel The fakr said that the mother
really had power over snakes, but that the
daughter used toothless snakes and Galore
form. ~She is, however, he said, Every
fond of snakes, and w uld sleep With them
If / would let herr The "Abyssinian
beauty Princess lrymi, was described as
70 years old, a native of New YORK, and
descended from poor but honest Irish par
ents. AT the age Of II che was employed
to scrub floors in a New York Bowery dime
museum, and here learned the secret of
bleaching her hair and beng able t. make
1t stand upright. She was paid S. week
for her services. The bodiless woman was
the fakir's wife, who had formerly been a
character dancer in a variety show. The
man said Shat there had been time when
the "bodiless- woman act" had been a whole
show. and then he had been able to com
money. The calf, or tie remains of what
had once been a calf, he asserted, was legi-
mate curiosity which lie had bid in at an
auction sale OF curios for SO 50. He said
that MS whole outfit cost $5S aud his salary
list was from $l7 To SIS a week, with his
other expenses about $40 a week, aud bis
receipts were from SIS to S35 day. I'VE
don't lay up nothin', though, because when
we lay off we have to go with the boys, and
sc all buck the tiger bit, and, Of course,
in the long run ttat beats us" He told Of
many han dships they had to endure, and said
that they are always afraid Of ge,tmg
stranded away from home. Very few Of
tue sC-called freaks are what they seem,
aud are "dOctoredn in a more or hess gen
ious way. Men are all the time doing some
strange thing simply to get a job to pose
for a wonder, as they are too lazy to work.