The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-04-19
THE PASSING OF
 THE CIRCUS GODS Some Famous Old Time Show
 Men DEATH OF LOUIS SELLS Some Interesting History of the Men Who Made the Big Tent Perform ances Is RecalIed-Made
 Big Money.
 
DEATH OF LOUIS SELLS

whose names used to be household words, l only a few are left. The last of the Sells brothers, William A. Sells, com | monly called the Chesterfield of the Cir GUS Arena,' died the other day in New York In Indiana, a few months ago, died Louis Sells. Adam Forepaugh is dead. So, too, is James A. Bailey. In Cincinnati last fall James Robinson passed away at the age of 9S And Phin- eas T. Barnum, the greatest circus man of them all, is already dim memory. Some other names which have passed out of the prints even, and almost en- tirely out of the memory of present lovers of the circus are Louis A. Jones, Spauld- ing and Rogers, Wech Macumber and Weeks, Robinson and Lake, the Irwin brothers and Bernard Hartmann. only the oldest boys among the patrons of the mammoth enterprises which have de- veloped during the last score years can call to mind the magic name of Yan- kee Robinson" Half a century ago everybody knew him.
 l And with the passing of the big pio- neers have passed, too, their shows, as l individual enterprises.
 There is no lessening of interest even today in the feats of acrobats, the buff foonery of clowns, the stunts of trick animals the presentation of gorgeous l spectacles and the exhibitions of wild animals There are many persons who l continue to marvel at the monstrosities l which are presented in the side show l tent And the parade can attract as | large crowds as it ever could.
 1 But the old-school circus men are gone, | and the business which used to be scat l tered among a big field of energetic pie l turesque individuals has become as com l pact and centralized as any other great I ht1cf 1O- l day Europe is the virgin field Tor the l American circus.
 | William Sells, whose recent death re- l wives mention of his connection with the l circus industry, was one of the old cara l vanners," as they were called. At the l time of his debut the enormous tents ana | long trains were still novelties which only | such master specialties as Barnum and | Forepaugh could afford. The caravan | ners'' had not then been driven out of the l competition.
 l In the early seventies Sells and his l brothers were itinerant peddlers in the l west There were Ephraim, Allen, Louis l and William. They used to travel from l town to town selling wares of all sorts, | depending on their powers of entertain l ment as much as on the quality of their | wares. William used to tell good stories, l in an inimitable manner, which kept his | hearers in good humor, and eventually l induced them to purchase articles rom l his wagon.
 One day when the brothers were jour | neying between two towns in the 1 middle west they overlook circus. The l owners greeted them affably and long l conversation followed The show men, | in speaking of the profits of their enter | prise, used such big figures that the Sells 1 brothers became excited. Then and there | they resolved to become proprietors of a circus. ri They had very little capital, but under took to get together a few performers, some trick dogs and a dancing bear, and then to plan an itinerary. Like the ma iority of the circus proprietors who were trying to please the public, the Sells brothers drew largely on their resources of self-confidence. When their little car ayan entered a town the bass drum and cymbals made noise, curious persons gathered around the show-and the plaus- ibe voices of the owners did the rest. William Sells took to the business as if he had been born in a circus tent. In
 the early days of his public career, he
 was not only owner, but performer. From the seat of his wagon he proclaimed the
 virtues of the show, and inside the one
 and only tent amused spectators by his
 antics in clowns attire
 He also became a burlesque bareback
 1T.
 the 'bouncing jockey" In this he was
 immense always causing the audience to
 roar with laughter. His brothers began
 to do feats of one sort or another. One
 became gymnast, another rider and
 the third trainer of wild animals.
 The circus made money the first sea-
 son on the road And under the shrewd
 management it continued to make money.
 Part of the returns were invested in ad- ditional equipment; another part was
 banked for contingencies. William Sells, after a few years of active participation in the tent, decided to devote all his en- ergies to the receipts and expenditures.
 He added a few extra laurels to his re- nown by dressing with elaborate care. Somebody called him the chesterfield of the Arena" and the name stuck to him, eventually acquiring fame from the Ms sissippi to the Atlantic. Another title which he picked up somewhere was the
 .Duke of Topeka" This substitute for
 civilian Sells" went with him through out all his travels in the west. Sells had by this stage of his connection with the circus business discovered the ad- yantages that result from the employment
 of an rrepressible press agent
 Subsequently, Sells concluded that he
 could make more money without the col
 laboration of his brothers. He formed
 partnership nrSt Wltn Lldii hdiiiSu Downs and later with man named Floto 1
 few years ago this property was sold
 to the owner of a Denver newspaper, and
 Sells retired from the circus arena with
 fortune of considerable dimensions.
 In October 1904, he came into public
 notice again through his search in the
 Arizona deserts for herd of wild camels.
 These animals had, it was reported, de- scended from some camels which had been
 brought to the southwest by French
 man The latter, so the story went, had
 fancied there might be profit in establish
 ing a transportation route across the state. Sells venture cost money and yielded no profits.
 Lou Sells was also an interesting per sonality. Some of his excellent stories are stilr told with zest. He was once
 asked to say what were the happiest mo- ments of his life.
 ..To see,' he replied. "a tent full of
 children laughing at the antics of the clowns To make children happy is the
 best thing on earth for any man."
 On certain days he gave free bags or
 peanuts to all the little blue-eyed girls
 at the show; on other days the black eyed girls came in for their treat An other pleasant custom of this genial man
 was frequent visits to the poorer sections
 of the large cities. Sells used to find
 time to stroll through the poor section.
 In one way or another he would manage
 to gather about him crowd of wide-eyed