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Parent Issue
Day
16
Month
April
Year
1875
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

HarperU Weekly devotes nearly two columns to explaining and extolling the great enterprises with which 1'. T. Barnutn Is lnakine; historical his forty years' cafcer as the most liberal and daring showman in the world. The statistics which Harpcr Brothers give lis frora authentic sources are nearly oyerwhehning. They make an ordinary hcad iiz&fi Mr. BarnUmhas always boasted that he gave his patrons doublé Iheir monfiy's worth, and his claims are generally ácknowledged; but tuis time he seems to have f ar outstripped himself. Last year he obtained from the Connectieut Legislatura a charter for "The f. T. Barnum's Universal Exposition Company," with a capital of a million of dollars; Mr. Barnilroi who is President of the company, and Mr. Coup, his Manager, have spent many montlis In turope perfecting their plansi Tbc object of this great compatly, as they annöuncei is to elévate amusements, divest thein of all objectionatile features, and tlius render them worthy the patronage Of the most moral and refincd classes. They say that eventiially they will have a score or more of exliibitions (traveling and permanent) in America and Europe, and they intend that thcir chartered title shall be a guarantec of the merits of whatever they Dring before the jublici The present scason they have but two exhibitions. One is Mr. Barnum's wcllkiiowii " Museum, Menagerie, Circus and Travcling World's Fairj" the other is simply callcd "The Great Koman Hippodrome." Mr; Banmm seems to have devoted years to perfeeting this great enterprise, and nearly one year of hls personal attention was paid to it in Europe. At an expense of Eeveral hundred thousand dollars he erected a great hippodrome building in the heart of New York city, aud Under an outlay of over $5,000 each day he has run his establishment in New York for nearly a year. This Exposition Company are engaged to ship the entire Hippodrome to Europe next autumn; meanwhile they have undertaken the diülcult task of transporting it entire to the principal cíties in America. Ilarper's Weekly says : "The Great Roman Hippodrome will reEeuible a moving camp. liiere are 1,20) men, womén and chiklren in Mr. Barnum's service, and the stock includes 750 horses and ponies, besid.es elephants, cainels, English stag and stag-hounds, traincd ostriches, lions, bears, tigers and ottier animáis. For the exhi'oition of the menagerie aud the various shows, displays and performances connected with the enterprises, two enormous tents, each 500 feet in length and 300 in widtli, have been provided, one of which will be kept iu advance in order that no time may be lost by delayiug in makiug ready. The questinn of transportation by rail - a very serious one -was solved by the construction of 150 cars twice the usual length, built expressly for this purpose. Among them are a number of 'liorde-palace' cars, constructed with commodious stalls, in whieh the horses can lie down and rest while on the journeyand arrive at the place of exhibition quite fresh for the per. formalice. Besides moving the tents, animáis and all other material in these Hippodrome cars, berths will be providcd in those devoted to the personnel of the company for nearly all the employés. Besides the great exhibition teiits, aud stable tents for the horses and other animáis. There is also attached to the company a large corps of blacksmiths and carpenterd and builders, some of whom precede the show severa! days, to make ready for the exhibition by preparing the giound, erectlng seats, etc. Thedressing-room tents alone will cover more ground than an ordirary circus. " To move such an enormous establishment without hitch or delay requises the employment of clear-headed, practical men at the head of each department. Everything is so arranged as to move with the smoothness and precisión of clock-work. At the appointed liour the canvas will go up, the fctreet procession will move, the performance wil) commeuce. When all is over, and the great tent empticd, everyttüng will bepaeked up by thosc detailed for the work, and the caravan, without the loss of a minute, will be on the move toward the next place of exhibition. " The programme of performance will be vaiied and attractive. Donaldson will make daily balloon ascensions with a car large enough to contain a company of flve or six persons, at a cost of about $500 a day for this feature alono. Then there will be the ' Roman races' in chariots driven by'Amazons;' the 'liberty races' in which foity wild horses ifre turned loose in the arena, in exact imitation of the famous carnival races of Komt and Naples; ' standing races,' In which the riders stand on bare-back horses hurdle races forladies; flat races by English, French and American jockeys; besides camel, eleplnmt and Oitrich and monkey races. Anolhei feature will be the exhibition of Indian llfe on the plains, in which the actors wiil be scores of Indiaas, with their sqnaws andpappooses. Tljeywill put up a genuino fnalarj encimpment, hunt real buflaloes, give war dances, pony races, foot races against horses, exhibitions of daring horsemanship, lassothrowing. A band of Mexican riders, mounted on famous mustangs, will make a pretended attack on the Indian camp and give a miinic but faithful represeutation of the wild scones enactod on the Western frontier. The Engiish stag hunt will be an exact picture of the sport itscif, with a company oí 150 men and wonicn in full huiitiiig costuino, imd large pack of Eiiglisli stag-hounds. Tliere will ulso bc many other iutcresting and attractive features, the mere meñtlon of which would make a small volume. "Air. liarnumccrtaiuly deserves great credit for an enterprise which is calculated to affoid a vast amount of innocent, popular amusement; and although this gigantic venture iuvolves an enormous of money it will present too many attractlons not to be generallv snstained." Amazing as this exhibition seems from the description given by Ilarper's, we can say, from actual obseryation, that one feature is to be introduced into the traveling Koman Hippodrome more interestiugandinstruetive than any other. It is the great proeession known as " The Congress of Slonarchs." The Ilarper's omitted mentioning this because, probably, they supposed Mr. Barnum would not dare incur the expense of transporting such an enormous atFair through the country. But he will do so, and here is a brief description of this dazzling and bewildering exhibition, as given by a New York contemporary: " Of all the gorgeous pageants the world ever saw the 'Congress of Nations' is the greatest, and how the surpassing genius of even Barnum could produce it is a wonder. The costumes are true to life, and many of them are genuine, hayiug been procured direct from the nationalities which they repre.sent. The individuals employed to personate the historical characters have the most ful rcsemblance to the origináis in face and physique. Each nation ünds ita special portraiture iu some kind of triumphal car, brilliantly bedecked with appropriate flags, emblems, colors and intricate devices, and all sorts of characteristics in the way of peculiar uuiforms, animáis, soldiery, attendants and music. Scores of glistening gilded chariots illumine the arena with a haJo of luster, as it were, and the display of royal splcndor j is far more imposing and jmpresêive than j words can describe, thrilling the auditor with unspeakable amazement and admiratiou. " As the name of the grand Congress implies, it is a stupendous gathering of the Monarchs of the unlverse, bringiug ia vivid view tho living Kings, Queens, Ruléis and Potentaten of V.m past nine centuries, culminating in an atl'c-'ctiug finale 60 touching that it must r.v.ikon the emotions of astoie. HerMajesty, the Queeu of England, heads the glittering column, surroundedby her royal court and fullowedby a long ancestral line, the notabilitv and richly-uiüformed "life guardsmen." Then Francc, in the person of Napoleon the First'and his famous iield Marshals; Irelund, Rome, iiussia, Germany, Italy. Turkey, India, Jnpan, China, and so on, until all the Monarchs and Courts of the entire world pass in review, winding up like a jewel-bosprinkled coil around the continuous circle. To look j upon tliis beautiful historical processen in all its grandness and greatness is equivalent to eitting in full view of the courts of all the earth, so truthfully realistic are the bewildernir picture revealed in rapid succession. Such a dazzling half mile of eolid gold, jtwels, silver, precious stones aud tinscl could only be produced after ycars of prepáration and the expenditure of half a dozen competeneies. Any attempt at imitatiou on the part of ambitious and unscrupulous showmen for years to come will rcsult in the most inglorious failure. None other than the ' Prince of Showmen' himself Kouid undertake it, and none other than the great and irreprossible Barnum could achieve ! so sigual a triumph." Tbla entire exhibition is adverüsed to exliibit iu New England in May, New York, etc, ' in Jam, Chicago early in July, Ohio, Illinois and Michigan in July and August. It is due to our readers that we inform thcni t lint Mr. Barnum aunounces that certain imposteis in Cincinnati have copied hls bilis, postors, cuts and advertisements, and with a few broken-down circus horses and wagons will precede his exhibition in the West, and ly iinouncing the Great Roman Hippodrome will attempt to make the public belicve that it is his unrivaled establishment, j 11: canlions the public against being lms deceived, and reminds them that it would be impossible witb any auiounl of monciy to organizo and equip eveu a bciiiblancc of his establishment without a pri .;iration of severa) years. The Cincinnati Daily A'. ffnrei' of Feb. 27, 1875, says that this pretended "Hippodrome" is simply the "wreek oí that stupendous fraud known as the Great Etistcrn and (ïioat Southern Circus and Me!i;il( ie comt'ination, wliicli cx[il()düd ut Selma, Ala., tho lOth of last November, a number of horges luivititi to bc sold to puy the expenses of shipping the show to this city, where tlie proprietórs left a nunibcr of iln.itemployés unpaid aud penniless, and vamos-ed. Who tlie real proprietors of the business j were stlll remains a matter of considerable j mystery, but lt ifl generally believed that Andy Haightj one Gibbons and GeorgeWeber and other8 were large stoekholdefe. The dcfrauded circus men and others conneeted ; with the concern finally obtained the i aid of the law to compel a settlement of I their just claimf, and the whole matter ed in the show Being attaehed at Hainilloi!, and in an auctioh sale of the circus i erty at Lebanon yesterday afternoon. " The best of the joke is that De Haven , Webber, Gibbons and others areaboutto reorgín. j ize a Hippodrome out of the ' wreek' to start out wiili next sumracroti anotlier tour. " The whole show was father n poor concern, i only a few lions being in good conditiön, and tbc "menagerie including no reallyrare or valuable animáis." Our leaders have only to use ordinary eaulion to discover wbich is the real and which s Uu; bogus concern, though we see that Mr BarpUm complahw that some shows obtaiu ;tn employé nanu-d Barnllin, and then adveriae ' liarnum's latest enterprise," and resort ! to otbcr (ievices wherein they use the name "Barnum" to deceite the public. He says tliat all exhibitions wlth whieh he is conneeted will give his Initiajs, "P. T.," and also publisli his portrait by way of ldentiflcatioq. To bc forewarned is to be forearmed. "A word ' to the wise is suflicient." As Mr. Hiinnmi's great Hippodrome travele ander an expense of nearly $10,000 eaeh day it can exhibit only in large cities. These can be reached by cheap excursión tratas. .Mr. Barnum sayshecan easily lose halfamilUonof dollars by tiüs summa's experiment, and that ! inany event he sliall not bring back his Ilippodrome from Europe. It ís patronized and approvcd by tho clergy and rcliglons classes, as wcll as by school-teaehers and all'heads of reüued families who dcsire their children to improve their minds under this great systenj of "ob.ject-teaching." Bcyond all question tbls Is the most extensivo and extraordinary . exhibition ou the face of the eartli, and probably thi6 generation will " never see its like ! again."

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Subjects
Old News
Michigan Argus