Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1904-07-21
BARNUMS TO PAY FIRST
VISIT IN SEVEN YEARS
An Old Circus Man Compares the Ex-
hibition of Today With the One of
a Quarter of a Century Ago.

1t has been seven years or more
since the Barnum & Bailey show has
been seen in this city, and next Mon
day should be a record breaker among
circus engagements. An old circus
man who saw the Barnum & Bailey
show in this city % years ago, said:
at is difficult to realize that the
present gigantic institution is the out
growth of that comparatively small
circus of a quarter of a century ago.
At that time the Barnum show had a
virtual monopoly of the field. There
were no other shows of sufficient mag
nitudc 10 compare with it, and yet
compared with the Barnun * Bailey
show of today it was quite a small
affair 1t was not until Cooper &
Bailey pushed their circus to the front
and forced p T. Barnum to recognize
serious competitor that the Barnum
show really began to grow. It's great
est growth. however, was inaugurated
with the association of James A. Bailey
with Mr.. Barnum. Mr.. Bailey was a
pushing, tirelesS, progressive man
then, just as he is today. and he was
not satisfied to have merely a good
circus. He wanted a great circus
circus whose reputation would en-
circle the world-and it was not long
before he had converted Mr.. Barnum
TO his way of thinking. This kind of
a show, however. involved too strenu-
Gus a life for p. T. Barnum, and he
soon retired from active management
and left the sole direction of the show
to Mr. Bailey. Under the management
of the latter the show continued to
grow, year after year, always keeping
we'll ahead of competitors, and always
offering something new for the pub
lie TO talk about and for the other
shows to copy the following season.
twenty-five years ago a circus with
80 cars was considered an immense
institution. That was in the early
days of railroad circuses. and 80 cars
seemed a long jump from overland
days When the Barnum & Bailey
shows reached 40 cars all the wise
acres shook their heads and predicted
dire diSaSte for the show. 1t not only
won, however, but a year or two
later 10 more cars were added. The
year the Nero spectacle was produced
and, by the way. this was the first
big circus Spectacle-the show util-
lied Go railroad cars. and all the rest
of the circus world was aghast. Such
a thing had never been heard Oft
was impossible to handle it-no rail
road would accept such show-these
were some of the comments. Never
Oh hnnHInH Wit nr
friction. and in spite of the heavy ex-
pense of such a great institution, it
made more money than during any
year of its career up to that time.
"In Europe the show had about GO
cars. but they were shorter than the
American cars and did not carry so
much paraphernalia. For the Ameri-
can tour Mr.. Bailey planned a show
that would require at least 80 cars
to transport it His plans were carried
out but instead of 80 there are actu-
ally 80 used by the great show. The
difficulty of handling such a NAM
moth institution is evident. and the
work during the early days of the sea
son was at times almost disheartening.
but under Mr.. Bailey's indomitable
leadership. the task was finally sys
tematized, and when the show comes
to Rock Island those who see the
trains unloaded and the great tents
erected will not see any more appar-
ent effort put forth than though it was
a one-ring circus with single train
of cars instead of five. This years
show is the fruition of many years OF
effort and experience, and would not
have been possible % years ago.