The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1895-04-10
COUP'S HIPPOPOTAMUS.
1t Was Useful to the Shownen and to IA
UnscruPuIous Sunday Paper.
rSnncial Csnrrasnnndanca

Especial correspondence
ROCHESTER, April 1.-THE recent
death of W. G. Coup, the Snowman.
whose name must be very well known
throughout the United States,'' said a
veteran newspaper man of this city in
one of the hotels today, reminds me of
a fake newspaper sensation that was
worked here some IL or 3 years ago in
which Coup's hippopotamus played the
part of leading fictional character.
Coup, who was then in his days Of
decline as a Snowman, was running q
tent exhibition which he called an I'M
equaled equescurriculum. / have never
seen this name since he used it, and I
don t know Just what it means. It had
something to do with horses, of course,
and his show was made up mostly of
them, but his hippopotamus was his
pride and joy, and its remarkable quail
ties were made the chief feature of his
advertising. Now, there was then in
this town q Sunday newspaper, since
dead, the publishers of which were about
as near collapse as was Coup. So closely
hauled was the sheet that the street
sales were nursed every Sunday as they
have rarely been watched on any other
9aper, for if they fell below certain
igure any week it would be impossible
to raise enough money to pay for the
paper stock, and that meant dire dis
tress. This condition had become so Sc
rious and so chronic that every Satur-
day night the two young proprietors
took counsel together, and if there were
no real selling sensation in sight they
used to invent one.
Zone Saturday night things looked
pretty blue about the Office. Nothing at
all was in view, and it did seem as if
there was no chance whatever of the req
uisite number of papers being sold.
At about 10 o'clock in the evening one
of the proprietors had an idea. He COM
municated it to the other fellow, who
agreed that it was a good one. Then the
man with the scheme went into little
den that was shut off from the rest of
the Office, sat down and wrote hard and
fast till about 1 O'Clock Every few
minutes the other proprietor would
reach in through the little hole in the
wall and take whatever was finished of
the story, read it over, embellish it
with subheads and give it to the fore
man. Meantime the composing room
door was locked, SO that no one could
hSJ Ill OI Oubs anu bu6 Oli1G0 GOINO0 bn0
men with coffee and sandwiches free.
1.-THE paper was held an hour that
morning, but when it did come out it
kicked up big sensation. On the first
page, leading everything, was a four
column account of the escape Of Coup's
ippopotamus-Couph had been showing
here that week-as the equescurriculum
was being loaded on the train to 60 20
Canandaigua, the next stand. More
than half the story was double loaded,
and it was all told in the most detailed
and matter of fact style. The copy had
even been cut in four line takes, so that
the article should have the appearance
of having been got out in extreme haste.
The big beast, according to the fake
story, had rushed off to the northeast of
the city after his escape, had found his
way to Irondequoit bay and had plunged
into it's waters after destroying soma
acres of standing crops and several APP
pie orchards.
THE local regiment of militia, the
story concluded, had been called out
and had pursued the animal, but in
vain, and as last resort ten FOUNDER
cannon had been taken to the spot and
was being trained upon the hippopota-
mus when the reporter had to leave for
the Office SO that the paper should have
the story. All day long that Sunday the
| people of Rochester streamed down to
the bay, anxious to see the ruined crops
and orchards and to learn what was the
result of the Cannonade that was about
to begin when the reporter left. The
homeward bound stream began pretty
early, but the tide of those going down
did not abate till long after noon.
Meantime the street sales of the paper
doomed as it was hoped they would, and
the old drum cylinder press on which
the sheet was worked was kept running
till II o'clock, and then the stock of
paper on hand ran out. Next day the
publishers got a telegram from Coup
for 5, 900 copies of the paper, and the
total financial returns were sufficient
not only to pay for the paper stock used,
| but the wages of the compositors as
we'll. It's more than an even chance
that the after effects of the fake were
| bad enough to make up for the little
boom the story gave the paper, but
there is no question that it was a sue
cess that day."
CHARLES APPLEBEE