Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1895-06-19

How a Circus Is Managed

Exactness IA Prime Factor-Ihe Place Where
the Men Are Fed.
The keynote of the Barnum & Bailey
circus management is System" says
the Pittsburg Commercial. Gazette. The
exactness with which everything is
done is the greatest marvel of the whole
show. Even the wagons, which are
seen standing around the grounds as
though they had been left there acct
dentally, are each in their exact spot,
with the tongues pointing in the right
direction. One or more wagons stand
beside each tent. When the tents are
taken down the centre poles fall direct
y at the ends of these wagons, SO that
they can be lifted on without carrying
them one foot farther than necessary.
Everything else is just as exact.
There are 450 horses with the show.
In the stable tent each horse has his
stall, where he sleeps every night,
whether in Maine or California, and
each one has his own manager from
which he feeds. No horse ever feeds
from another's manger. In this way if
one should become sick, another horse
could not be infected by eating after it.
As soon as a horse shows the slightest
sign of losing condition he is shipped
away. The draught horses are valued
at from $500 to $500 each, and they are
curried and cfeaned and cared for as
though each one was a particular pet.
In one stable tent stood 400 magnificent
horses in perfect condition. Every thing
in the tent was absolutely clean. To a
lover of horses a more beautiful sight
could not be presented
The bill of fare was equal to a first
class hotel, and as well served as it
would be there.
AT the table were the ''main guys"
The ''main guys" are Mr.. J. A. Bailey,
owner of the show, Mr.. Rouse, the press
agent, and the managers of the differ
ent departments The only difference
is that the main guys" eat from dec
GRATED china plates, and the common
guys" eat from stone china. Every one
has his own napkin, and all use silver
plated forks and spoons. The system
is SO exact that In that dining room,
feeding 800 men. and moving all over
the country, only two spoons and one
salt cellar were lost last year.
The dining room is to the circus men
the most important feature of the show.
When the show moves everything is put
in wagons and the wagons loaded on
the trains. Each wagon is numbered.
The wagon containing the dining-room
is No. in every sense. The food wag
on, which is an immense lee box on
wheels, is No. 9. Wagon No. 0. con-
tanning four immense cooking stoves,
goes as a tender to No. 2. When the
train stops these three wagons are un-
loaded first and the cooks do not lose a
minute. In three quarters of an hour
after the wagons are pulled out of the
car eight hundred men can sit down to
a steaming hot meal which would do
credit to first class hotel. One day
when they were in a hurry the meal
was ready in thirty two minutes by &C.
tual count.
When the circus moves the tent where
800 can sit down at once and all the
tables, china, linen and everything else
go into one wagon. The chief said he
had 1000 pieces of china. He serves
four meals day.breakfast, dinner,
supper and lunch after the per
| Torrance at night. He makes two
| barrels of coffee and one and a half
barrels of tea every day. Every
one about the show gets all he can eat,
and some of them are good eaters.
The chief says that he has one Indian
who eats five or six porterhouse steaks
at each meal. In addition to that he
ate fourteen ears of corn for dinner one
day, besides lot of other things. He
says that the first word which people
from savage tribes learn to say is 'cof-
fee," but some of them can now talk
English very well.