Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-01-09
A RING THAT PAYS.
Great Fortunes Made by Proprietors Of Cir
cuses.


Correspondents Of The Evening Star
NEW YORK, January 8, 1892.
A IL THE OLD CIRCUS MANAGERS
"A who gave US our infantile taste for the
white tents are dead and gone, save one.
James E. Cooper, who passed away last week
in Philadelphia, was a conspicuous figure in
the ranks of those great amusement providers
who, within an incredibly short period, and
with comparatively slight exertion, found
themselves millionaires or richer than million
aires. Long before this gray-beard ed and
grim-visaged man bought out old Adam
Forepaughs circus he was able to count his
wealth in seven figures. Now that he is dead,
it is certainty that his heirs-and there are
not many of them-will divide about
$4,000, 900. With Barnum, Forepaugh, Hem
mings, Gardner, Na.hans and Cooper gone,
the olden circus world is no more. The pa
triarcEs are mourned less by the thoughtless
public than by the thousands Of performers
who at one time or another worked in their
tents. Only one manager and owner contem-
porary with these departed veterans Is alive
to tell of their triumphs. He is white-headed
George +. Bailey. and he is mourntul indeed
as he contemplates his loneliness. lts an odd
fact that all circus owners die rich. Inc ORA
matte manager has more than once gone to
his rest in al actors fund grave; but the fund
has no record of ever bUrying tho bones OF a
poor old circus manager. Coopers death
makes an autOcrat and monopollst OF the
brainiest circus owner in the world-James A.
Bailey. He now not only controls the every
movement of the Barnum show. and receives
most ofitS vast earnings, but he Is also owner
of half the Forepaugh circus. When Cooper,
after old Forepaugh's death, returned to the
white tents and purchased the show from Fore
paugh's estate he had silent but immensely
active partner in bailey. Baileys cash and
advice were quietly utilized by Cooper, and.
though an effort was made to keep the deal
quiet it was soon discovered that the main
owner OF the Barnum outfit was also half owner
of the Forepaugh aggregation. Now Barnum
and Cooper are gone. and James A BAILEY
is, In the truest sense of the words. the biggest
Snowman the world has ever seen. Barnum
in his noisiest days did not have third part
of the responsibilities, the power, the activity
that crowd upon Bailey.
YOUNG MEN IN THE BUSINESS.
1t is singular, too, that not only Bailey, but
all the other owners of big circuses of this day,
are young men. None of them is over forty
six. All Of them are millionaires. Each of
them started without cent. started obscurely
and worked hard. W. W. Cole who ran the
Cole circus for n number of years and then
bought an interest in the Barnum show. is
forty-fve. Yet he has retired from business,
and his million is earning 10 per cent per
annum while Cole takes it easy in his luxurious
home in the swellest apartment house in this
city. Once in a while there is hitch i'll his
dolce far niente. Perhaps he smells the ''cook
tent on the lot" or hears the CRATER seductive
cry, but he does not give any tangible sign that
he ever again intends to spread the canvas
wings. A rich man when he hauled down his
own banner and became an lnteger in the firm
OF Barnum. Bailey. Hutchinson Cole, he was
able in two years to quit the game-the most
profitable game in the history of amusemo nts,
and nowhere more profitable than IN America.
And James l.. Hutchinson? He, too, will
never again SO ''along with the show" Not
yet forty-tive, he is as rich "a any decent
man cares to be. In sunny southern seas his
yacht steams through days and nights when
circuses are budding north in icy weather.
Now in the Mediterranean, now in Egypt. now
on the Riviera. he points her PROV wherever
the fancy may seize him. The eX-candy ped
dler knows how to enjoy his wealth. All his
days are reaizations OF his old dreams. And
he Is getting richer year by year. No surer
way, he says, to make money is there than to
have money. Hutchinson proves the theory.
He lends money, and he gets well paid for his
loans 1 saw him not many days ago in the
Chemical Bank. an institution as rich as the
Bank of England. and to New York capitalists as
solid. They told me he was, when In town, one
OF the banks most constant visitors. and that
his standing was unexcelled by that of any
capitalist in the city. There are many in
stances, said an attache, "when the bank itself
cannot loan money to accommodate its GUS
toners. But Hutchinson is generally handy
for quick turn and handsome profit. He is
clever judge of values, and if the security
suits him he'll make loan for any amount.
Many famous fnancier has reason to know
Jim Hutchinson. He can buy and sell a
dozen of the men whose names figure SO con-
spicuously in the world of stocks. No man in
the street, except perhaps Russell Sage, can
command more ready cash than Hutchinson"
GREAT FORTUNES MADE.
James A. Bailey will die worth $40. 900 il
no calamity wipes out at one stroke the Bar
mum and FOrepaugh shows. Cole and Hutchin.
son will be able to dispose OF half that amount
when they come to make their respect tive wills.
Cooper died rich. as We have seen. Old
Nathans forgotten by the present generation
and III retirement FOR twenty years. left big
fortune. Barnum's heirs will never be able to
spend all he earned i'll his busy lifetime. Fore
paugh could count his million before he died,
though to look at him one would hardly deem
him worth go. He was the quaintest figure
OF the whole lot. His men liked him, vet he
was habltually coarse and loud in addressing
them. 1t was his wont to fondly hail them
Here, you ducks!' He never spoke
of them as men, nor performers. He never
called them by their names. Indeed. he could
not properly pronounce the word performer ="
which to the day of his death he called pre-
former" and he would never change a word
once he had mispronounced it. But he left a
million and the record OF having been honest
and keen. Cooper was not what is called an
educated man. but he was intelligent shrewd
generous and gentle. Barley was an agent
when Cooper was an owner, and when Cooper
one year paid BAILEY SlG0 week for his SER
vices the circus world looked aghast. for ne err
had any circus agent been paid well. Aus
tralia was the land of gold for all these men.
Cole found a fortune there. Bailey and Cooper
lars from the antipodes and even Hutchinson
struck 4 little mint between Sydney, Melbourne
and the New Zealanders. So 1t seems that there is
no business productive of greater profits, once
the turn is made rightly. than the circus busi-
ness. Cole once SAID he knew man." and
there was twinkle in his eve when he said it.
who made IS, 600 day for fifty DAYS runnin'"
And then he added: "1he next thirty DAYS he
made "a OCO IL day." No doubt he spoke truly.
This is great and yielding public when the
circus comes to town and the sun shines
HEARD AFTER THE OPERA.
An hour or two of quiet looking and listen
ing late last night yielded some readable things
Along came an actress hurrying home from the
theater. 1t was pretty late, but she wasn't
afraid. A man who had crossed her course
several times intercepted her at a corner
'Can you tell me where Oath street is?" he
asked.
NO." she answered simply, I'm strange,
here myself"
Whereat he rejoined delightedly: "Oh, you
are lost, too. May see you homer
d. 4. l. IA .l.-pS