St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-01-26
THE ADVANCE AGENT.
A Heartfelt Tribute From One
Who Knows Him Well.


Who Knows Him Well.
Combining the proverbial audaeity and
well-known imperturbability of the
drummer with the artistic lying ability
Of the affidavit editor of daily news
paper, the advance agent is a distinctive
type of American character. The local
manager knows him we'll. There is
something about him which to the in
itiated beSpeaks his occupation the very
moment contempOraneouS with his
presence. 1t may be his self-satisfed
air, his perennial smile, his lordly car
riage or the cut of his clothes, or it may
be combination of them all: but, be
it what it may, it is ever pres
emit and altogether unmistakable.
vainly endeavoring to devise some
scheme whereby the whole town can be
induced to make simultaneous rush
for tickets, when brisk knock is heard,
and, without waiting any invitation, the
door is opened and instinctively the oc-
cupant knows that the advance agent is
upon him, With breezy "The man.
ager? How de do" he proceeds to make
himself at home, and with feet carefully
tilted on the edge of the desk he COM
plaeently puffs away at his cigar, and,
altogether needless of the signs, cad
vance agents will please not spring
suspecting manager and ''Posi-
lively no money loaned" he says:
sa'Seen our show? No? Greatest show on
earth. Turning people away every
where. Can't get 'em in. Standing
room at premium. Managers crying
for it. Papers give us columns. Don't
know your luck, my boy, getting us on
the terms you did," and when the au-
ditOr meekly inquiries why, when they
are doing such an enormous business.
their printing matter is sent G. 0. d.,
entirely unabashed he tells story
about a quarrel with the photographer,
who owes the management money, and
is afraid to send the paper any other
way for fear they would appropriate
it in payment of the debt. Then he
tells the enormous amount it takes to
run the company, the special cars they
have to hire on account of the amount of
special scenery. the wonderful salaries
drawn by the leading members of the
company, and he invariably finishes
with las for myself, my boy, draw
Just S10O per week. Not a cent less.
No, sir, S99.99 would not hire me-"
Then he gently touches" the manager
for the loan of a few dollars until he
gets remittance which he is expecting
that very day, but the manager quietly
and gives his head that silent shake
from which the interested watcher
knows there Is no appeal.
The advance agent is often man Of
great experience in the theatrical BUSH
ness, and his knowledge of men and
places is simply wonderful. Mention
any small town thousands of miles
away. and he will, almost without any
hesitation. tell you the various railroads
which reach it, the hotels, newspapers
and the names of their dramatic critics.
He has remarkable fund of reminis-
cences and tells them in his own inim-
about the theatrical business, it isn't a
marker to the circus. There man has
a chance to spread himself. Have |
been connected with circus? Well, l
should smile. This is only little recre-
alton for ME; little preliminary train
ing, as it were, for my summers work.
Ever hear how Forepaugh took the wind
out of Barnum'S sails in the white
elephant business? No! Well. Pll
tell you, and L want you to know right
here that the scheme from start to finish
was mine. See this gold-headed cane?
Well, Adam Forepaugh himself gave
III " luC III lCSOS VI my
services on that occasion. 1t was
this way. Barnum had one agent
abroad who was instructed to travel
anywhere and everywhere till he Sc
cured some novelty, some attraction,
that could be made the feature of the
show. Neither pains nor expense were
to be spared, and once heard of, he was
to follow the object of his search until
it was secured. Well. this foreign
agent heard that the king of Siam had
a white elephant. and he made up his
mind that that was the very thing he
was after. He went straight to Siam,
and, after extraordinary trouble and a
wonderful outlay of money. he got his
hands on the coveted prize. Then he
had to get it out of the country. This
was much more difficult than it looks.
as white elephants, are objects of great
alteration in that country. By
having special trains and other
expensive maneuvers he got 1t
safely across the border. Then
he cabled Barnum who Immediately
published 1t broadcast over the country.
Forepaugh was at his Wits end to cir
cumvent his hated rival. Finally | got
onto scheme. At the headquarters in
Philadelphia was small elephant. She
was spirited away to Baltimore and
there given a course of treatment,
which made her skin assume peculiar
milky-white appearance. 1t took quite
little time to bring her to state where
she could stand the tests to which the
old man knew she would be subjected.
AT last everything was ready and she
was taken by boat from Baltimore to
Sandy Hook to await the arrival of an
incoming Transatlantic steamer. As
luck would have it there was one in
quarantine, so we hired a tug and
made arrangements to put her aboard
in the middle of the night. This was
safely accomplished. In the meantime
we had notified the New York
press. and when we arrived
in New York every paper of any I'M
portance for miles round had repre-
sentative at the dock. We invited the
leading physicians of the city, and gave
them and the press private view. The
doctors made their examin ton, looked
wise and pronounced it genuine. Next
morning the papers were full of Fore
paugh's white elephant. and when Bar
NUNS genuine one arrived on the next
steamer the expected sensation fell de-
cidedly fiat. Then Barnum and Fore
paugh fixed up an agreement for FIVE
years, whereby each one was to have
his territory and was not to encroach
on the other. This contract ends next
year. Then look out for fun. What