St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1890-04-05
Tricks of Showmen.
HOW THE WHITE ELEPHANTS OF FORE
PAUGH AND BARNUM WERE SECURED.

| HOW THE WHITE ELEPHANTS OF FORE
PAUGH AND BARNUM WERE SECURED.
Old showmen who travelled with the late
Adam Forepaugh, or were intimately &C
qualnted with him for many years, have
countless stories to tell about the veteran
circus man and his long career under the
canvas. Perhaps one of the most inter
esting tales is that which gives the real
history of the famous white elephant,
which is now historic animal, but whose
artificial color has long been well known
to those who were attached to the Fore
paugh show. An old circus man who
was in Adam Forepaugh's employ for
many successive seasons, tells the inter
esting story:
"When Barnuin announced that he had
procured a sacred white elephant, Adam
Forepaugh made up his mind that he
must have one 1T once. Not long after
ward he proclaimed that he had secured q
genuine white elephant from Siam with
extreme difficulty and at a cost of $50
600. This so-called sacred white elephant
was merely small elephant worth about
$1,000 that hadg baen painted with prepa-
ration devised by man that used to work
for Barnum at Bridgeport, Conn. OF
course the elephant was not pure white,
but dull gray, and, in manner not to
be accounted for, even eminent scientific
men who examined the animal were de-
ceived into the belief that the color was
really natural, Notwithstanding the expen-
diture of an immense sum of money by
Barnum's people in their endeavors to
prove the elephant bogus. The elephant
was touched off with the preparation about
every other day, and on Sunday it was
fixed up for the coming week. On Mon
day morning, the elephant always ap-
peared surprisingly bright, but along
toward the end of the week the color
became SO diugy that visitors often asked
which was the white elephant.
I'm 1884, when Forepaugh had his
white elephant in his show, an embassy
from Siam visited this country for tour
through the States. The Siamese aud the
show CHANGED to be in Chicago at the same
time and Forepaugh's agent saw a chance
to work the foreigners for q big card
The scheme was to get the Siamese visit
ors to attend the show, take q look at the
white elephant and thereby get big ad-
vertisement out of it. After four days of
hard work, the agent succeeded in getting
the embassy to visit the show. They
passed the white elephant without COM
and then Went out, pausing il the men&g-
erie tent to take another look at the ele-
plants. Adam Forepaugh, in his shirt
sleeves, stood at the gate. and, seeing the
Siamese gentlemen, he rushed to them,
and gave the Siamese prince, who led the |
party, rousiug slap on the back, and
SAID: There, now, prince, amt that the
kind of elephants you have in your coun-
try :? The foreigners none of whom I'M
derstood English, except the interpreter,
looked at Mr.. Forepaugh in amazement,
at his familiarity, and then quickly de- |
parted. The agents who had worked so |
hard to get the Siamese visitors into the
show nearly tainted at what BIZ. Fore |
paugh did.
The white elephant appeared on the
bills and in the show until interest in the !
animal began to flag. and then it was sud
denly announced that tue sacred animal |
had died, being unable to stand the eli
mate. Mr.. Forepaugh fixed his loss at
$50, 900, and an admiring public gave him
its sympathy. The truth of the matter
was that the elephant was washed off and
turned in with the d. 1t has been
with the show ever since, being billed OF
late years as John l.. Sullivan and doing a
boxing act in the ring. The once famous
white elephant is now in the winter quar-
tiers st Front street and Lehigh avenue.
Barnum's white elephant was no more
genuine than this one. They merely
ssndpapered off the rough outside hice
until it began to show pink. "-Phil1deg-
plt50 Record.