The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-01-09
At THE LONDON OLYMPIA
HOW BARNUM & BAILEY'S GREAT
SHOW TOOK THE BRITIsHERs.
Wonderful Engineering Work, Cost
ing $4,000, the London Council
Caused Managers to Put Up.
Special Correspondence of the Journal.

| LONDON, Dec. 29.-The opening of the
great Barnum & Bailey show at the Olym-
pia, London, marks an era in the history of
amusements in the English metropolis. 1t
seems to have been an occasion fraught
with more interest to the London public
than anything ever produced in the city of
| immense holiday spectacles. In the first
| place, the big three-ring American circus is
a novelty to the British people; in the next
place, it has been put at the Olympia on
a scale of magnifcence unknown even to the
circus-going millions of your country. The
fanciful appetite of the Londoners has been
whetted by a former visit of the big Ameri
can show, by that other popular American
| amusement institution, Buffalo Bills Wild
West, and nothing now seems too gigantic or
| too gorgeous for them to enjoy and digest.
This thing has been accomplished under
difficulties and despite obstacles that would
| have caused almost any other manager to
have given up the stupendous project at al
most any stage in disgust and despair AS
a result of persistence, energy and liberality
of expenditure, the colossal enterprise fairly
got under way on Boxing day. with the
prospect of the early realization of its man
! ayers most sanguine expectations.
The great buildings of the Olympia are the
best adapted to such an enterprise of any
other permanent show place in the world.
| The dimensions such that the ground
floor area actually occupied by the show is
| considerably more than double that avail
able at the Madison-square Garden, New
| York. 1t possesses many advantages over
the lately destroyed Colosseum, at Chicago,
and is in the stage and arena of the main
| building alone larger than the original of
| that name built in Rome some two thousand
years ago. The axes of the celebrated Rom
an arena were 2S2 by 14S feet, whereas the
| arena of the Olympia, even encroached upon
| by the spectacular stage as it is, measures
| 300 by $50 feet. This main building, however,
| forms, with its great eliptical hippodrome
| course, it's colossal stage, broad corridors,
restaurants, offices, etc., less than half the
| space taken by the American show. The
| Palmarium-so called from it's great iron
columns representing gigantic palm trees
and the annex thereto, which house the
menagerie and freaks and the four hundred
horses, respectively, make up the other floor
area.
The arrangement of the circus arena and
| spectacular stage is worthy of special note,
for herein lay the chief obstacles encoun-
| tered. The interior is designed as a perfect
ellipse but the presentation of military
| spectacle required one complete side from
wall to wall (460 feeD for a stage and ample
greenroom, dressing rooms, etc. This left
an imperfect elipse, in which are placed the
usual three rings and two platforms bound
| ed by the hippodrome course Bordering the
| latter come, first, boxes similar to, but near
| er the ground than those of the Madison
| square Garden; next, what are known in
England as stalls; next, the galleries that
| rise backward to the roof, all around. In
| the exact center, above the stalls, is the
richly drapeG royal box. Entrances are by
numerous tunnels, from the broad mirror
lined corridors decorated by Moorish arches.
The seating capacity, considerably reduced
by the stage, is 10000
LONDON COUNCIL. STEPPED IN.
When the work had been undertaken ar
the manager of the show pledged in honor
and bound by contracts to proceed, the Lon
don Council stepped in and required him to
erect a fre-proof curtain wall from end to
end and construct all partitions, dressing
rooms, ETC.. of metal. He was also COM
PEELED to have all scenery treated with some
sort of fire-proof material, including both
canvas and backing. To contemplate a fire.
proof wall AGO feet long and ninety feet high
was appalling. But there was more to come
there must also be an iron drop curtain.
AS the height of the proscenium arch was
| to be forty-five feet, it was necessary that
| the curtain wall should be moved out far
| enough to get a reach of ninety feet so as
| to provide the space above for the direct
| lift. The proscenium opening is 240 feet, and
no fire-proof curtain covering such an open
| ing could be rolled. 1t could only be moved
| up and down in well-oiled grooves and by
| hydraulic power 1t would have to be coun-
| terbalanced like window sashes and the
| weights, cables and machinery to operate
would have to be practically invented. Moth
| ing existed, in fact, from which to draw a
| pattern or a precedent.
Engineers of responsibility declared the
work required by the London Council prece-
dent to the opening of the show could not
be done The Council Observation-Disclosures no
show. There were but six weeks in which
| to perform the apparently impossible and
the opening had been already postponed
| from the 18th to the 9th of December. FL
nally distinguished engineer at Stoke-on-
Trent examined the problem and concluded
| it could be done. but that it would cost a
| great deal of money. Whatever the cost,
however. it had to be done. The Council
| was not only irexorable-it added new con-
| ditions every time it was appealed to by the
| agents of the show.
| The result of the calculations Of the Eng
lish engineer is a triumph of ingenuity and
| skill. From the pig iron of a few weeks
| ago stands a steel framework as a curtain
| wall 10 feet to wall on either side of the
| proscenium opening and so feet to the roof.
! There are two steel towers at each end of
| the opening and to these are bolted two
other massive frames of riveted steel 24O
| feet long by As feet high to roof leaving
| the opening below 240 feet long by As feet
| high Between these two upper frames the
| steel curtain rises in grooves on the tow
| ers, to be let down in less than two min
utes in case of danger. Over all the steel
| on either side and above, is fastened wire
netting and this is covered by asbestos
/ plaster leaving the outward appearance of
| solid wall of stone and mortar There
is no bridge in the United Kingdom with
/ span equal 10 that of this proscenium arch
| and no other work of such q character and
speedy execution was ever known 10 the
| engineering world. 1t costs ELS, OO0-S75, OO0
! The stage of the Olympia is 30 feet deep,
| though behind 1t is a green room twice that
width and the full length of tie building
| The former spectacle stage erected by XII
rally was but Is feet wide. The big drops
are 800 feet long and 60 feet high and weigh
three tons each. There are two heavy set
scenes each covering about 1000 square
| yards of canvas. There are mosques, tow
ers, fortified cities, rivers, mountains, for
este orr rapreSanfa five of tho ,,v,r.aY Nvila