Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-12-25
England's Interest in the Greatest
Show on Earth.
SPLENDOR CAUSES WONDER And JOY
Press Agents Find the Newspapers
Easy to Work
NEW FASHIONS IN FREAKS


Special Correspondence of The Evening Star.
LONDON, December L. 1899
All things American are popular in Eng
land just at present. Perhaps the most
popular of them all is the American circus.
By this designation do the britons every
where refer 40 our Gear old greatest show
Oh earth" with its forty horses, band
wagons and performances in three rings
proceeding at one and the same time" and
all the rest of its familiar phases The
American show. they say. confident that
even this country OF big things cannot have
prcGuced another entertainment caravan
OF such proportions.
1t is upward of two years since the Bar
mum e. Bailey aggregation left the United
States. At the time of its departure the
move was considered doubtful venture.
For some time even after its arrival in
London the circus did not attract extra
ordinary attention.
1t was not long, however, before the Lon.
donerS began 10 realize that this was not
as other circuses. If. some of the skep-
teal ones alleged on viewing the lithograph
ed glorieS of the arena. it was a case OF
American bluff at least it was worth
while to see what an American bluff was
Ike. 1t was not long before the circus be-
came a center of attraction and there We're
crowded audiences at every performance.
Following the London season the circus set
out on a tour of the provincial towns and
cities. This tour has lasted now for eigh-
teen months and has taken in all the prin-
cipal towns of Great Britain.
Truth to tell the Englishman takes kindly
to the circus. He is fond of exhibitions of
wild animals and displays of marvellous
horsemanship. while as for clowns-if any
body thinks that British crowd doesn't
know how to laugh he should hear the
outlaws of the shilling ticket holders over
the antics of the circus clowns.
1t. Chief Charm.
The circus is old, old story in Eng
land, but the ordinary British circus would
not make even a respectable side show to
the greatest on earth Perhaps it is the
superlative degree in which everything
pertaining to an ordinary canvas-covered
entertainment is TO be found in this par
ticular American circus that proves its
chief charm in the eyes of the Britishers.
As an Aberdeen workman expressed it:
Wy, mon. for the matter of a shillin'
We sum OF to boast of and tell lees
about all the rest of yir days"
If Great Britain has taken kindly to the
American show it is no less true that the
circus itself is delighted with it's new field.
Its promoters are delighted with the readi-
ness of the British public and the British
press to accept it on the basis of its own
claims. The readiness with which the
establishments cuStomarily extended to the
newspapers are accepted is especially pleas
ing to the press agents. In their minds it
ed Indifference of the ordinary American
reporter to newly discovered wonders. As
one of the assistants in this department
expressed it:
1.-The newspaper ga me is the easiest graft
over on this side Why, they print the stuff
fast as we can turn il out and we have
had to take on two new men and half
dozen typeWriters to keep up the supply.
Newspapers Are Easy.
The amount of space devoted to the cir
II;
ers how little attention they ordinarily give
to local news. A railway accident in which
a score Of persons are killed will be dis
missed with a quarter of a column or less
in some inconspicuous section of the paper.
Other local news is slIghted in proportion.
There are only two occasions when the
British newspapers break over this rule.
One of these is visit from royalty and the
other is the coming of the American circus
Pages are willingly devoted to these sub
jects- and it must be presumed from the
fact that the same thing is done in every
town of the united kingdom that these are
the two events which arouse the greatest
interest among their population
Their readiness to print ANYTHING that
can be said about the circus has almost
oVertaXed the energies of those genial
young men who are known as the press
representatives" of the show England
has not been acquainted with the press
agent, at least not in the highly developed
form in which he flourishes on the Yankee
Va L
said. however, that he has been accented
as recognized institution promptly and
enthusiastically; On the other hand, the
press agents themselves. finding here a
Eerdant heId, have not hesitated to make
the most of it
All the soul-stirring tales accumulated
since the original Barnum first began his
career have been revamped and served IN
10 our British cousins. Moreover they have
been received with relish. too. The old
stors OF the living skeletons hopeless love
n 70 70
vice in the United States in the wear 1900
but 1t goes" with the British provincial
press. Then there is the familiar plan of
having the oriental giant or the ola 90 az
or some other of the attractions dine with
the dignitaries of the town. This never
fails to make good"
A New Name for Freaks.
But the coup de main for the press agent.
the achievement in which he even nerrnits
himself to take pride, and the thing that
mas done more than anything else to snreaa
the fame of the greatest show on earth
through Great Britain. took place in LON
don. In fact, 1t formed for a time the chief
topic OF public interest, to judge from the
amount OF discussion devoted to it orally
and in print.
rms clever enterprise was the convention
OF the various human wonders of the cir
Gus in which they solemnly protested
against being known by the name of freaks
Ihelr resolutions set forth the fact that
the name was a harsh one, that it hurt
their feelings and caused them to be looked
down upon by ordinary persons while en-
gagged In the occupation that afforded them
the only means of earning a living There
upon the proprietors of the circus gener-
ously announced that they did not insist
upon the name of freak. They were willing
to substitute another. providing somebody
would suggest suitable title
There is nothing else that SO delights
the soul of an Englishman as an oppor-
tuntty to write to the papers. This was a
golden opportunity which he could not let
pass. Therefore suggestions by the score
poured into all the newspaper offices, and
were published from day to day until the
affair assumed in the public mind the pro
portions of a question of state. At length
Canon WilJerforce suggested that the
freaks should be henceforth designated as
prodigies. The freaks themselves solemnIy
adopted this title and the incident was
finally closed-after it had served it pur-
pose admirably.
While these devices served to attract at
tention to the American circus, of course
the show has had to depend upon its in
trinsic merits to sustain a continued sue
cess There Is no way to explain its re-
markabe popularity except on the ground
that il does aDneal STRONGLY m tho Drs.;,I,