The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-11-10
COST OF A CIRCUS
SOME INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT
RUNNING BIG SHOWS.

The Robinson Shows Operated at N
"a Small Army of Men, About $50,
and Has q Herd of Horses and
Ponies Numbering 35O-A Space
62Ox4OO Feet Needed for It's Tents
Alone-Reaches the City To-day
and Will Allow Public to Inspect
Its Horses This .AfternOOn--The
Line of To-morrOyv's Parade.
What it costs to run a big circus is
a question that is of considerable in
terest to everybody that has seen the
aggregations of men, horses, wild ami
mails, tents. cars and fixtures, of end
less variety and extent, that go to
| make up the modern circus. An an
swer not only to the question of what
it cost to conduct circus, but to Sc
cure one as well, may be found in the
figures which show in part, the cost
and daily expenses of the Robinson
shows, which will give two perform
ances in Savannah tomorrow.
The cost of only few of the ami
mails in the menagerie that is one of
the most expensive as we'll as inter-
esting parts of the show, will give an
idea of the value of the others. The
herd of seven elephants, for instance,
cost $21, 900; not because elephants are
so rare, for they are not, but because
these which were bought of Hagen
beck are especially trained to do a
number of tricks out of the usual rep
ertoire of an elephant, and are, there
fore, much more valuable than the
same kind of animal whose only in
terest to the people would be in the
| fact that he was an elephant.
Other animals that are also very
valuable are the five royal Bengal til
| gers, the four polar bears, two South
American llamas, of rare kind, and
a number of rare species of antelope,
some of which, because of their rarity.
are exceptionally valuable.
So much for the menagerie without
going into the catalogue of lions,
monkeys and the other beasts,
as we'll as birds that go
to fill the thirty cages that are needed
to contain them all. But still other an
1mals which must be counted in the
| question OF the cost and expenses of
the show are the horses, of which there.
are $50. valued at $50, 900, besides the
| 100 ponies worth another $4,000.
| To take care of all of these animals
! requires an immense number of men;
| in fact the number of the people with
| the Robinson show, including from
manager to the commonest laborer,
i who pulls up tent pegs and does the
| other rough work of the business, is
| just $50.
AS might well be imagined, to feed
and take care of all of the people and
animals requires not only a good deal
of care, but large outlay of money as
well. The daily rations, for instance,
| consist of, in part, two beeves, 500
loaves of bread and 5000 worth of other
groceries, besides. For the use of the
horses and some few of the inmates of
the menagerie five tons of hay is used,
and two tons of straw, the latter for
| bedding. These figures represent mere
| ly the cost of taking care of the men
and animals for a day, but in consider
| ing the cost of the show one must also
count in in addition to these things
| the salaries, which range, not includ-
ing those of the commoner employees,
| from SIS a week for performers, 10
| $1,000 a year for some of the higher
| officials. In round figures, the show is
| estimated to average a cost of So, 500 a
| day in actual expenses.
Another large item of expense in the
| original fitting out of a circus of this
| size is the cages for the animals, which
| must be as snowy and handsome as
| POSSIBLE in order to attract attention
| on the street. OF the thirty that is
with the Robinson show, sixteen were
| bought at an average cost of over ST.
| COO, and the others average away up
| must move from place to place all the
| time, and it would be entirely too ex-
| pensive to rent cars from the rail-
road companies, a sufficiency for the
| transportation, not only of animals
and men, but of the paraphernalia as
WELL must be bought. The Robinson
shows have forty-two. Ten of them
are Pullman coaches, costing $4,000
apiece; two advance cars, secured at
a cost of $4,000 each; and the other
thirty at a cost of several hundred
dollars each.
The immense amount of canvas
needed in the tents is another item of
considerable expense. The main cir
Gus tent used by the Robinson shows
is supported by seven center poles,
and cost $1,000, the menagerie can
vas is WOIlH Sf,UOOi anu DeSlQeS THESE
there are five other tents of lesser size
and of proportionate cost. Some idea
of the spread of canvas may be gath
cred when it is known that ii requires
a space. 620x400 feet to pitch the tents.
A part Of the circus business of
which little is known is the work OF
the traffic manager. who arranges not
only for the route of the show itself,
but also arranged with local roads for
excursions TO be run to the town or
city where the circus gives a perform
ance. How important a part Of the
business this Is is readily gathered
where IL is known that Il is on the ex-
cursion business that the show des
ponds for patronage when II stops in
the smaller towns. For the Robinson
shows some 500 OF these special eXcur-
sions already have been operated this
year.
one OF the peculiarities OF the Robin
son shows is that they have been IN
existence under the same name ana
without "A change OF management for
eighty years. This show was founded
81 the father OF John y. Robinson. the
81