The general public has very little idea of the extent to which
opposition tactics are carried by the representatives of circuses and
menageries. The rivalry between two shows often costs thousands of
dollars and is sometimes kept up by the agents long after the
proprietors have become reconciled. Once we became involved in one of
these contests, and the opposition, in order to harass us, actually had
four of our men arrested in different States on a charge of libel. The
Indiana libel laws were very severe, and in each instance we were
compelled to give a heavy bond for the release of our man.
That year the train of a rival outfit ran off the track, and one of the
proprietors, in the course of time, became my agent. One day, in a
confidential chat, he alluded to the mishap, and told me that at the
time it occurred he fully intended accusing us of having had the
switches turned, thus causing the disaster. To that end he had even
gone to the length of swearing out warrants for our arrest. They knew
that we were perfectly innocent, but their object was to gain notoriety
and sympathy. At the last moment, it is to be presumed, their better
natures asserted themselves; at all events, they weakened.
[Illustration: "WHEN RIVAL SHOWMEN BURNED A BRIDGE TO PREVENT THEIR
KEEPING A DATE."]
Another party in opposition warfare copied our money orders. Orders of
this kind were given by our agents and paid by our treasurer on arrival
of the show. They were given for services rendered or goods bought, and
covered the expenses of livery teams, distributing bills, flour, feed,
advance brigade supplies, newspaper advertising, etc. They were made
out something after this style:
"On presentation of this order and ten issues of ---- Newspaper,
containing advertisements of the Coup Show to exhibit at
---- on the ---- day of ---- pay Mr. ---- $----, amount due him.
"(Signed) ---- ----, Agent."
These orders were extensively used by the opposition for some time
before we discovered it. Its object, of course, was to make the
newspaper proprietors and the public think they were advertising the
Coup show, while of course their own dates would be inserted instead of
ours.
At a certain place in Ohio a bridge was burned in advance of us and
entailed the loss of our next "stand," or date. We could not safely
accuse any of our competitors of this contemptible and incendiary
trick; but we knew they were driven to desperation and were capable of
resorting to any such outrage.
There were agents so utterly unscrupulous as to receive pay from
opposition shows for disclosing to them information that should have
been jealously guarded, even betraying the advance route. I knew one
agent who was an expert telegraph operator and able to take messages by
sound. He would scrape acquaintance with the regular operator and pass
his spare time in the telegraph office secretly taking our messages as
the latter were being sent over the wire, the local operator being
ignorant of the loafer's telegraphic skill.