Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1899-05-06
FAKE STATISTICS.
Colonel Lewis Sells Says They Are
Drawing Cards.
Some Ludicrous Examples Of Some He Springs
Upon the Public.

When Colonel Lewis Sells. one Of the
owners of the combined Forepaugh
and\ Sells Brothers circus. comes to
Augusta. this summer. do not lei him
string you with any Of his fake sta
:istics. He has 4 manner Of maxine.
them up as he goes along in a Wav
that is as smooth as plush lined glass.
There is nothing in this world that
will give man a reputation for great
learning like fake statistics" he savs.
Scarcely anybody ever dares contra
diet them. ana as a rule the bigger the
figures used the more impressive they
years past while travelling through tDe
country. 1t is simply astonishing what
YOU can make people believe if You
only tell it to them in figures. How 50
| 40 it? Well, for instance We often
take Julius Caesar. our big elephant
ana, by the way. he IL thr largest ele-
plant now travelling-dnd set him
pushing our heavy wagons and some
times our ears around.
Powerful ANIMAL some onlooker
viii say.
why yes. he is pretty strong,
viii reply. i had an expert mathema-
tician figure out the power he eXcrts
when he pushes that car. ana ii Is just
53.631 pounds. or equal to the pushing
power of ass able-bodied men. These
figures. which are exact. ia me Ia
some equally interesting calculations.
which are just as accurate, for, you
know. figures will not lie Do vou
know that the elephant has 1897. 5}::
separate and distinct muscles, against
these muscles in the elephant has ju-t
seven times the strength of the mans.
ana 50. if he We're 10 exercise his entire
strength it would equal the combined
strength Of 500 of the strongest men.
That statement, with the figures
never twice alike, always upsets them.
and | can see the man | have been
talking TO whisper to his neighbols,
ana pointing me out Then somebody
will ask mellow many persons IAN
you seat in your big tent. Mr.. Sells?'
Well to be exact. we can crowd IL
just 20. 937 persons. To do that our tent
must contain 49, 5S yards Of canvas.
As there are ,54 miles Of thread in one
yard of canvas the thread in our tent,
ii all Strengthened out into one string,
would reach all the way around the
earth from here just % times and sill
have enough over TO reach from here
10 Il point six and one-third miles be-
yond Odessa in southern Russia. This
canvas. if cut up into baby's frocks,
would make $3.50 little dresses; ii
would make 1863 mems suits. and il
would carpet the floors Of 42l rooms the
size of the East room at the White
House. in Washington.
Then their eyes begin to bulge out.
When I see | have got them going |
don't let up on them. | Will say tC
them:-'Have you any idea Of the dis
lance covered by our leapers in sea-
son? Well | can tell you. There are
% leapers. They leap an average of -
times each performance. Now the
average distance they leap is 20 feet
and > 2-5 inches. while the average
height they jump in the air from me
sprincboard is l. feet and "a inches.
Now a very simple calculation shows
that they leap distance Of 1.365S5G
miles rods and Az inches. and they
Jump up from the earth 1929 miles
furlongs. ~ yards. feet and IL inches
even. | know the figures are startling.
gentlemen. but if you have any doubt
as 10 their accuracy just figure than
out and YOU Will find / am right
That's always a safe proposition.
for they never even doubt The effecr
Of all this figure rot is that when they
come to the show they bow very defer
entially and tell their friends what q
wonderfully well informed man / am
tell you. it is the easiest reputation in
the world to gain. and you can get no
end of fun out of it without harming
any one. If YOU should happen to rTn
across any one who wants 10 start On.
to verify your figures just switch from
our measure and use the metric syS-
tenn. DecimalS will staggeF nine nIeu
out of ten. and when You sling few
dekcmeters, millimetres. dectometres
and 50 on at them YOU have got them
sure. They will think yqY are little
less than a Savant. Try itson some Of
your friends some time if you want a
little innocent fun and make yourself
an accepted authority upon almost
every subject from peanuts to
,, psychology.