I determined to have a train of cars built for our special purpose, and
accordingly visited all the shops in the east; but I could find no one
willing to undertake the job on such short notice. Finally, at
Columbus, Ohio, I made the acquaintance of a thorough man of business.
He was conducting the car shops there and was prepared to execute any
order I might give him. In a short time I had made a contract with him,
and in thirty days a train of cars was built. They were of uniform
height, with iron extensions reaching from one car to another. These
improvements made the loading and unloading mere play. I then heard of
some palace horse cars at Cleveland. These I bought. I had them freshly
painted and lettered, "P. T. Barnum's World's Fair."
When our men, as they came into Columbus to exhibit, saw that train
awaiting them, they sent up such a shout as has seldom been heard. Now
we had Pullman cars for the artists, sleeping cars for the laborers,
box cars for the extra stuff, palace cars for the horses and other
large animals, such as were required for teaming, parades, etc., and
platform cars for wagons, chariots, cages and carriages. Thus the
Herculean task of putting the first railroad show of any magnitude on
its own cars was successfully accomplished.
Little, indeed, do the managers of the present day know of the untiring
energy and indomitable perseverance necessary to accomplish that feat.
The railroad people themselves were utterly ignorant of our wants, as
we ourselves were in the beginning. Frequently, as at Washington, the
yardmaster would order us to load one car at a time, then switch it
away and commence on another. To load a train in this way would have
taken us twenty-four hours! Finally, however, system and good order
came out of chaos. Once properly launched on our season, we were able
to give three performances daily, and quite often made jumps of one
hundred miles in one night. The scheme, as I had predicted, completely
revolutionized the show business, and has been adopted since, not only
in this country, but by the French and English circus proprietors in
their travels in Germany. It also greatly advertised us, vast crowds
assembling at the depots to see us load and unload.