The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1910-07-02
COST OF RUNNING A CIRCUS.
5000 a Day for the Big Shows Under
Canvas-Clowns and Acrobats.

cost Of Winlerlng the circus apart HVn
all repairs. For convenience sake, th
car Is made the unit. The twenty week
that the show spends in winter quarter
represent an expenditure Of mere than
thousand dollars for each car. So th'
big shows start on the road with 1
running-expenses deficit Of about $4,000
Then, on the road, there is cost o.
about $50 a day for each cars the unit
charge is larger for the smaller shows
amounting to upward Of a hundred dol
lars a car. Therefore, when the BIC
show Is travelling, II must pay out iron
81 800 to $4,000 a day for seven days
week, while ii has an income only 81,
days in the week
The largest single item Of expense 4
the salary list, which amounts 70 $3.50
day-a little less than $3.50 a day fol
each Of the thousand employees. which
shows that the average income Of circu.
workers Is very moderate, although Il
should be remembered that they get also
board and lodging. The cost Of food
supplies for man and beast IS about
81 800 daily, and, curiously enough, i
Is about equally divided between them
the individual cost Of each meal being
twenty-five cents, which amounts q
$3.50 a day for the employees.
The salary list Of the 400 performers
exclusive Of the workers, amounts Ia
about a thousand dollars a day, on an
average, although II varies as acts are
changed The most highly paid acts are
the "thrillers," which the press agent
announces as death. defying" and there
is no exaggeration. The famous dip
Of Death" stunt, in which a young WON.
an tobogganed on property automo-
bile that turned a somersault command
ed d thousand dollars a week, Of which
tie young woman who risked health
and life received Sl25 a week, while the
remainder went to the owner Of the act.
II is interesting TO know that the
danger Of riding down that chute and
making complete revolution in the air
had no terrors for ever so many young
women. During the two years this
thriller was featured. applications for
the job averaged ten week throughout
the season, and they were mostly from
well-to-do young women, who were not
particular about the salary.
The dip Of Death was a valuable fea-
hre Of the show, because Of is adverts-
ing value. and Il made the kind Of sen
sation that has powerful appeal, espe-
cially TO people whose lives are such that
they do not have often an opportunity
to enjoy real excitement. And that was
the only reason il was retained For
the real circus folk themselves, from the
owners 70 the grooms, and especially the
performers. despised the Hact," because
Us appeal was wholly IN It's danger, and
the question Of skin did not enter at all
Anybody could be strapped to the seat
and make the journey successfully -un-
less the machine broke down.
But when a thriller requires per,
sonal skill and strength, then the circus
people admire; no matter how fooihardy
il may be. That is why Desperate" IN
the Barnum & Bailey show. who dives
headforemost from the top Of the arena
onto an inclined plane, is considered a
real performer Il takes tremendous
nerve and nice skill to make that leap,
for the slightest variation means death.
Desperate gets 5000 week, for two
a day, and the other per-
formers consider II a fair salary.
The clowns alone are a very expensive
feature Of the big show. The Barnum
& Bailey and the Ringing shows each
carry fifty fun-makers. and they get
from S35 to $3.50 a week They are
highly valuable. but still $4,000 a sea
son, not counting their living, seems q
lot OF money g spend on them.
Advertising expenses-the second hTg-
est item reach total Of sl.700 a day.
The paper which means al advertis-
ing matter, from tine w0ndrOus Iith0-
graphs that make the countryside bril-
liant, If not beautiful, to the handbills,
costs $500 a day The newspaper adj
rertisng averages $500 a day; and the
balance Is expended IN operating the adj
yans.cars and In paying the charges Of
posting.
Transportation charges vary from $500
to 81 800 a day. but the average is little
above tho minimum. because Of the long
stops in cities Two weeks in Chicago,
4 week in Philadelphia, and week IN
Boston keep the average down, In al
whole season, the show will not lose
more than one day In travelling, Sundays
excepted
There are many small expenses con
neeted with circus that the outside
world never hears about. For instance,
The legal charges amount to seventy-five
iollars a day on the road This includes
the salary Of a nigh-prieed lawyer, who
always travels with the circus and is
The hardest worked man with it next
10 the bandsmen and the ticket sellers
II small boy Is kicked by horse;
4 there is a dispute over a feed bill; if
grating officials try to cause trouble,
The lawyer Ii called upon to make set
siement
Then there is physician to look after
he employees and to see that the strict
sst sanitary laws are obeyed. drug
wagon and a chemist supplement him
The work people pay nothing but the
performers must pay for the physician
You see, the hazard of the
let is factor In determining the salary,
md the performer takes all the risks
rnere is veterinary, with two assist
lnts, who has pretty big drug store Of
lis own. It takes a lot of work to look
lfter the many kinds Of animals, and
he "vetsD don't loaf much Law and
Medicine together cost the circus deal
more than 500 a day Everybody's
Magazine.