It has always been a mystery to me why the railroads build themselves
cars scarcely any two of which are of uniform height. Our heavy wagons
would be pushed up on "runs," and, on being pushed from one car to
another, would frequently crash through the rotten boards composing the
bed of the car. This would cause vexatious delays.
The reader cannot possibly form any idea of the amount of labor
involved in teaching our men to become proficient in loading and
unloading. It is a positive fact that I never took the clothes from my
back from the time of first loading until we reached Philadelphia, our
seventh stop! During all that time I was constantly teaching the men
the art of loading and unloading, giving attention to the moving of all
the wagons, chariots, horses, camels, elephants, etc. We reached
Philadelphia tired and exhausted with the seven days' hard work.
I was also mentally fatigued by my partner's opposition and his
requests to abandon the scheme; but at this point I realized more than
ever the benefits that would accrue from this great departure, and I
determined to stick it out to the end. I went to the superintendent of
one of the railroads on which we were to travel to Baltimore and
Washington and told him I must have a lot of cars of uniform
construction at any price. These he succeeded in getting after
considerable trouble. I then made up my mind to try it as far as
Washington, and if I could not by that time get everything to run
smoothly I would abandon it. We reached Wilmington without mishap and
gave our exhibitions--three each day. It must be remembered that we had
advertised three shows daily, and so far had given them; indeed, we did
throughout the season, but that was the first and only year that such a
feat was attempted.
I told the railroad superintendent that if we could manage to load in
Wilmington by two A.M. and reach Baltimore at five A.M. it would be a
success. He ordered the road cleared, and we arrived in Baltimore with
the first section only a little late, and, with a little extra energy,
we had the parade out on time and opened the doors to the morning
performance at ten A.M. The trip from Baltimore was easily made, but
from there we had to run over heavy grades up and down to Frederick,
Md. In order to load we had to remove all the brakes, and this the
yardmaster refused to do. I showed him my contract, wherein the company
had agreed to remove all brakes, but he still refused, so I finally
resorted to strategy.
I invited him to a restaurant, and while we were absent, by a
prearranged movement, Baker, the boss canvas-man, wrenched the brakes
off, and by the time the yardmaster and I returned the train was almost
loaded. Of course I pretended to be very angry at such conduct, but our
point was gained. As the brakes were easily replaced we made the next
stop all right.