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Circus at Auction

Louisville, Ky., February 21. - Montgomery Queen's Circus and Menagerie was sold here today at auction by order of Register in Bankruptcy Dwight, of New York, before whom a voluntary petition was filed some time ago. The liabilities were $166,000, and the assets $33,000, including animals and circus equipments. At the sale today the following leading showmen of the country were present: E. Wiggins, of Detroit; George P. Bailey, Agent of P. T. Barnum's show; old John Robinson and his agents; A. E. Sells, of Sells Brothers' Circus, Columbus, O.; W. N. Cole, proprietor of Cole's Great Eastern Circus, St. Louis, Mo.; W. R. Haydon, General Director of Cole's Circus, Chicago, Ill.; Huntington Hilliard, of the United State Circus; J. H. Bailey, agent of O'Brian's Circus; C. D. Cohen, of Queen's Show; C. W. McClum, of the Buffalo Courier Printing Company; A. O. Russell, of Russell Bros., tentmakers, Cincinnati. A large number of others were present whose names were not learned. The sale commenced at 11 a. m. Costumes, harness, properties, etc., went off at ruinously low figures. A lot of arena costumes that originally cost $1,500 were knocked down to Sells Brothers for $280. Twenty-five lots of property, costumes, etc. - everything necessary to present the play of "Putnam" - were sold to Burr Robins for $20. This lot was probably worth fully $500. A $50 elephant's blanket sold for $5. Three pad-saddles sold at 16 2/3 cents apiece. Fourteen horse-trappings, worth $10 each sold for $3 apiece. A $50 bass drum was knocked down at $2. Good saddles only brought $2. Sixty yards of Brussels carpet sold at 25 cents per yard. The best wardrobe was sold to Sells Brothers. The performing and four other large cages were sold to old John Robinson, two cages to Sells Brothers, and a performing cage to W. W. Cole. The eland, that whipped the lion last Fall, brought $205; the zebra, $230; the lions, $100 each; the performing monkey, $105; other monkeys, $31 each; the rhinoceros, $3,600; eighteen cockatoos, $1,584; the elephant, $1,500; the emu, $100; the tiger, $600; the sacred cow, $31; the horned horse, $75. The horses, ponies, etc., will be sold tomorrow. Considering what the animals originally cost, the sacrifice by the sale is great.

John “Porgy” O’Brien

John O'Brien was one of those unique and successful characters not uncommon in this country, especially the newer portions of it, during the first five or six decades of the nineteenth century. Rough and illiterate, yet with a large stock of native shrewdness, he found his way into the show business, became wealthy, and at one time owned more show property than any other one man in the United States. It was only to strangers that he was known as John O'Brien. To his help and acquaintances he was simply Pogey. Pogey was an Irishman, but where he was born or where he lived as a boy I never knew. At the time I went to work for him he was the youngest show proprietor of any consequence in the country, being only thirty-five.

He was a great sufferer from asthma, and never after I knew him was he able to go to bed, but always slept in a chair. Any remedy for it he might hear of, no matter how absurd or how improbable the benefit, he would try. Under his direction I once killed a red fox, dried its entrails, and mixed a powder, obtained by pulverizing them, with pitch-pine sawdust. This mixture Pogey smoked and claimed that it gave him a good deal of relief.

He was tall, fat, and good-natured. His asthma gave him a wheezing voice and a funny little laugh, and he had a queer way of shaking his head when he talked.

According to a story current at the time I went to work for him and which I never knew to be questioned, "Pogey" began his career as a stage driver. Most of his evenings were spent in hotel offices where there was a good deal of card and billiard playing going on, and, as he never played either, but enjoyed watching the games, he easily fell into the habit of keeping tally for the rest. Because of this service he was always included when the drinks were set up. Being a teetotaler, he took cigars when the rest took whiskey, and these cigars he did not smoke, but put away until he had collected a boxful, and then sold them. This money he laid away with what he was able to save from his earnings as a stage driver, and after a little he had enough to begin buying horses, and soon had a stage line of his own. He ran this for a few years, saving money all the time, and then gave up the stage route because he had contracted to furnish horses and move Jerry Mabie's circus from stand to stand for him.

Pogey learned more or less about the show business from observation while engaged in carrying out his contract, and, discovering toward the end of the season that Mabie was running behind, arranged to purchase the show. As he did not have money enough of his own, he proposed to Adam Forepaugh, a friend of his that they go into partnership. With funds provided by his father, who was a butcher and cattle dealer, Forepaugh paid for his share of the Mabie show. Soon after getting possession of it the two young partners put it into winter quarters in Philadelphia.

They started out with the next spring and made money from the first, but by the end of the second season they had discovered that it was impossible to get along together, and so dissolved the partnership, dividing the show between them. The division was made by each man alternately selecting an animal or a wagon or some piece of equipment until everything had been portioned off. After separating, the two men were bitter rivals. They had winter quarters on the opposite sides of the street in Philadelphia, but each tried to keep his affairs and plans from the other as much as possible. Pogey had rather the best of Forepaugh in this, though, for he was friendly with "young Ad," his rival's fourteen-year-old boy, who told him many things that his father never dreamed of.

Pogey could neither read or write, not even so much as to sign his name, but the statement of his men that he was "hell on figures" was substantially correct. Like most ignorant men suddenly become wealthy, he was fond of attracting attention by his dress, and he had all of a showman's fondness for jewelry. I never knew him to dress any other way than with a frock coat and pants made of blue broadcloth, and a silk-velvet vest. He kept a double-breasted vest for special occasions which had two rows of buttons inlaid with diamonds. In the center of each button was a diamond which must have weighed at least two carats, with smaller ones clustered around it. He never failed to put on this vest when hiring performers. Across the front of it hung a watch chain with great, flat gold links, and set in each link was a diamond. The one in the middle link weighed four carats, and the next a little less, and so on, the ones in the end links weighing a half carat apiece. For a charm he had an elephant about an inch long, made of gold with rubies for eyes and a diamond in its trunk, and on one of his fingers he wore a big seal ring set with a cluster of diamonds.

As Pogey was always with the show and around among his wagons and men, the blue-broadcloth suit was frequently mussed and soiled. Once he caught the seat of his trousers and tore a great hole in them. He called for a canvasman and had him sew up the tear with one of the big needles and coarse thread used to repair the tents. Some of the men called his attention to the big white stitches, but he insisted that it was "good 'nough" and that his coat "covered them up, anyway." Reminded that he went around a good deal without his coat, he replied, with emphasis: "Never mind! That's good 'nuff for them 'gillies' and 'rubes.' They don't know the difference, anyhow." No one said anything more and the half circle of white stitches stood out like the Northern Lights for the rest of the season every time Pogey took off his coat.

Pogey never drank himself and was terribly down on a drunk. "Now look there," he used to say, "see that feller? What a fool he is to go and git drunk and spend all his money. 'Twould be better for me to keep his money. I don't ought to pay him. He'll just go an' give it all to the barkeeper." But in spite of his aversion to drunks Pogey would never turn a man down that asked to come back to him, no matter what the fellow had done, provided he showed any sort of repentence and promised to do better.

One such case was a driver who was completely down and out and had been sent away from the show. After we had gone into winter quarters he showed up one day and asked for a job. Pogey very bluntly reminded him of his past actions, but agreed to take him on again in the spring if he would promise to do better. It then developed that the man had no place to go and nothing to do until spring, so Pogey told him:

"Well, we've got lots of potatoes here and plenty of 'monkey bread.' You can cook yourself potatoes and eat what 'monkey bread' you want and stay here as much as you like. Perhaps I may ask you to help the men get manure out to the farm sometime, or do a little job for me." So the fellow lived around the quarters all winter, sleeping on the haymow nights, and in the spring went on the road again with us.

Another instance was a man by the name of Smith, who was with us one season, and the next spring came around and asked for a job.

"Now, Smith," said Pogey, "you know that you are an awful drinker and that you were drunk most of the time last season. You know, too, that this 'ere is a nice, moral show and I can't be carrying round a lot of drunkards and spoiling the reputation of the show."

"Yes, I know," replied Smith, "but, Pogey, you needn't be afraid to take me. I'll be all right and won't hurt your show none. You can depend on it, too, for since last year I've been copper lined."

Pogey gave one of his little wheezy chuckles that passed for a laugh and Smith got his job.

"Pogey" lived but a little way from the winter quarters in Philadelphia, and one winter I and two others boarded with him. The first few times that we were at his house for dinner Pogey would gulp down a few mouthfuls and then make some remark about having to get back and hurry out. We did not feel that we could do any different than to get up and go along with him. As a result we were having practically no dinner. We said nothing, but after a few days Pogey's wife took me to one side and told me that we should sit still and finish our dinner. That her husband came back each time as soon as we were at work and ate a hearty meal. We took her advice and Pogey was no longer in a hurry about his dinner.

He was glad to have the men have things so long as the price did not come out of his pocket. Nearly always, after paying a hotel bill, he would say, "Now, Mr. Hotel Keeper, you know that when a man pays a bill it's the thing to give him a cigar. Now you know I've just paid you a mighty big bill; let's see you open up your heart and give these boys some cigars." And as a usual thing the hotel proprietor gave us a generous quantity.

Pogey had a fast horse; one that could go a mile in three minutes, and one day while we were in winter quarters at Philadelphia he let me take it to give my girl a sleigh ride. We had a great time and passed everything on Broad Street, but when I took the horse back it was dripping wet and looked used up. Pogey came out and looked it over, asked a few questions, and then he said, "Conklin, I guess the next time you want a horse to go sleigh riding you'd better go to a livery stable."

Whenever possible we used to avoid turnpike roads with their frequent toll gates, for the tolls were always heavy and if we had far to go it made a heavy bill. Sometimes, however, there was no choice and the boss hostler at the head of the first wagon train would tell the gatekeeper that the man in the buggy at the rear of the line would pay the tolls. So the old gatekeeper, patiently standing by the roadside, slate in hand, put down a record of the two-horse, four-horse, eight-horse wagons, the "led stock," etc., that made up the show. Finally Pogey, hurrying along behind everything else in his buggy would draw up to the gatekeeper and drawl out in his wheezy voice:

"Well, how much do I owe yer?"

The account read off by the gatekeeper was sure to be challenged by Pogey.

"I ain't got no such number of teams."

"But they all went through the gate and I counted 'em and set "em down," and the old keeper would read the list again.

"Well, they must be some people following the circus that don't belong to it. I ain't going to pay for them. How many did you say there was?"

Again the list would be read off.

"Now there must be some mistake about this. Let's see your slate." And Pogey would reach out and take it. After pretending to look it over he would begin again.

"Now this ain't right. I've got so many two-horse teams, and so many four-horse teams, and so many eight-horse teams, and . . ."

"But how do I know?" the gatekeeper would inquire, in alarm, as he saw Pogey deliberately wet his fingers and rub out the record on the slate.

"Well, I'm telling yer, ain't I?" Pogey would calmly answer, and go on with his enumeration. In the end the gatekeeper was obliged to settle on the basis of Fogey's statement, for, with his list gone, he could hardly do otherwise. In this way Pogey often beat a gatekeeper out of a third of his tolls.

O'Brien used to sneer at a practice, common among small shows in those days, of hiring the privilege of using the name of some big show for a season.

"It ain't no use buying a name," he would say. "Go out in the graveyard an' pick out the worst name you can find an' it'll be just as good as Barnum's. That's the way I do."

But the time came when he did just that thing, not only arranging to use Barnum's name, but taking some of Barnum's equipment and performers. It was a poor season and he did not make much money. Toward the end of the summer he went over into Canada, and there not only did not make money, but he lost heavily and quit before the end of the season and came back to the United States. When he went over into Canada a lot of his horses were poor and run down, and while he was there he traded them for good ones. When he came back into the United States, the customs officers, not knowing anything about the change, passed, duty free, as many horses as he had taken into Canada. When the show broke up Pogey owed considerable salary money to "Doc" Thayer, a clown that Barnum had furnished for the show. When Doc asked him for his money Pogey refused to pay and told him to "get it out of Barnum." This angered Doc and he threatened to tell the customs officials about the horses unless Pogey paid him what was due. Not a cent would Pogey pay, but told him, instead, with a laugh and a wheezy drawl: "I don't care. Tell all yer want ter. I ain't scared."

The clown was as good as his word and went to the customs officers with his story. They held that the duty should have been paid on the horses traded for in Canada, and the government took steps to collect. Pogey was foolish enough to take the matter into court, where it dragged along for two or three years. In the end, of course, he was beaten, and the duties, together with the court fees, made a large sum for him to pay. Meanwhile Jay Cooke had failed, and, as most of Pogey's capital had been deposited with him, the two things together practically cleaned him out. His show had now acquired an unfortunate notoriety because of the swindlers and crooks that traveled with it, and his affairs went rapidly downhill. It was not long until all he had left was a small show with which he could scarcely more than earn a living. His misfortunes, changed circumstances, together with family troubles, wore on him. He aged fast, his asthma constantly grew worse, and in a few years he died.

Circus Agents I have Known

W. C. Boyd was a General Agent of some of the larger shows, in the nineties. In 1895, I engaged him for Traffic Manager, but for certain reasons, I was forced to give him a position of No. 1 Car Manager in the middle of the season. The first half of the season M. B. Raymond handled my advance car No. 1, and is the only man on a No. 1 car that ever put up paper enough to suit the writer. No matter how good the General Agent is, if the carman can't cut it, all the talking that the G. A. does doesn't help much.

Bill Peck handled my No. 1 for years. He was very honorable, very thorough, but couldn't get the sheetage like Raymond. Raymond quit me in the middle of the summer to accept a position operating a theatre in Cincinnati. I don't know whether he is alive or not, but he was a wonder.

I was on a train en route to Chicago one early morning when I passed my No. 2 car, operated by Don McKinzie. Don. was a good old scout, and worked for me a dozen years. As the train was pulling out he shouted: "Say, Walt, please notify Raymond not to put up so much paper. There is nothing left for the No. 2 to do." And he was right. If the No. 1 did its work properly there was no necessity for a second car, and I have just awakened to the fact that for many years I was a sucker for carrying two, sometimes three, advance cars. The first year I was on rail with ten cars, we only had one car and it seemed to bill pretty fair. Then we made it a sixteen car show and all the general agents talked me into two advance cars. If I had the money now that I wasted with the second car, it would come in handy. A few years ago, I think it was the American Circus Corporation, reduced the advance to one car and proved to the rest of the wise circus managers that one was plenty.

I leased a three-car circus to L. C. Gillette, D. C. Hawn and Joe Barris in 1911. Hawn was a good man to handle the brigade and put plenty of paper up, and would sit up all night to study maps. He was big and heavy but he got there just the same. For some reason the expense money one Saturday did not arrive and Hawn walked his crew of seven to the next town, about a dozen miles.

Gillette is a little slow in explaining his methods, but I think he knows more about high grass towns than any agent in America. He is no spring chicken, but no young man has the knowledge of the smaller towns that Gillette has. Some of them know the territory in certain zones, but Lute knows it all over the North American continent, and if I owned a cross-road aggregation today, L. C. would be my choice.

Charles Barnard was a good man with the second car. If the first car fell down you could rely on the town being billed by Charlie. He cleaned everything up well and he, like myself, rode his country routes each Sunday. He didn't take any route writer's report. Charlie was also a good press agent, ahead and back.

I can't recall the name of all the good agents that worked for me with the big show. Willie Sells had a good bunch, one of the names was McMann.

After I sold the Main Circus I was, for several years, Traffic Manager of Pollac Brothers Big Shows, three of them. The last year or two they used two railroad contractors and I worked with Eddie Warner, and I will say that he was a brilliant fellow and a high class gentleman. Eddie and I had plenty of good times together and brought all their caravans in a good winner each year. During the same years M. B. Golden was Chief Promoter and dear old Duke and I were like pals, and Duke was as good a man as I ever did business with.

For seven years that I leased the title to Andrew Downie, F. J. Frink was his General Agent, and many times he called on me for advice on routes and sometimes I went ahead with him to help him untangle his difficulties. There are plenty of agents that I have never worked with or who never worked for me, so I don't know their capabilities, but I have always had a good opinion of Ben Austin, Jake Newman and other agents, can't recall their names, now working for the Ringling interests. Tony Ballenger and Arthur Hopper, I consider reliable agents, but if I ever own a railroad show again, I would surely engage Mr. Frink, if he was at liberty, as we understand each other.

Fredericton - One Day Only

Frederiction - ever heard of it? Perhaps yes, perhaps no; but however that may be, it is a safe wager that there is many an old trouper who follows the lots no more, and quite a few younger ones who still do, who could point out its location on a map of Canada without any hesitation and perchance start you a good one with, "Now, the last time we played up that way - ." For the proprietor of many an ancient wagon show knew the town, knew it and played it year after year; and later the railroad shows included it in their routes; and "Mr. John" of present day fame also knows it, and knows it favorably too, as the annual appearance of his Sparks Circus seems to attest.

Fredericton is the capital city of the Province of New Brunswick, the largest of Canada's three Maritime Provinces. Situated in that part of the Dominion south of the St. Lawrence River, which belongs to Canada by the Treaty of Paris but to the United States by the formation of geographical boundaries and by the trends of commerce, Fredericton is an easy-going little town of 8,500 people, a good natured blending of English past and American present. Laid out like a checker board, and just as flat, her streets were ideal for the processions of those "grand, glittering pageants of gold" with which circuses heralded their presence in former days. And her lots, many of which have long since been built up with both residential and commercial edifices, were of a firm soil which did not yield easily beneath the grinding of heavy wagon tiers. At least since the Confederation of the Dominion of Canada in 1867, Fredericton has been visited almost annually by at least one circus and some seasons have seen as many as three shows make a pitch here.

Perhaps one of the pioneer outfits to show in this town was the old Stone & Murrary Circus which touched here in 1869 and again on July 1, 1872.

The season of 1873 saw three shows make the town, the first in being the Great North American Circus on July 15. Meanwhile the Stone & Murray partnership had been dissolved and John. H. Murray appeared here on August 11 with his own show which enjoyed a good deal of popularity here for a number of years. Stone, too, organized another circus, taking as a junior partner the man who was to make the circus a national institution. On September 6, 1873, Stone & Barnum presented their circus for the approval of the citizens of Predericton.

The year 1874 brought three more circuses and undoubtedly more circus history than has ever been enacted here in any season since that date, for one of the worst "hey rubes" in the history of the business occurred here on July 7 of that year. Lewis B. Lent's New York Circus was playing a stand near the steamboat landings. A large crowd was milling about the lot just after the night performance and the people on the show were busy with the work of packing up and getting on the road for the next stand. Someone threw a dead snake which wound about the neck of a circus-goer, someone blamed a showman, and a general melee was under way. Soon shots were exchanged and Dave Carr, a local drayman, got one in the back below the belt. Although no one else was shot the usual casualties attendant upon such affairs were plentiful. Most of poor Lent's canvas was torn to shreds and not content with this, the crowd seized two baggage wagons and ran them off a high water wharf into the Saint John River. They were later salvaged and hauled to a spot near to where the Canadian Pacific Railway's roundhouse now stands, where they rotted and fell to pieces. The riot was only quelled after the fire alarm had been sounded and the firemen had drenched the rioters in streams of water pumped from their trusty hand engines. An aftermath of the affair was the arrest of "Fat" Harrison, who seems to have been boss hostler, and one of his assistants. Harrison was held here until the next term of the Circuit Court which did not convene until the following January. The other man was released through the efforts of a local barrister.

The visit of John H. Murray's Circus on August 7, 1874, furnished the solution of a mystery of some five years standing which had its origin in Fredericton. During the time when a garrison of British soldiers was maintained here a certain young military bandsman by the name of Jim Gardner had been the envy of most of the young bloods of the town by reason of his fine head of curly black hair which was an object of never-waning admiration to the young ladies. Along about 1869 the young gallant had been convicted of a minor breach of military discipline and sentenced to have his hair cropped close to his head. Rather than suffer this indignity he decided to desert and along with two others succeeded in passing the outposts and gaining the open road. To make pursuit by cavalrymen more difficult the trio tore up the bridges and culverts behind them as they went. The incident was forgotten until five years later when some former friends of the young musician were standing at a street corner along the line of march of Murray's Circus parade. Glancing up at the faces atop the band wagon the little group caught sight of one which they half recognized and a sly wink from beneath a lock of black hair bore out their supposition. By that date, however, the regular troops had been withdrawn to England and Gardner was allowed to go his way. Later he left the tableau wagons and before his death gained the distinction of being a member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

The season of 1874 was brought to a close here by MacGinley's Circus on August 31. An amusing item to be found in the City Auditor's report for that year is the receipt of $2.00 from N. White in payment of a license fee for the operation of "swing horses" on the day the circus showed. The "swing horses" were a forerunner of the merry-go-round. In construction they resembled the modern chair-o-plane only they were not so high and horses were suspended from the chains instead of seats. Motive power was supplied by a hand windlass in the middle of the device.

Barnum and Murray billed close here in 1876, the outfits having shown here on July 11 and July 17 respectively. Dan Ducello's Show was also here on September 23, 1876.

Howe's Great London Circus made its first visit to this city on July 6, 1877.

Having completed his tour of the West Indies, John H. Murray again appeared in Fredericton on July 29, 1878. That year his performance included Lizzie Marcellis, James Melville, Senorita Millie Tournour, Wooda Cooke, Little Alexander, and William O'Dell, riders; Will Snow and Grimaldi Bibb, clowns; Prof. Stowe's educated dogs; and Oscar P. Perry's band. As a free attraction Prof. Wambold accomplished before the afternoon performance "the terrific and perilous feat of ascending upon a single wire from the ground to the top of the centre pole, a distance of 100 feet."

On June 11, 1879, the enterprising Barnum returned once more. At that time he was laying great stress on his equestrian exhibits, prominent among which was a group of twenty trained stallions under the direction of Mr. Carl Antony, late equery to His Majesty King William. Equestriennes included Madam Dockrill, the Empress of the Arena, Linda Jeal, Emma Lake, Katie Stokes, Signora Marcellis, Signora Quaglianna, Miss Smithson, and Miss Ashley. A pair of black dromedaries were advertised as a part of the menagerie while the feature of Barnum's sideshow was "that remarkable descendant of Anak, Colonel Goshen, the Palestine giant."

The visit of Cole's Circus here on October 4, 1881, is the latest date that a circus ever showed in Fredericton.

Among the first outfits to reach Fredericton by railway was the Frank A. Robbins Circus and just about as much ballyhoo was made at the time over the new mode of transportation as is made by the modern motorized shows of today. Robbins showed here on July 14, 1884, presenting such artists as Mlle. McDonald, Aurora Greyling, Signora Rigode, James E. Cooke, and Charles Lowry, riders; Queen Sarbro, Royal Japanese juggler; Frank Charvat, equilibrist; the Decoma Brothers, aerial bicycles; the Irksovich Brothers, Russian skatorial wonders; Col. John Foster, producing clown; and Andrey Gaffney, strongman. Born at Dundas, Ontario, in 1825, the last named performer was 59 years of age when he first appeared here but despite his advanced years for such a strenuous calling he returned six years later still proficient at cannon ball juggling and various feats of strength.

July 8, 1885, brought Barnum, Bailey & Hutchinson's Greatest Show on Earth. Just then Barnum was featuring elephants. The stellar attraction was the famous Jumbo, which beast had been purchased from the London Zoo several years before in the face of bitter opposition from the British public generally with several legal entanglements thrown in. It was in September after showing here that the mighty Jumbo was struck by a train and killed as he was being loaded into his car at St. Thomas, Ontario. The same season Barnum was presenting his sacred white elephant, Toung Taloung, whose actual color was only a lighter shade of grey than that of most elephants. Toung Taloung was brought from Siam and was burned to death along with Columbia, the first elephant born in America, in the winter quarters at Bridgeport, Conn., in 1887.

Adam Forepaugh's Circus and Wild West Show paid a visit here on July 21, 1886, featuring A. H. Bogardus and his four sons in the wild west concert which was concluded with a reproduction of the Deadwood Stage Robbery.

The Frank A. Robbins Circus returned on July 8, 1887, this time giving great publicity to a $125,000 elephant band "whose musical proclivities astonish all who behold them." On the bill were Charles W. Fish, Linda and Elena Jeal, riders; William and Lucy Davene, aerialists; and Chevalier Ira Paine, sharpshooter.

Howe's Great London Circus showed here on August 10, 1888.

The Frank A. Robbins Circus made a third visit here on July 16, 1890, a 20-car show. Andrey Gaffney, referred to before, made his second visit on this occasion; with Fred Ladelle, single trapeze; George Nash, cyclist; and Johnnie Purvis, clown.

Leon W. Washburn's Circus touched Fredericton on July 23, 1892; Pawnee Bill's Wild West on August 23, 1893; and Cook & Whitby's English Circus on August 15, 1894.

The Sells Brothers Circus, here on August 1, 1895, were the first to show a hippopotamus in Fredericton, the show having carried a pair of these animals that season.

The Walter L. Main Circus came on June 10, 1896. This circus toured the State of Maine during the 1931 season as a motorized outfit but did not cross the Canadian border owing to the prohibitive cost of truck licenses. Among the performers in 1896 were the Fisher Family of aerialists; Tony Lowande and Miss Correls, riders; and Prof. Salders, wild animals.

The transition of the circus from the highway to the railroad some years previously had made possible the handling of much heavier dens and thus opened up an avenue for the exploitation of another of nature's wonders - the sea lion. Main, the pioneer exhibitor of the specimen in this country, however, chose to call the new acquisition to his menagerie by a more magnifying and mystifying name - the Mighty Bovalapus. For some years after its first appearance the Bovalapus was an integral part of the menageries of most of the shows playing this territory.

July 10, 1897, brought Leon W. Washburn's Circus back again.

Walter L. Main also played a return engagement here on July 16, 1898, the show being on 20 cars. Perhaps the man who was general manager that year can recall the visit and laugh at his recollections.

On the former visit the license fee had been $60 for the circus, $10 for the sideshow, and $5 for some small privileges, totalling $75. When the budget for 1898 had been drawn up, however, the city fathers had decided that a first class method of increasing the city revenue would be to increase the miscellaneous license fees. According to the new arrangement Main's agents had contracted to play the date at the rate of $100 for the circus and $15 for the sideshow, totaling $115. Bright and early the show was gotten onto the lot and set up. But when the work was well under way the general manager sallied forth with a petition asking for an extension of the old rates, which he was desirous of getting the local alderman to sign. To insure the signatures he took along a nice book of crispy passes and succeeded in winning a majority of the council to his cause. Acceptance of the passes by the aldermen was made doubly easy by the fact that the show was already on the lot and the prospective recipients were thus assured of seeing a show, high rates or low. Armed with the signed petition the manager presented himself before the city treasurer who had no alternative but to issue the license for $75 as a majority vote of the council can always overrule an existing by-law. The story goes that one alderman who did a very tidy ice business at that time had been agreeable to signing until he learned that the circus vendors had bought their day's supply of ice elsewhere. Thereupon he not only refused to sign himself, but threatened to make it hot for those who had at the next meeting of the council.

Among the offerings that year were the Eddy Family of acrobats; the Werntz Family, Berlin, aerialists; Zeno, Zeno, and Zeno, aerialists; Tony Lowande and William Wallett, riders; and Crandal, clown, with his mules.

Lemen Brothers Circus showed here on June 27, 1900, their menagerie complete with a bovalapus. Captain Santiago did a high dive as a free attraction on the grounds. The daring Captain appeared here different times during the early part of the century and his name has been perpetuated hereabout in the words of a song called "The Circus Parade" which is still sung by a prominent local quartette. But it is doubtful that anything more than the name is either known or asked by those who hear the selection.

The Pan American Circus played Fredericton on July 20, 1901, with Edna and Anna Cooke, bareback riders; and Capt. Santiago, high dive.

The same show with practically the same performers played here a second time on June 12, 1903, but this time left a bad impression behind it through the operation of a group of fakirs in the sideshow. It is a regrettable feature of more than one old-time circus that performers who spent years and often risked their lives in perfecting acts for the entertainment of the public should have been confounded in the public mind with these packs of grifters who happened to be working the same shows.

The season of 1905 brought two circuses, the Lemen Brothers on June 7 and the Sells & Downs on June 23.

Beyond doubt the most pretentious aggregation that ever entered the City of Fredericton was the Barnum & Bailey Circus as it appeared here on July 27, 1906. Moving on 87 cars, the railways in this part of the country handled it in six trains hauled by two locomotives each. The old Intercolonial Railway received approximately $10,000 in transportation charges during the tour of the Maritime Provinces. On account of the comparatively light road beds the show management insisted on a clause in the transportation contracts limiting the speed of the trains to 15 miles an hour to minimize damages in the event of an accident.

The show maintained about 1,065 employes, of whom about 300 were performers, 500 workmen, 100 advancemen, with the remainder taken up among the various departments.

The menagerie was valued at $250,000 and included a herd of 24 elephants, 19 camels, and a twin-horned rhinoceros.

The programme boasted many names which today are pronounced almost reverently about the circus back-yards. There were the Viennese Troupe of 10 aerialists; the Ziegrist-Silbon Troupe of aerialists, which troupe is still in the business and exhibited with Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey during the past season; the Florenz-Grunatho Troupe of acrobats; Vorlop's Whirlwind Dancers; and the Boiler Brothers, advertised as "The Two Twirls of Terror - Aerial somersaults by two daring, dexterous, danger-defying wheelmen - Fearful, flitting flights and topsy-turvy turns in mid-air on bicycles." That was the true Barnum phraseology. There was also "The Dip of Death," in which a young lady did a loop-the-loop in a tiny automobile. The equestrians included Josie Demott, Ella Bradna, Fred Derrick, Dallie Julian, Fred Ledgett, the Meers Sisters, the Riding Rooneys, and William Melrose. Clown alley included Al Miaco, producing, the Kennard Brothers, Kennedy & Quatrelli, the Lucivals, Dan Marvell, and others. George Augus, the Welch giant, was the feature of the sideshow.

Hargreaves Circus was here on June 7, 1907, on 20 cars. Philip Carrescia's Italian band of 20 pieces was received very favorably here, having rendered a concert on the main street of the town before the night show. The circus side show boasted a five-legged sacred cow.

August 31, 1907, brought the Norris & Rowe Circus whose headquarters were in California, another 20-car outfit. Joseph Rowe was the pioneer who organized the first circus that ever toured the State of California and was also the first man to take a tented attraction to Australia, having landed on that continent on May 1, 1852.

Just prior to their showing here the circus had suffered a wreck on the Temiscouata Railway in the eastern part of Quebec Province causing $2,000 damage to the show and the receipts of two performances which were lost.

Their date here fell on a Saturday and as the show was short of laborers practically the entire personnel assisted in the task of loading in order to be off the lot before 12:00 o'clock midnight, thus avoiding entanglements with the Lord's Day Alliance.

Then along came the Cole Brothers again on July 8, 1908, their show on 25 cars. Among the people with them were the Riding Rooneys, the Stirke Family of cyclists, and the Alpine Family of wire walkers and tumblers. As a free act Mlle. De Zizi did a bicycle slide down a 60-foot incline finishing off with a 55-foot jump through space.

August 25, 1909, saw Norris & Rowe here once more, presenting their show in two rings and one stage. Stick Davenport, Belle Stickney, Al Dumont, Josie Cahill, and Merritt Belew graced the bareback and riding numbers. There were also the Albion Sisters, human butterflies; the Hines-Kimball Troupe of aerialists; the Melnotte Trio, high wire; Art Dacoma and Jessie Macree, flying act; the Reno-Begar Troupe of aerialists; Ben Lucier, back somersaults on a lofty perch; Bronson's living statues; ankl music furnished by Prof. Bronson's band of 20 pieces.

Howe's Great London Circus cancelled the night show at Grand Falls on July 26, 1910, in order to reach Fredericton in good time to give two performances the next day, July 27. That year they were presenting the Eddy Family, acrobats and high wire; Marion Sheridan, lions; Sugimato's Imperial Yeddo Japanese Acrobats; Wallett, famous English bareback rider; and the Great Delavoye, English clown.

Fredericton did not see another circus until Howe's Great London paid another visit three years later, July 18, 1913. The Vivians were doing a strong jaw aerial act with Cecil Lawande and Everett Campbell featuring the riding numbers.

The summer of 1914 witnessed three circuses here but also brought an end to circus days for five years through Great Britain's entry into the World War on August 4.

The Mighty Haag Show on 20 cars was the first in, playing here on June 18. Although the show has not played here since that date it is still on the road in the Southern States as a truck show. The headliners in 1914 were the Munich Family of aerialists and the Green-Hollis Family of equestrians.

Wheeler Brothers Circus followed on June 27. The show was on nine cars but when they left Fredericton the train carried an extra stock car to house a sick elephant, thus allowing him an opportunity to thrash about at will.

John Robinson's Circus, conducting its 89th annual tour, was the last circus in Fredericton before the outbreak of the World War, playing the town on July 24, 1914. The Nine Wilsons, aerialists, Marc's Baboon and Monkey Circus, the Three Laurette Sisters, aerialists, and the Nelson Family of wire walkers and tumblers were presenting their acts that year to the accompaniment of Prof. Dean's Royal Military Band. The Nelson Family have become popular here during the past few years through their frequent appearances with the Sparks Circus.

The John Robinson Circus was also the first to visit Fredericton after the Great War. But that is another story and one that is not worth the telling until the passing of time has ever so gradually converted the knowledge of things present into the legend of things past.

The Career of Levi James North, Rider and Vaulter

At his residence, 143 Wyckoff Street, Brooklyn, N. Y., July 6, Levi James North, known fifty years ago as "The North Star," breathed his last. He had been ailing for many years, having been afflicted with liver complaint and dyspepsia; but his death was directly caused by hemorrhage, no doubt resulting from cold, which he is believed to have contracted last week in attending the funeral of one of his associates and employes in the olden times, Frank Pastor.

Levi J. North was a Long Islander by birth, and first saw the light on June 16, 1814, at Newtown. His father died when Levi was very young, and the boy had in a measure to care for his mother, who was still a widow about 1842. He entered the circus profession as an apprentice to Isaac Quick of the firm of Quick and Mead, who in 1826 bought out a circus that had been exhibiting under canvas in the Military Gardens, Brooklyn, the site now being covered by the City Hall. Quick and Mead opened their season in Richmond, Va., and in the company were Chris Hughes, clown; Master James Raymond (not J. R. Raymond the manager), Walter Raymond, brother of James; William Lawson, ringmaster; Major De Groot, Samuel P. Stickney, and young North. There was no lady rider. North began practice on a horse's back at Raleigh, N. C., and in about a week's time he made his bow as a rider in the arena at Camden, S. C. The circus passed the winter in Augusta, Ga., where John Rogers and his son, Charles J., still living in Philadelphia, joined the party. In the Spring of 1827 they began a tour of Georgia. On Christmas night, in Savannah, young North took his first benefit, doing the sack-act on horseback, and also officiating as ringmaster, while young Charlie Rogers, who was clown for the occasion, rode an act. In the Fall of 1828 the managers built the Washington Circus, Philadelphia, and they produced equestrian plays during the Winter. In the succeeding Spring they made a tour of Pennsylvania. It may be mentioned that from $125 to $150 a day was big business for those times, and the expenses of the circus did not exceed $40 a day as a rule. The troup returned to Philadelphia in the Winter of 1829, and North severed his connection with it and joined Handy and Welch's Circus to go to Cuba, Matanzas, and the West Indies and South America. North's salary while with Handy and Welch averaged thirty dollars a week. From about 1832 to 1836 he traveled South and West under the management of Purdy Brown, who in 1835, when he increased the youngster's salary to $25, was paying him $14 a week. Purdy died in 1836, and Oscar Brown ran the circus for awhile. It was then united with Fogg and Stickney's, and later L. B. Lent became a partner in it. In 1838, with Joe Blackburn, the clown, North went to England, and appeared at Astley's Amphitheatre. There he beat Price, the great English vaulter, who was able to turn but twenty somersaults, while North did thirty-three. There were spring-boards in the ring, and each competitor had his special party of admirers there also - Price's being Englishmen, of course, while North's were Americans. There was great feeling among those partisans at the time, and there were great challenges in Bell's Life; but North and Price became warm friends, and afterwards traveled together as partners in Great Britain. It may be mentioned that before leaving England, North turned fifty-five somersaults at one trial, and was presented with a gold medal therefore. Having come back here in the Fall of 1840, he opened at the Old Bowery Theatre with Welch's Circus. In 1842 he revisited England, taking with him an American trotting horse and a road-buggy. This trotter, Captain Tyler by name, he entered in the East Surry races, Peckham, Eng., Sept. 19, 1842 - under saddle in his first event, and in End., Sept. 9,1842 - under saddle in his first event, and in harness in the third. His purpose in visiting England at this time was to take unto himself a partner for life in the person of Sophia West, daughter of James West, a noted circus-manager of Great Britain in those days. The bridal-tour was a buggy-ride behind the American Trotter from Exeter, Devonshire, where the ceremony had taken place, to London. Then North joined Titus, June and Sand's American Circus, and appeared at the Opera-house, London. In the Spring of 1843 he put on the road North and Price's Circus, which he left in charge of Price in order to return to the States. He opened with Stone and Rockwell's Circus at Niblo's Garden, this city, which being regarded as too far out of town for success, the company transferred themselves to the Chatham Theatre, between Roosevelt and James streets. In the Spring of 1844 he went back to England, disposed of his interests in the North and Price's Circus, and joined the American Company in Liverpool. In the Summer of 1845 he was a member of Franconi's Hippodrome, Paris, and on June 21 he appeared by royal command before Louis Phillippe, King of France, and the royal household, performing in the private riding-school of that monarch. In the Fall of 1845 he again came back to his native country, traveling with Welch, Mann and Delevan's Circus in 1845-6. In the Summer of 1846 he was with Rockwell and Stone, while in the Winter he appeared at the Bowery Amphitheatre, this city. He was with Welch in Philadelphia in 1847, with Jones, Stickney and North's Circus in 1848, with Stokes' in 1849, and with Dan Rice's from 1849 to 1851. On Aug. 25, 1851, he became proprietor of the Bowery Amphitheatre, this city, afterwards the original Stadt Theatre, but not the one converted into the Windsor, and burned a few years ago under J. A. Stevens' management. In the Winter of 1852 he opened a circus in the riding-school in Williamsburg. In 1853 he and Harry J. Turner ran a canalboat show, and in the Winter of 1853-4 he was proprietor of the National Amphitheatre, Philadelphia. In 1855 North and Turner traveled by wagon, and in December of that year they opened a circus in Chicago. On its site, early in 1856, was built North's Amphitheatre, which was afterward transformed into a regular theatre, North playing the leading "stars" in the profession. Turner died during the Winter, willing all his property to North. In November, 1857, he was elected Alderman of the Third Ward of Chicago, and he served out his term acceptably. In 1858-9 he had North's National Theatre on the road, and during the Summer of 1860 he was managing a canal-boat show. In the Winter of that year he played a star engagement at the Old Bowery Theatre, this city, with Spaulding and Roger's Circus. In 1861 he traveled with Alexander Robinson in Canada. In 1863 he was in partnership with the late William Lake (father of Emma) and Hod Horton, to whom he sold out. In 1864 he was with Haigh and De Haven's Circus, and in 1866, then fifty-two years old, he performed a star engagement with Lent's New York Circus, in the iron building, afterwards known as the Hippodrome, Fourteenth street, this city, and burned in 1872, while Barnum's Circus and Menagerie was occupying it. During the eight weeks of this engagement he appeared with marked grace in his famous specialty of the Sprite in the fairy equestrian spectacle of "The Sprites of the Silver Shower." That ended his equestrian career, and ever since he had been chiefly in retirement, although interested in a few professional ventures.

As there are now but few living who saw Levi J. North in his prime as a rider, it may not be out of place to append a description of him written as far back as 1840: "What Fanny Elssler or Taglioni is to the ballet, North is to equestrian performances. It is not the mere execution of a number of difficult steps that can make a premiere danseuse, nor is it a number of extraordinary feats on horseback that can make the most finished rider. North, like the dancers we mention, has 'caught a grace beyond the reach of art." There is a mind in almost all he does. In stature he is rather under the middle size, but well proportioned. His face is handsome and intellectual. He will be admired by everybody, but especially by the ladies. He is what Ducrow was in his prime - without exception, the most graceful and accomplished rider of the day. There are none that we have seen who can approach him." There was also a humorous side to the eulogiums the press bestowed upon him, vide the following, represented as "From a Gal What's Gone Distracted at the Bowery Theatre":

I'll encourage you, Levi, in feats of agility,
And practice your "sample of New York gentility.
Don't be talked to by Barry or Hamblin (the carters);
They can't stand on their heads, or leap over four garters.

He had a remarkable small foot, and the darkies in the South used to say that "the little marster could ride on a saw, he could." About 1852, he was owner of a wonderful manege-horse. Tammany was its name, and it had won its colt-stakes on Long Island. It was Mr. North's opinion that Tammany and Firefly were the only manege-horses worthy of the name ever in this country. He appeared with Tammany in the drama of "The Arab Steed" at the Bowery Theatre, as the double of Henry Stevens, actor and stage-manager, who soon afterwards, was killed as the result of a friendly wrestle with W. H. Hamilton, the baritone (not the present one of that name), in returning from a funeral. North had a great capacity for work. While with Purdy Brown, he rode in the entry, rode a three-horse act, rode a principal act and tumbled and vaulted - all twice a day - besides practicing between the performance. At one time it was estimated that he was worth not far from $100,000, but he had been a poor man for many years, although never a dependent. He had three children. Two are living - Henry and Sophia. The former was never in the profession, but Sophie still is. Through her Levi J. North became by marriage related to J. J. Nathans. The marriage of Sophie North and Philo Nathans was annulled several years ago through her securing a divorce. The other child - Levi J. North, Jr., familiarly known as "Kit" North - was an equestrian and vaulter, like his father. He died in Columbus, Ind., of consumption, April 18, 1867, aged fourteen years. When the first of these children was born, Alexander Downie the clown made use of the incident in the ring by saying, sailor-fashion, that it was a case of "North-West, by North." The personality of the dead equestrian contains many trophies of his professional career. Chief among these is a snuff-box of solid silver, ornate with gold, and bearing in relief a representation of Mr. N. in the act of vaulting. It bears the inscription, somewhat defaced by reason of the box having passed through the ordeal of the great Chicago fire:

THIS BOX was given as a mark of esteem and merit to MR. NORTH by MR. BATTY'S EQUESTRIAN COMPANY (presented by Mr. Hughes, ActingnManager) for the unparallelled feat of throughing fifty-five somersaults at one trial, at a morning performance at the Royal Leamington Spa, July 22, 1839, before Lord Dillon, Lord Manners, Countess Belgrave, Lady Paget, Marchioness of Devonshire, and other ladies and gentlemen of rank and fashion.

The funeral will take place on Thursday, July 9, from 275 Sackett street, Brooklyn.

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