Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-09-07
LAST OF THE SELLSES
Louis Was the Fourth of the
Circus Family.
STORY OF THE SHOW PEOPLE
Started as Peddlers and Followed Per
formances in That Way.
OVERCAME ALL OBSTACLES
Gradually They Got Into the Business,
But They Were Circus Men
by Absorption Only.

NEW YORK, September with the
death Of Louis Sells on Thursday in Column
bus, Ohio there passed away another of
the rapidly disappearing old-time circus
men. He was the last of the four Sells
brothers. who for more than thirty years
had been in the circus business and who
were known chiefly in the west.
The Sells show never was one of the first
magnitude until about ten years ago. when
James A. Bailey went into partnership
with the Sells brothers. Mr. Bailey had
bought the Forepaugh show He could not
give 1t the personal attention 1t needed and
30 he combined It with the Sells show and
gave the management Of the business into
the hands Of Peter and Louis Sells.
Peter died about three years ago. A lit
tie more than year ago, after the death
OF MI. Bailey. the Forepaugh and Sells
brothers and Louis. the last of the Sells,
went back to the old family place Of resi-
dence and retired. He died of Bright.s dis
ease. He died rich. like his three brothers.
,. Lne seI,ses were Of Pennsylvania Dutch
origin Their father drifted out to Column
bus. Ohio: where the boys were brought up.
Ihe family was poor. When mere youths
the boys made a living by peddling. That
gave gave. rise to the story that they were of
horse and g. wagon. They used to 20 to
small county seats In Ohio and Kentucky
when court was In session. They sold
neckties. shoestrtngs. tin pans, some dry
goods and knickknacks generally. They
were thrifty and saved money. Sometimes
when horse died on the road the brothers
turned In and pulled the wagon into town;
then they bought new horse.
Following the Circus.
Several times the brothers ran up against
q clrcus-the old wagon-traveling circus
In Its rounds. The crowds were out and
they did an unusually large business at
such times. That suggested that they
should follow circuses. One Of the first to
which they attached themselves was the
Cooper & Whitney circus. For a time the
circus people paid little attention to them
They became aggressive and got in the way.
They were finally voted to be a nuisance.
and the circus people tried to prevent them
from trailing along from town to town with
them. The Sellses would not be discour-
aged Threats did not move them Finally
the circus people took to stonfng them and
driving them away from the grounds where
the shows were given. Many bitter rows
occurred and blows were struck, but the
Sellses kept right on.
cuses the brothers picked up good deal Of
knowledge Of the business They studied
its problems and at last started out for
themselves. They got a few wagons, some
of animals-they were shrewd about that
and had success. Their favorite stamping
ground got to be Texas. They used to win
ter the show in Houston. When the season
was over Peter and Louis used to go to
Cleveland. Peter was the bright one of
the family and sometimes did newspaper
work. Louis used to be q conductor on a
street car. and Peter sometimes worked at
the same calling.
Buy a Train.
The brothers so prospered that in the late
seventies they quit travelling by wagons
and bought train. They were getting
up in the world. Then they got a second
train and ran Barrett's circus on that.
Barrett was a brother-in-law who man.
aged the concern. Money came in fast,
but the brothers did not use 1t to improve
the show They put 1t into real estate in
Kansas City and Columbus largely. One
of the brothers. Allen, finally pulled out
and settled In Topeka, Kan. where he spec
ulated In real estate and got richer. Peter,
Ephraim and Louis kept on in the show
business. 1t was a second-rate show but It
satisfied the crossroads.
In 1880 Sells Bros. decided to go to
Australia Cooper & Baileys circus had
and w. w. Cole. now with the Bailey peo-
pie, had also made a fine cleanup on trip
he took. 1t cost Sells Bros. $4,000 for
transportation from San Francisco and
pdCk lHey ndu ABOUT LOU people In the
outfit, five elephants and about twenty
trained horses. They relied on buying
horses in Australia for rough work. The
Sells boys had never been to sea before.
Hard Luck in Australia.
They were twenty-five days on the trip.
The animals suffered good deal from
the voyage and some of the horses grew
sick. When the show landed the govern
ment sent veterinarian to inspect the
animals, two of which were in bad shape.
1t was in October and the weather was
damp. The veterinarian passed the horses,
but said they must be Quarantined until the
next day. A second inspection was had,
and 1t was decided that the horses had
CHAMBERS and must be killed. Some of the
trained horses were sent to an island. The
harness was cut up and the camp disin-
fected. The authorities said that the cir
Gus must return to the United States.
Masonic influence saved the day and the
show was allowed to open without horses.
1t had lot of acrobats some good clowns.
and the elephants were all right, and so
the circus opened in Sydney to about two
thirds of the tent capacity.
A member of the board of aldermen made
a speech to the people. told them Of the
good faith in which the Sells brothers had
come to Australia and pleaded for public
support. Every performance after that
was given to a crowded house. despite that
1t was a circus without performing horses.
Speaking Of the situation an old employee
of the Sellses said yesterday:
The Horseless Show
at was the most pitiful thing 1 ever saw
in forty years experience in the circus bust
ness When we opened the band paraded
around. Then came some of the women
performers. Then came an animal cage,
pulled by the men employees in costume
and pushed by elephant Then some
more women. Then another animal cage,
pushed by an elephant and pulled by the
men. The men changed their costume
several times and pulled wagons in and out.
and then we gave the best show we could.
Gradually we got some old race horses
and ponies and they did some hurdle busi-
ness and other hippodrome things We
tried to train horses for bareback riding,
but didn't succeed. They would shy and
throw their riders. Well. we actually made
money. We went to New Zealand against
the protests of Ephraim. who was shy of
the sea and said that when we loaded on
ship again 1t would be to go home. We did
make some money after all. 1t was the
last time an American circus ever went to
Australia"
After the return from Australia the Sells
outfit continued its prosperous career. The
Arm paid larger salaries and became skilled
in meeting emergencies. They even grew
to be competitors of the Barnum and Fore
paugh shows and deal was made with