Sawdust and Spangles

by William Cameron Coup

SAWDUST &
SPANGLES

STORIES & SECRETS
OF THE CIRCUS

BY

W. C. COUP

Herbert S. Stone and Company

Eldridge Court, Chicago

MDCCCCI

CONTENTS

	Foreword	ix
CHAP.		PAGE
I.	Boyhood with the Old-time Wagon Show	1
	My First Exciting Experience	4
	The Intelligence of Elephants	5
	Fights with the Grangers	6
	“Doc” Baird and the Bully	9
	Teasing Old Romeo	10
	The Story of a Stolen Negro	12
	Horse Thieves in the Circus	15
II.	The Perilous Business of Stocking a Menagerie	18
	Beasts at Wholesale	20
	The Professional Animal Hunter	21
	Striking into the Interior	22
	Hunters’ Life in the Jungle	23
	Why Baby Elephants are Hard to Capture	26
	Across the Desert with Captive Beasts	29
	The Adventures of Specimen Hunters	31
III.	Freaks and Fakes	35
	The Burial and Resurrection of the “Cardiff Giant”	37
	The Rival White Elephants	40
	How the "Light of Asia" Embarrassed the Lecturer	41
	The Wild Cave-Dweller of Kentucky	44
	The Two-Headed Girl's Three-Headed Rival	46
	Missing Links and Dancing Turkeys	49
	The Salaries Paid to Freaks	50
	The Love-Making and Merrymaking of the Freaks	51
	The Exposure of the “Aztec Children”	54
	An Adventure with a Circus Shark	56
IV.	Moving the Big Show	59
	The First Attempt to Move a Circus by Rail	61
	The Spartan Habits of the Old Timers	63
	Seven Heartbreaking Days on the Long Road	64
	Performing by Day and Traveling by Night	67
	On a Runaway Circus Train	69
	Panic Among the Animals	71
	A Single Track and a Broken Rail	73
	The Bronchos’ Charmed Life	75
	Old Romeo to the Rescue	77
	An Unexpected Midnight Bath	79
V.	The Prairie Fire	86
	A Chance Meeting with a Great Man	96
VI.	Booming the Big Show	104
	Novel Advertising Features	105
	The “Devil’s Whistle”	106
	“Spotters”	108
	Rivalry in Exploiting Opposition Shows	112
	Costly Rivalry	113
	Idle Bill-Posters	116
	The Courtesy of Editors	118
	Jumbo’s Free Advertising	120
VII.	Parades and Band Wagons	124
	The Fifty Cent Rivals of the Ten Thousand Dollar Hippos	124
	A Skillful Appeal to Public Sympathy	126
	A Silent Parade from Albany to the State Line	128
	The Fluctuating Level of Circus Values	130
	What it Costs to Ride with the Band Wagon	132
	Requirements and Cost of the Circus Horse	134
	A Page from the Invoice Book of the Big Show	136
VIII.	Anecdotes of Men and Animals	139
	Origin of the American Circus	139
	The First Elephant Brought to America	141
	The First Drove of Camels	144
	The Fight of the Ostriches	145
	The Belligerent Alligators	149
	Parrots and Cockatoos	153
	Educated Dogs	154
	A Wounded Horse in the Grand March	156
	Intelligent Bronchos	158
	The King of the Herd	159
	An Elephant’s Humor	160
	Zulus in London	162
IX.	Training Animals and Performers	169
	The Perils of a Trainer’s Life	170
	Where Steady Nerves are in Demand	172
	Captured Animals Preferred to Cage-Born	173
	The Education of a Young Jaguar	174
	The Leopards at Kindergarten	177
	How they Punish Unruly Pupils	179
	Punishment of Treacherous Beasts	180
	A Single-Handed Fight with Five Lions	182
	Teaching the Horse the Two-Step	186
	Ring Performers Trained with a Derrick	187
	Circus People a Long-Lived Class	189
X.	Mobs, Cyclones and Adventures	192
	Forcible Argument with a City Marshal	193
	Breaking Camp under a Hot Rifle Fire	195
	Ambushed and Shot at on the Road	197
	The Studies of the Apprentice to the Clown	201
	Devotional Services Upset by a Demon	204
	The Wild Beasts Loose in the Big Crowd	205
	The Midnight Stampede of the Elephants	208
	A Polar Bear Hunt on Fifth Avenue	209
	An Equine Officer of Artillery	211
XI.	Stories of Old-Time Shows and Showmen	214
	Dan Rice’s One-Horse Show	215
	Tan-Bark Oratory and Harlequin Pluck	217
	An Imitation Patriot Shown Up	219
	In which Cupid was Master of the Ring	223
	Barnum’s One Unconquerable Superstition	227
	Gullible Patrons in Early Days	229
	Expedients of Advance Agents	231
	Plantation Shows	234
	Exhibiting “Yankees” in the South	235
	Sleeping in Strange Attitudes	236
	A Circus “Crier”	238
	Showmen’s Names	239
	The Escape of a Leopard	241
	Hotel Keepers	243
	Early Breakfasts	245
XII.	How the Great New York Aquarium was Made and Lost	247
	The Quest of the Tree-Tailed Kingio	249
	Half-Hours with Bashful Whales	251
	A Slippery Deal in Sea-Lions	254
	An Eventful Monday Morning at the Aquarium	258
	The Ultimate Fate of the Aquarium	260