San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1923-10-21

signs of artificial manufacture. Bar
mum planned the manufacture Of a
prehistoric relic without blemishes.
Coup devoted time and energy
to the organization of the Great
est Show on Earth, and Barnum
supplied advice and some finan-
cial support. On April 10, 1871,
the show opened in Brooklyn,
New York, with the largest area
of tent canvas that had ever been
spread for q circus. and the show
boosted that it employed more men.
horses and animals than any previous
ly organized in the United States or
Europe.
There were wax works, dioramas,
the Sleeping Beauty, and the Dying
Zouave-mechanical figures which
breathed evenly, and gasped realisti-
cally for breath-Swiss Bell Ringers,
and the Cardiff Giant, who did not
crack. Admiral Dot. the Eldorado
Elf. and Colonel Goshen. the Pales-
tine Giant, exhibited together, the
Admiral sometimes occupying the
Colonel's hand as a seat. Esau. the
Bearded Boy, and Anna Leake. the
armless woman, were other special
But the greatest attraction Of
the opening season was the family
of Fiji Cannibals. whom Darnum
was supposed to have obtained from
the Fiji Islands with the aid of the
United States consul.
These tnan-eating cannibals, accord
ing to Barnum, had been captured
in war by King Thokambau and
raga,,a1 fvn,,, liant mud MT ION
as food by Barnums agent at Ma
Vita Ievu. King Thokambau ac-
copied a bond for the safe return of
money for their use in Barnum's
circus.
Giraffe Big Attraction.
Another great attraction of the
first season was the gire5ie. "Other
managers, Barnum explained, "gave
up trying to import CRATES several
years ago, owing TO the great cost
and care attending them. No 81
America. These very impediments,
living giraffe on hand. ut whatever
coSt-fOr, of course. their scarcity
| enhances their attraction and value
| as i'hS
neck was always of great advertising
value 10 the circus.
The success of Barnum'e circus
was almost immediate, but it was
not spontaneous. While Barnum
was enjoying the fruit of his past
activities at his home in Bridge
port, Coup was preparing the country
| for the Barnum show
&c Do,
| attraction, for his thirty years of as
/ ISOLATION, with the public in the
i amusement business carried his name
and reputation everywhere through
out the United States and in many
of the important countries of Eu-
| rope. General Tom Thumb, Jenny
Lind, and the American Museum
formed background of notoriety
which finally made Barnums name,
and later the name of Barnum X
Bailey, a household expression and
a national institution.
During the first season Barnum
was present with the show in all
the large cities. and he exploited
his personality and reputation for
the benefit of his circus. Ere
| Quently he delivered lectures on tenn
perance at the Y. NJ. c. \. in a
| city where the circus was performing.
my managers and assistants" Ear
! mum wrote, "insist that my free lee
lures, especially in the large cities,
result to my pecuniary disadvantage,
as fully satisfying many who other
wise would patroni2e the exhibition
to crafty their curiosity. However,
as our immense pavilions are always
crowded, l can see no real cause for
| complaint" No doubt there were
| enough people who, after seeing Bar
nun, still wanted to see the giraffe
and the FIJI Cannibals.
A Genius Lost to Fame.
But in its first year the factor
that contributed more than any
other TO the success of Barnum's
| circus was W. {. COup's advance
publicity and advertising and his
excellent transportation arrange.
ments. Every other circus had
/ previously been confined TO a town
! and its immediate vicinity for Its
! patronage; Coup ordered his adj
/ Ncrtisers 10 post their bills as far as
fifty and seyenty-five miles from the
place where the circus would exhibit,
| and his advance brigade of bill post
ers, it was said, posted more bills
in one week than other circus COM
panies posted in an entire season.,
| Coup then arranged with the
leading railroads of New England
and New York to run special ex-
cursion trains at reduced fares TO
points where the Barnum Circus
| pitched its tents. Often the attend
ance at the circus was in this way
brought up TO n total of twice ant
three times the population of thu
town visited. The gross receipts Of
the first season were more than SiOO.
600, and this sum did not include
the profits from candy stands, incl
dental concerts and side-shows.
Transportation BY Rail.
Coup noticed that in the larger
towns the receipts averaged from
5000 TO $1,000 a day. and in thu
smaller they fell to $4,000 a day
This led him TO consider the posi-
bility of Transporting the Barnun
show by rail, thus making sufficient
" long trips to eliminate all towns
where the receipts were likely to fal
below $4,000.
Barnum tells in his autobiograph!
how he triumphed over all Othe
showmen because of his highlands
enterprise and his liberal outlay o
money. He particularly records how
he startled his partners. Coup ant
Costello, when he decided 10 trans
port the circus by rail. But thes'
statements were not true. All hi
associates in the circus who have LET
any records of their opinions agre'
that in his last years Barnum wa
l l L