The sun., 1905-08-25
A YANKEE CIRCUS IN PAWN.
oo0 AMERICAN SHOWMEN IN DIRE
STRAITS IN GRENOBLE.

Fierce weather ana ssratt-BeCkere
Here at Odds Can't Even Sell II Out.
There's Yankee circus In pawn In the
utle city Of Grenoble, In the south Of France.
what's more, there are about 200 Ameri-
nan canvasmen, acrobats, animal trainers
and others, that 60 with we'll regulated
circus. without money or other necessartes
NJ life in that small French town.
Washington despatch printed In THE
sry Yesterday morning told Of the sorry
condition Of this troupe and how appeal
had bcen made to the State Department
% come to the rescue OF the stranded show
reonle II is the Henry w. McCaddon
rirc,,s and it left this city early In April
10 b, gone five years, during which time
ol or Europe was to be toured and separated
from what money the public might be
willing to spare.
Al present the outlook for the stranded
ores promises hard time. The State
Department is powerless to aid the en-
nloyees of the show, as it Is necessary to
set special legislation from Congress In
order to supply even transportation for
them. Congress won't convene for some
time, and even then it isn't likely that the
national lawmakers will care to mix In
the affairs of defunct circus.
The dispatches from France to the State
DEPARTMENT in Washington set forth that
the show people are penniless and de-
rendent on the charity of the city OF Gren-
obe. Evidently, the good folk OF that
plac don't relish the idea Of caring for
the needy troupe, for from all accounts
the show must have been very bad one by
the time it landed in Grenoble.
McCaddon is with the stranded bunch,
and he too il broke. What's more he can't
sell the show or any part Of it, 1t is said,
without getting into trouble. According
TO show people around town the trouble
lies mainly with the real owners Of the
show
Among those who backed the enterprise
when it went abroad are w. w. Cole, a
wealthy Snowman; Mrs. Forepaugh Fish,
who owns the Forepaugh Theater in Phila-
delphia; Joseph Arthur, the playwright
and County Clerk Thomas l.. Hamilton
Some folk say that Hamiton's holdings are
only nominal and represent the cash OF
Grocerymon Benjamin B. Odell. Jr., OF
Newburg. Anyway these people could
bring the show back if they cared to do so,
or at least they could authorize MoCaddon
to sell the tents and other things that go
Will tllt SIpW, uhA euuo Poy AoA WV ASSNAAA
Of the people who are stranded. But, ac-
cord,ng to certain showmen, there is a row
on among the hackers Of the circus, and no
one seems to care very much what happens
to the bunch of Yankees living meagerly
on the hospitality Of the inhabitants OF
Grenobe.
Showmen here deplore'this state OF affairs
for tie reason, they say, that it will have
l,l aao t1o trno
Of others that visit Europe.
What happened to the McCaddon circus
on the other side is perhaps best told by
Frank J. Gallagher, who has charge OF
the tillposting at the American Theater
In this city. Gallagher had charge Of the
advance work for the McCaddon show and
he sailel in March with gang Of twenty.
four billposters and paste makers. His
brother George was assistant to Manager
McCaddon. Frank Gallagher left the show
In Mirecourt, France, when he saw how
things were going. His brother George
stayel later, but managed to get back,
and he is now in Philadelphia. In talking
last night of his French experiences and
those of the show Frank Gallagher said:
we got bad break from the start. In
the first place, MEGA ddon made a mistake
I'LL OI eHllR III tIt hOI vi VI VIohSCb aoi enO
weather was the limit. 1t was so cold
that we had trouble in keeping paste warm
enough to stick up the bills.
Il papered Dunkirk, France. " here the
show was to open. The ship landed at
that port and got in two days late: OF
course there was nothing doing in Dun
kirk, and all my good bill work was for
nothing. The bunch were carted to Lille,
where the first performance was given; and
1t was fierce. We landed In the height OF
n Hn haf ,aIo m
collection Of dishrags Naturally the
good people Of the northern French towns
didn't fall over each other in an effort to
get under our tents.
enough, we played three weeks Of one
night stands during season OF hail, rain
and cold that kept everybody at home
and nearly froze everybody connected with
the circus. Very little money. was being
pushed over the box Office plate and 1t
was costing whole lot to keep the show
going; Then the way those French city
offclals were shaking lis down was eau
ton. Over there you don't pay for IL
censf, as is done in this country, but the
and tells you to contribute to the relief OF
the poor. l, being ahead Of the show, had
70 DO this poor relieving stunt. There
must have been an awful bunch OF needy |
people because most towns demanded 2oG
francs for each performance. l think l
can guess how much Of this the poor got.
-. And talk about ticket graft in Americal
ven, this country isn't marker to France.
Everybody in the town must have been on
the city pay roll, Judging from the call
got for paper. There wasn't any way
show.
=, Finally, the circus was in 80 bad fx
ttat McCaddon had to cut out the side
show and then he slowed the menagerie.
ihls was, the biggest mistake he could
nave made. for that is what the French
PEOPLE, like more than anything else.
McCaddon said he couldn't afford to pack
them around, and he put them In storage
quarters. All this made trouble for me
ahead of the show. for my bills were dis
playing a lot Of things that knew the show
wouldn't make good on. The people got
sore and word was passed from one town
70 another to look out for the show, which
was described in some French lingo that
meant "on the bum"-which IT certainly
Was after time
l was the first to quit the show, and
maybe I'm not glad that / did. Since ar
iliNyIhg home l have been followed by ten
Slll posters. came first cabin on tho
han halSer Wilhelm. but the bill posters came