The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1906-10-20
Whinls of the Idler
THE PRINCE OF FAKIRS AND THE MATERIAL.
HE UTILIZED
HE UTILIZED.

in his pocket. exclaimed with appar
ent establishment, Why. here's the lit
tie rascal" and drew him forth.
4 jolly good show trick. that. an,
tbs not to be doubted that it cause,
Il roar OF mirth and made everybod,
feel that the incident alone was wortl
the price OF admission. In those day.
folks We're not blase. and it tool
mighty little to please them.
The master fakir discovered STRAIT
ton in Bridgeport in 1912 At thai
time General Tom" was under two
feet i'll height and weighed less thar
sixteen pounds. He was" says Bar.
mum. "a brisht-eyed little fellow. with
light hair and ruddy cheeks. was per.
fectly healthy and as symmetrical
as an Apollo. He was exceedingly
bashful. but after some coaXing he
was induced to converse with me, and
informed ME that his name was
Charles S. Stratton. son Of Sherwood
/ 4. Stratton."
This bashIulness, il appears. was
soon to vanish under the chaperonage
OF the not over-mOdest Barnum, for
later on we read how General Tom
"sassed" kings and queens and APP
/! peared among the European aristoc-
racy with as much complacency as
though he had been to the manner
born.
But little Charlie Stratton had to
undergo certain Barnumesuue
changes before he was formally in
troduced to the public. For instance,
Thanksgiving Day, December s, 1912,
saw him heralded to the world in the
museum literature as General Tom
Thumb. a dwarf of eleven years. Just
arrived from England"
Even then they liked the imported
article Just as we do now. and hence
the necessity for making General
TOM Britisher Our princely fakir
apologies for this fraud in most
ingenious way. Says he: This an
nouncement contained two decep-
tons l shall not attempt to justify
them. but may be allowed to plead
the circumstances in extenuation. The
boy was undoubtedly dwarf, and
had the most reliable evidence that
he had grown little. if any. since he
was six years old, but had an
nounced him as only five years of age.
1t would have been impossible to en-
cite the interest or awaken the curl
osity of the public. The thing aimed
at was to assure them that he was
really a dwarf-and in this. at least,
they were not deceived"
Rather cleverly put. o masterful
truth-juggler.
While thus aiming to benefit the
public, our prince of fakirs took good
pains not to suffer any great pecun-
larry losses. for the midget was merely
engaged for the short term of four
weeks, at three dollars per week, and
the expenses of himself and his moth
er. And in those days board came
cheap. Later on this figure jumped
to fifty a week, and towards the last
it must have climbed up into the hun
dreds. So far as l can see. Barnum
was not the man to let a good thing
get by him merely for the sake of /.
few dollars.
On Thursday, January IS. 1874, Bar
mum took the General and both his
parents, as we'll as the dwarf's tutor,
Professor Guillaudeu. the French nat
uralist. across the Atlantic. And now
began for the Bridgeport midget
meteoric career which almost eaualed
the experiences of Jenny Lind in
America.
A few weeks later, after London
had gone wild over the skilful adver-
tised wonder, we find the obsequious
MT. Barnum and his ward at Buck
lngham palace. in the presence of
Queen Victoria and her consort,
Prince Albert Here the General was
perfectly at his ease, and our mighty
fakir little less so.
Yet they both made a fine impress
sion, for We find the pair in royal COM
panv again little later-this time in
the Yellow Drawing-Rcom. When in
troduced to the Prince of Wales. Gen
eral Tom." who enjoyed the privilege
OF being impertinent on account of
his cuteness, complacently said, How
are you, prince?" whereupon he shook
the hand of that dignitary. Then the
little one sided up alongside the
noble youth, and added: THE prince
is taller than l am. but feel as big
as anybOdy"-a remark which tickled
all immensely.
1t goes without saying that there
was good deal of Barnum's shrewd
coaching in all these tricks, but at
any rate. they were eminently sue
cessful. for the two got still another
Invitation to Buckingham palace anc
came away rich with plumber.
But the profits did not end here, for
it now became the fashion to see
General Tom Thumb" and his levees
at Egyptian hall were continually
crowded-crowded to the tune of $500
or so day. The nobility climbed
over one another to see him. And all
the while, Barnum was advertising,
advertising, advertising, and working
the aristocracy for all it was worth.
For three years the party wer.
| abroad. and during this time they Wis
| tied nearly every town in England and
Scotland. besides Belfast and Dublin,
in Ireland. In Dublin the receipts
on the last day, after having exhibited
the previous week, were 261 pounds.
Besides that, the Generator, rather,
Mr. Barnum-received $3.50 for play
ing the same evening at the Theatre
Royal.
The Americans, getting richer every
minute, visited nearly every town in
France. and Brussels. and several
and several other towns in Belgium