The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1890-03-21
TRICKS OF SHOWMEN.
How the White Elephants of Forepaugh
and Barnubl Were Secured.


Old showmen who Travelled with the late
| Adam ForeTaugh or were intimately ac-
| quainted 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 interesting
tales is that which gives the real history of
the famous white elephant, which is now a
historic animal, but whose artificial color has
long been well known to those who were at
tached to the Forepaugh show. An old cir
Gus man, who was in Adam Forepaughs EN-
ploy for many successive seasons, tells the
story
When Barnum announced that he had
procured a sacred white elephant Adam
Forepaugh made up his mind that he must
have one at once. Not long afterward be
proclaimed that he had secured genuine
white elephant from Siam with extreme diff
ficulty and at q cost of $50, 600. This SO called
sacred white elephant was merely a small
elephant worth about 50, 500 that had been
painted with preparation 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 that
can hardly be accounted for, even eminent
scientific men who examined tie animal were
deceived into the belief that the color was
really natural, Notwithstanding the expendi-
ture of an immense sum of money by Bar
NUNS 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 Monday morning the ele
plant always appeared surprisingly bright,
but along toward the end Of the week the
color became so dingy that visitors often
asked which was the white elephant.
In 1854, when Forepaugh had his white
elephant in his show, an embassy from Siam
visited the country for tour through the
states The Siamese and the show CHANGED
to be in Chicago at the same time, and Fore
paughs agent saw chance to work the for
eigners for a big card. The scheme was TO
get the Siamese visitors to attend the show,
take look at the sacred Siamese white ele-
plant and thereby get a big advertisement
out of il. After four days of hard work the
agent succeeded in getting the embassy to
visit the show. They passed the white ele-
plant without comment, watched part of the
performance and then went out, pausing IN
the menagerie tent to take another look at
the elephants. 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,
a rousing slap on the back and said: There,
now, prince, amt that the kind of elephants
you have in your countryP The foreigners,
none of whom understood English except the
interpreter, looked at Mr. Forepaugh in
a1nazement at his familiarity, and then
quickly departed. The agents, who had
worked so hard to get the Siamese visitors
into the show, nearly tainted at what Mr..
Forepaugh did.
The white elephant appeared on the bills
and in the show until interest in the animal
began to flag, and then it was suddenly an
nounced that the sacred creature had died,
having been unable TO stand the climate. Mr.
Forepaugh fixed his loss at 5000, 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 herd
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 ouce
famous white elephant is now in the winter
quarters at Front street and Lehigh avenue.
Barnum's white elephant was no more gen
uine than this one. They merely sandpapered
off the rough outside hide until it began to
show pink. "-Philadelphia Record.