Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1909-02-24
ROMANCE OF Il. S. ROWE
FORMER DECORAHIAN SHOWS
HIMSELF AN HONEST MAN.
Bad Luck Results i'm Bankruptcy,
But Alaska Friend Remembers
Favor, Stakes Him, and He
Pays Every Creditor.

In a letter from our od friend,
j. w. Daubney, cashier of the
United States National Bank of
Centralia, Wash, comes an article
clipped from the Tacoma Daily
Ledger Of the 14th inst. of more
than ordinary interest to Decorah-
lans. Almost as romantic as the
rapid rise Of H. s. Rowe (Hutton
Slack in the circus business and
his extraordinary success with the
Norris & Rowe circus, is the story
CT how bad luck struck them, the
sale of the circus under the ham
mer, and how they got it back. 1t
shows as Mr.. Daubney says in his
letter that Decorah has turned out
one honest man at least" Here is
the article
To have his property sold under
the hammer, his creditors paid off
on basis of 15 cents on the dollar,
to be discharged in court bank
rupt, then to raise S150,000 and
send checks in full to all creditors
who had settled their claims on a
10 per cent. basis, all within a
period Of three months, is the ex-
traordinary achievement of H. S.
Rowe, proprietor of the Norris "
Rowe circus which reads more like
piece of fiction than a transaction
in business in this prosaic old world.
Tho y Of p. %
financial troubles dates back to the
spring of 1906, when the great fire
and earthquake that visited Cali
fornia caught the showmen in it's
meshes. Their daily expenses ex-
ceeded $4,000 and they were play
ing to an average business of $3.50.
their losses in and around California
were tremendous. When the big
circus got north as far as Portland
the effects of the earthquake were
not noticeable, and the business of
the show jumped to its always large
proportions.
Along in the fall the circus made
a tour of Mexico, and the bad luck
1t encountered early in the season
returned, and, as a result of the
Mexican tour, the finances of the
firm were reduced to a pitiabie ex--
tent. They managed to get out of
the country, and were on their way
home through Arizona when the
floods took bridges away, and again
the circus met the luck that reoc-
CURED so often during the year. 1t
was compelled to lay in Globe, Ari-
zona, for thirteen days, and after
it was able to get away was COM
PEELED to cancel all of the dates
that had been advertised and make
jump to Santa Cruz, Cal, the
winter home Of the show. When
the management got home they
figured up their losses on the sea-
son and found them to be $97, 900.
The show took the road again the
following year and was only fairly
successful. The following year the
panic came on, and it seemed i'm
possible for the showmen to strike
their former successful pace. Un-
able to meet their obligations they
were forced into bankruptcy, their
property sold under the hammer
and the labor of years passed away
and Norris & Rowe were practical
ly penniless.
Now, here is where the pretty part
of the story comes in. In the sue
cessful days H. S. Rowe grubstaked
a friend of boyhood to $4,000 and
sent him to Alaska to seek his for
tune. That was the last heard of
LIE Roy, or the $4,000. lie Roy
some years ago was well known here
as an aerialist and tight rope walk
er.-Ed.1
When the news of the bankruptcy
proceedings were published, LIE Roy,
in his Alaska home, read of his
friends troubles. and it occurred to
him that a little balance was COM
ing to Rowe out of the grub stake.
He got pretty busy with the tele-
graph wire and as a result Rowe,
who was considered down and out.
was made aware that $15O,OOO was
his. Mr.. Rowe Immediately pur-
chased his show back and then he
made out checks in full payment of
100 cents on the dollar for all the
creditors who had claims against
him on a 15 per cent. basis. OF
course, according to law. these bills
were already paid, and Rowe was
free from obligations in any way,
but he could not see it that way.
The great Norris & Rowe circus,
with II. S. Rowe sole owner and gem
eral manager, without owing any
man a dollar, will take the road in
the spring.