Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-11-30
DOWN A WIDE-AWAKE OPPOSITION.
An Ogden Editors Opinion Of the Nor.
mons Prophet and What Was the
Result of His Life Work.
SOME WRONG IDEAS ABOUT NICOTINE.
Interesting Talks and Incidents Picked Up in strulls
About Town

the second act was postponed, and will be
given in the grand jury rooms in the near
future.
The Varley brothers did not have their
lines in good shape, and therefore waived
hearing for Court The Manager OF the
Grand Opera House signed their bail bond.
Colonel Dawson, OF the Bijou, however, has
no fear of securing a true bill against the
men, he declares, if the jurors will only
listen to the mountains Of evidence be has
prepared.
Colonel Dawson, by the way, had more
than his usual share OF good humor with
him Yesterday. Annie Pixley has been
PLAYING to big houses all week, and be was
evidently dreaming of the days when he
should rival even her on the stage, for ever
since the CoIonel's debut as leading heavy
in Tried Tor Conspiracy" he has prided
himself on being an actor. He was there
fore happy, and began to recall some
"reminiscences OF the great Iithograph wars
Of the past in which he figured, and in
which men gave out fortunes through the
lithographers and press agents.
oLD-TINE LITHoGRAPH WARS.
Lithograph wars were then part of the
business, and the fortunes of great show en-
terprises depended entirely upon the brains
of the men who had charge of the advertis-
in-. Then men mad 10 be ready instantly to
beat the schemes of the opposition, and
possess the ability to carry the most daring
plans into execution.
Although these rivals fought in daylight,
at night all were the best of friends, but
when work began again it was anything to
bring their show out first. The story Colonel
Dawson told of the methods of advertising
as conducted by men of brains in amuse-
ment lie was as follows:
''In 1882 Sells Brothers, Cole and Fore
paugh were showing within ten days OF each
other, in the Southern country. Samuel b.
Joseph was advertising agent for Sells
Brothers. and 1 was under him, as a bill
poster, photographer and skirmisher. Lewis
E Cook, DOW one Of the trusted agents OF
the Barnum show, was agent for Cole, and
had under him Charles Reed and Fred.
Laurence as skirmishing agents. There
never Was such a iithograph war known,
before or since. 1t was then that Peter
Sells said, Not to fight WAS fatal, and to
fight was to lose money, but lor the sake of
reputation l would rather fight than rum
ATE UP ALL THE PROFITS.
"Of course very little money was made
out OF the trip, the newspapers and the litho-
graphers eating up all the profits. For
instance, in Murfreesboro Tenn, Campbell,
contracting agent, had secured from the
CITY the right to erect bill boards in front OF
the court house. The town was the county
seat and the court house and the square sur
rounding it belonged to the county and the
citv had no control over it, Mr.. Joseph
found this out rented the square, and the
next dav hid the Murireesboro court house
behind bilihoards twice as high as those of
tie Cole show.
Then commenced a running fight
that was kept up all over the
South. I, with lot Of other men was
in CHEYENNE, Wyo. 7. We jumped from
there to Memphis and commenced work.
We were also fighting W. C. Coup's
show, and there was nothing in the world
caused his failure but the fact that he was
outdone in advertising, yet Mr.. Coup took
everything good-naturedly. Although we
fought in daylight, we were friends in the
evening.
'fOn one occasion, In Moheilv. Mo-, Coup
was giving a parade, while myself and
number of others were in carriages on each
corner, lecturing to the people on the shabby
appearance of the parade, and telling them
not to 60 to-day, but day after tomorrow,
when Sell Brothers great show would arrive
Although We hedged in Coup's show, the
owner was as pleasant as ever, and in the
evening we all attended the Coup perform
ance.
UPSET BY AN ELEPHANT.
''On another occasion L was in a carriage
fighting Cole while the show was on parade
I was addressing the people, telling them
to wait for Sells, when one of Coles ele-
plants was turned on nv carriage, which
was upset. ! still kept on talking, and that
night I attended the show, on W. W. Coles
personal invitation. 1t was regarded as
legitimate business. He practiced similar
methods, and thought nothing of the
schemes invented by the opposition to down
him. a game amusement man never
squeals.
'Scurrilous articles of all kinds were
written. Lewis Z. Cook, of the Cole show,
put out one bill headed: Sells Brothers.
you lie, and you know you lie Soon after
that Sam H. Joseph put out a bill on the
Coup show, on which was the headline:
a few pertinent questions: Who owns the
show, the Sheriff or Mr.. Coup Still with
all this there was no personal enmity. Then
one OF the most caustic and fluent writers
nous Pogy O'Brien bill, in which he said:
Look out for the robber from Pennsyl-
vania. Take in your clotheslines, lock
up your doors, your daughters, and your
children This showbill became famous
throughout amusement circles, and although
it WAS the most scorching one ever gotten up
the O'Brien people only answered it with
one OF a similar nature.
AT Selma, Ala, l was instructed by
Sells Brothers to put in bills on the Cole
show in any way that could. The Cole
circus had an elephant called Samson, on
which they allowed children to ride during
the parade. l found the boys who were 60
ing to ride that dav, and had each of them
tuck bundle of bills under his coat, and it
was almost half an hour before Cole dis
covered that his elephant was being used to
advertise the Sells Brothers show.
ALL ENMITY FORGOTTEN.
THAT night, in Selma, there were co..
lected 10 the St. James Hotel 100 bill post
ers and agents. 1t was hail fellow we'll met
all around, even though for two weeks pre-
yious they had been fighting day and
night.
spoil il, and it was nothing uncommon for
one bill poster to fad where the paste cans
of the opposition were stored and drop a
niece of lard in each can. Then when the
men would commence TO use the paste the
bills would all fall down, and IN the mean
time the opposition show would bill the
town.
1.-TWO agents Of rival shows met on train
on their wav 10 bill a small Southern town.
One of the men had rheumatism, and took
of his shoes and went to sleep. The other
man stole the shoes of his rival then