Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1901-06-27

being an extract from "Sawdust and
Spangles,' published by Herbert s. Stone
Stone & Cos .
P. T. Barnum said the American pubic
liked to be bug and the tr,1fh IF
his words have been proven time after
time. by the showmen of the country.
by Herbert S. Stone & Co, Chicago. Mr..
w. G. Coup gives much interesting in
american circus. menagerie and museum
lie separates the real from the unreal.
the genuine from the fake, and supplies
a narrative that. should interest every
habitue of these forms of entertainment
The following chapter taken from his
book describes a number of freaks and
fakes with which the American public
were successfully h~umbugged.
NJ saying attributed to P. T. Bar
" mum has been more widely
quoted than the remark that the
public likes to be humlbugged.' Ger
tainly this comment on the
of the masses opens up a most curious
and entertaining field, and its men
ton in a company of old showmen
is sure to provoke a flood of remin-
SCIENCES on the subject of fakes.
freaks and takers. There is scarcely
another line of experience concern
ing which veteran showmen more
enjoy comparing notes-possibly be-.
because it touches on the secrets of
the craft. Though it is true that Mr..
Barnum was a master in the science
of hu~mbugging the public, and did
not disclaim that distinction, it must
be said in justice to him hat in the
course of his professional career he
gave the people more for their money
than any other Snowman, living or
dead.
y little inside information on this
hidden side of the showman's business
may be entertaining to a public which
has often experienced the pleasure of
being humbugged. Certainly no fake
is entitled to take precedence over
the celebrated Cardiff Giant" This
was the invention of a certain George
Hull He lived, I think, at Bingham
ton, New York, and manufactured the
giant in a rude shop on the small
farm which he worked. Hull was
shrewd, energetic and very persist
ent, as may be seen by the fact that
the elaboration of the idea of his fake
and its execution occupied him more
than four years. He thought the
whole matter out, even to the most
minute details, before beginning work
on it. Without any knowledge of the
art of sculpture or the science of an
atomy, he set himself re~solutely 1T
work 10 remedy these defects of edu-
cation. He had considerable aptitude
with the chisel, and gradually devei-
oped the skill necessary to hew out a
figure that was to be put before the
public as d relic of an age so remote
that no person would be likely closely
TO criticise its proportions. Hull also
knew that, no matter what the age
in which a giant was supposed to have
lived, the remains must show pores
in the skin to pass the scrutiny of
even the unlearned. The making of
these pores required more time and
labor than all the other work of max
ing the "Cardif Giant" The work
occupied many months, and vas all
performed in the studio" or shop
where it was at last finished to Hull's
satisfaction.
Preparations were then made for
the giants burial in order that when
brought to public view it might show
the proper evidence of antiquity. 1t
was buried in the side of Il hin only a
few rods from the outbuilding, where
it had been chiseled from a huge block
of stone taken from that very hill.
In all this work, huge and heavy as
the uncut stone and the giant hewn
out of it were, Hull had only the
assistance of one man, a sled and a
yoke of oxen in moving them, This
helper was a green and stolid Ger
man immigrant, utterly devoid of
curiosity, and the man who helped to
bury the giant was another of the
same description.
The statue was allowed to remain
more than two years in the ground
before its maker considered it to be in
proper condition for accidental" dis
covery. Hull then promptly dis
covered" and dug out the "petrifca-
tion,' and placed it on public view
to amaze and perplex people generally
and to delight the antiquarians, who
found it an argument to uphold some
of their most cherished theories. 1t
took its name from the fact that near
the spot where it was buried n res
directed was a small hamlet called
Cardiff. The public career of the
Cardiff Giant" was not of long con-
tinuance, however. but was sufficiently
lengthy to enable Mr.. Hull to make
considerable money out of his clever
conception. He declared, however,
that he might have made more money
If he had accepted Mr.. Barnum's offer
made at the time of the giants first
a-npearance in public. Mr.. Hull knew.
too. that exposure was bound to come
in the end, but that mattered not to
him. For many years thereafter the
aCardif Giant" reposed neglected in
he very shop in which it was made;
Int its owner and inventor averred
that he was entirely content with the
financial result of his ingenuity.
The year of 1854 is a memorable
one in the annals of circus history,
md circus men remember it as the
..White Elephant Year" For many
vaars persistent attempts had been
made by enterprising showmen to Sc
c,,re for exhibition purposes a sacred
Tvh;te elephant. Schemes by the
s.ore had been discussed in the con-
e5antial councils of the showmen In
w;rter quarters, with a view to taking
, black elephant into a white one, but
sr;tI,out satisfactory results. In the
inter of 1883, however, it was given
an+ bv Mr.. Barnum's manager that he
had positively succeeded in purchas-
- 4ha KING of Siam a sacred