The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1899-07-13
MIR. COLES MoDEsTY.

A Circus Manager Whose Features
arc Unfamiliar TO the Public.
1t has been the tlme-honored custom
of the managers of clrcuses to make
their portraits their trademark. Their
faces are to be seen upon every poster,
bill, courier, programme, book, ticket,
and even upon the stationary used in
their private correspondence Where
ever their names have appeared upon
their contracts, or anywhere else, there
were to be seen their counterfeit pre-
sentiments. So 1t has been, and Is to-
day, that the faces Of such showmen
as p. Il. Barnum, James A. Bailey,
Adam Forepaugh, Peter Sells, Lewis
Sells. w, F. Cody, buffalo BilD, Nate
Salisbury and others, are oftener seen
than the portraits Of Washington, Linz
coin or Grant. Indeed 1t has been said
in print very often that the best known
face in this country was that Of Adam
Forepaugh. His face was better known
than that OF any other man because his
show has been exhibiting in every state
and territory of the union for about
thirty years, and he was himself to be
seen ut the front door Of his establish
ment by all the thousands OF persons
who annually visited his show, Us well
as his portrait upon every piece Of his
advertising matter.
All this, besides being PREDATORY,
serves to emphasize the novelty found
in a circus manager who has never had
his portrait printed. There is such a
manager and he is by no means an OBJ
sCure one In fact he Is one OF the most
prominent men now In the show busi-
ness. That manager Is w w. Cole, the
partner of James A. Bailey and Peter
and Lewis Sells in the Adam Fore
paugh and Sells Brothers, Consolida
ton, and is also Mr.. Bailey's partner in
the direction of the tours OF Buffalo
Bills Wild West.
For many years the w. w. Cole show
was one OF the most popular and best
patronlzed tented exhibitions In the
country. He operated chiefly through
the west and south and made OCCASION
al tours through the eastern states, and
he also made an extraordinary success
full tour through Australia and the Is
lands Of the Pacific.
Mr.. Cole has never had his portrait
printed upon any Of his advertising
matter in any shape or form. Indeed,
It Is said that he has never been In
from. OF a camera but once, and that
was in Australia. Any number OF times
he has been besought to have his pic
ture used, bu: he has always given a
quiet though emphatic refusal. He Is n
man o: mod p.y. wh'cn is frequently
mistaken by strangers Eor taciturnity
and austerity. Among his friends he Is
known to be man of the klndliest and
friendlIest disposition. His smoothly
.,
and natural dignity are very like tsose
of William NJ. Evnrts, and the judicial
ermlne would much sooner be looked
for upon his shoulders than the toga OF
the saw-dust arena
During the past six months the press
commissioners of the Adam Forepaugh
and Sells Brothers Consolidation have
mnde the most strenuous Efforts to Sc
cure Mr.. Coles portrait for presenta-
ton TO the public rs matter OF inter-
est in one Of the four proprietors Of the
largest institutions providing the pub
lies most popular pastlme. but these
efforts, like all of n similar kind in
years pnst, were Of no avail. No one
can find out from him the reason for
his unsurmountable objection TO have
his portrait appear No one who knows
him believes that 1t Is any desire upon
his part for any kind Of notoriety or to
appear different from all his colleagues
in nrenic management. 1t is more than
likely that 1t has never even occurred
to him that his disposition toward re-
tirement and refusal to Ocquaint the
public with his features by having pic
lures OF him made and printed makes
of him the one positive, distinctive
novelty Of the show world The Fore
nnuph-SnlIs RrOtherR' shows will be
seen here next Saturday.