Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1891-04-16
P. T. BARNUM.
AN INTERESTING SKETCH BY ONE WHO
KNEW HIM.

|
d like some "reminiscences of his career
5, said Mr.. Charles Stowe to the Sta
Journal man. "Well, his autobiograph,
so-called, has pretty much exhauste
that subject, and the skilled pens G
J. ready writers impaired to it romano
and catchy flavor which cannot be eas
ly improved. An estimate of his rea
character may, however, serve to poin
, moral or adorn a tale and add anoth
er grain to the mountain of proof thai
, the world is strangely and PERSISTENT,
blind in idol worship. 1 would not b,
uncharitable, and least of all to the dead
lslt in justice to the living, the deaf
should live in memory the life they led
We have had far too much of post-mor
tenn virtues, and obituaries are often
made of cerulean- tinted whitewash, wei
sponges to wipe out, rather than clear
mirrors to reflect.
"As was said of Junius, to-day P T
Barnum stands the shadow of mighty
name,' and in reality he never was but
the unsubstantial shadow of what the
public took him for. He was magnifi-
cent person, the great pretender in the
moral farce, the Napoleon the Third of
the arena, the monarch mountebank of
all time, who adopted as his creed in
life Shakspeare's advice: Assume vir-
tue if you have it not He amassed
great fortune by methods we need not
discuss, and yet his life was largely a
failure, and bitter disappointment to
himself, through the knowledge of him
self, and few parents would care to hold
him up as an example to their SONS. No
other man who ever lived was so widely
known to his generation. For over half
century he dominated the amusement
world, and yethis name will scarce sur
vive decade. He once said to Captain
Cushing: There is this difference be-
tween you and me, you are famous
while l am only notorious He might
try to delude others, but he did not, or
could not deceive himself, unless per-
sistence in Misrepresentation finally had,
as it is said to often do, ,obliquity OF men,
tai vision.
"No man is hero to his valet, and
there was nothing heroic in Mr.. Barnum
to his intimate associates or employees |
The relations between his partners and |
himself were never of an intimate or
sincerely friendly nature. He made no
concessions and always exacted the ut
termost farthing. Length, faithfulness
or excellence of service brought neither
recognition, increase of wages nor pro-
visions for old age. In so far at least
as his circus associations were concern
ed the policy was to find pretext to re-
duce compensation to increase
it. He was hard, unsympathetic task
master, and if he was a philanthropist
he never tempered individual business
relations Herewith.
"He was the archtype of the shrewd,
calculating, grasping Connecticut Yam
kee, enterprising without being liberal,
a sharp, relentless bargainer, and one
whose every undertaking centered in
SELF Unquestionably he did much to
improve Bridgeport, but received little ]
credit therefor, and his se'fshness and
made him unpopular at home.
His motto was to get as much for moth
ng as possible, and in every gratuitous
way to keep his name before the public.
he made no scruple of resorting to ev- &
,ry device and all methods of i'm {
to accomplish this, and his
success was extraordinary. Accident
favored him, and persistency
If purpose was ever vigilant to back it.
As he grew older his itching for notori- .
,ty became a mania, and not infrequent- :
y led to most annoying and premature
disclosures of his partners projects. :
"In audacity of exaggeration he was Z
and seemed even to prefer it :,
vhen the truth would have answered as
veil. Although half interest in his =
greatest show on earth was sold for !,
rom between $125, 900 and S150,00O, he =
lacidly announced its capital at So, ,500,- =
90 and his daily expenses were more
han doubled in complacent type. y
"His adulation of the press was as full y
ONE as it was empty. He was prodi- :,
: in praise but miserly in pay. While
e was voicing grateful songs to the >,
ress as the creator and prime cause of ~ y
is fortune, his agents were continually !,
instructed to cut down advertising space, Il
nd the actual fact is that many shows
hose receipts were not tithe of his,
nd which scarcely received lines to his
olumns of notices, paid the newspapers 81
lore money than did his greatest show r e
q earth. F.
"At one time in his eventful career he cI
eemed to find satisfaction in the title te
Prince of Humbugs,' but latterly it u
exed and CALLED him. And yet, wheth- cl
: paying $4,000 for the banquet which OF
ritish nobility and snobbery rendered &C
i'm in London, exhibiting a 'woolly a
orse,' or narrating his career, he earn q. a.
i the title, and, under the assertion that l.
ne public liked to be duped, justified =.
nd defended it. A
at is not likely that the world will
yer see his prototype or equal. He was NJ
Irgely the creation of circumstances,
nd came upon the stage at time most al
lvorable for his development. His su-
eriors in ability could not now rival his hi
lccess. He grew up with the country,
ut the country has outgrown the grasp th
any dozen managers. The object
older on which he stood in the grand in
nblic arena is empty, and may as well
3 trundled into the dressingroom of th
le past.
"Although practically he was tyro hs
the circus business and could scarce
tell a rhinoceros from tapir, his ar
,me was a tremendous magnet and
'ew out of all proportion to the merits nc
what it stood for. 1t remains to be
en- how far it can survive the chill of of
e grave. Left with two big shows on
S hands and each bearings dead mans an
ame, his surviving partner has no light as
SIX before him, and the outcome will
watched with general interest by 9TH
managers.
HITSRAND AND WIFE 80