Myers' Grand Hippodrome

GREAT COURSE FOR CHARIOT RACES, STEEPLE-CHASES, HURDLE RACES, ETC., All other Arrangements at the Crystal Palace, WITH PLAN.

ANECDOTES OF JOHN COOPER’S FEATS OF Lion Taming & Elephant Training, DESCRIPTION OF ELEPHANT SWIMMING AND BATHING, GREAT EQUESTRIAN PANTOMIME, LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD, SCENES IN THE CIRCLE, AND Parades and Processions of Gorgeous Chariots.

Myers’ Grand Hippodrome.

At the Crystal Palace.

It is but natural that the greatest Hippodrome of the world should be quartered at the greatest pleasure-resort of the world, and the arrangements made at the Crystal Palace for the reception and performances of Mr. Myers’ Company will fittingly occupy the first place in this brief account of his establishment, and of the entertainments which will be offered to the public during his visit to England. The stables (marked D on plan), whose dimensions are given elsewhere, occupy the basement at the north end of the building adjoining the Skating Rink, and will be open to the inspection of visitors, affording what is really tantamount to a daily show of horses and ponies of the highest breed, training, and mettle. The arrangements for ventilation and the preservation of cleanliness are perfect. The horses each occupy separate stalls; the floor is of concrete, and the whole is lighted with gas whenever necessary. The elephants and camels are housed in specially-erected stables (E on plan) at the north end of the Second Terrace, near the bear-pit; and the lions are caged on the north lawns, being transported daily with their cages to the various places of exhibition.

The performances take place in various _locales_--in fact it may safely be affirmed that no arena in England could be found better adapted than the Crystal Palace for the display of Mr. Myers’ resources. The great course of three-quarters of a mile in length (C on plan) has been formed by connecting the First and Second Terraces, on which will take place the steeple-chases, hurdle-races, parades of richly-mounted carriages lavishly plated and decorated, and revivals of classic sports. This transformation has been effected by the construction of two inclined planes, 120 yards in length, built of timber, supported on piles, and overlaid with a thick stratum of earth or tan to form a suitable roadway.

The conformation of the Greek hippodrome was not unlike that of the great course formed in the Crystal Palace grounds, the sides being parallel, and one end semicircular. The site for the hippodrome of old was also chosen, as a rule, on the side of a hill. The circuit of the Olympic hippodrome was about 2,500 feet, or a little less than half a mile; that of the course on the first and second terraces of the Crystal Palace is 3,760 feet, or half as long again. The width of the Greek hippodrome was about 400 feet; that of the Crystal Palace also 400 feet. The Circus Maximus of Rome was three stadia, or about 1,800 feet, in length; and about 600 feet across.

If we picture to ourselves the whole frontage of the Crystal Palace, 1,584 feet in length, tier upon tier affording accommodation to thousands of spectators, and overlooking a combination of natural and artificial scenery such as is hardly to be matched in England, we may justly claim that the Coliseum of Rome in all its glory did not afford a spectacle so picturesque, and with the additional advantage that the performances at the Crystal Palace will be entirely free from debasing elements.

The equestrian performances, entertainments of Oriental jugglery and acrobats, feats of lion-taming, by John Cooper, and other exhibitions, are divided between the great centre transept (A on plan) and the great waterproof tent (B on plan) erected at the north end, occupying 21,600 square feet, and capable of holding 4,000 persons. An ingenious plan has been devised by which the centre transept can be at will transformed into an enormous circus, or revert to its normal use as a promenade, a theatre, or colossal concert-hall. A ring of 44 feet outer and 30 feet inner dimensions, has been formed by constructing a sunken circle about 12 inches below the level of the original floor, which is rendered capable of removal to just such an extent as will disclose the ring, the boarding being replaced to form the ordinary promenade, at such times as the circus performances are not going on. The elephants and other animals will be brought from their stables in the basement and park to the centre transept along an inclined plane of about 250 feet in length, and of ample width to allow both human and quadrupedal performers to pass or repass.

Magnitude of Mr. Myers’ Establishment.

The magnitude of Mr. Myers’ establishment may be, in some degree, estimated when we state that its performances employ no less than 200 persons--as equestrians, acrobats, clowns, musicians, children, &c., and 200 performing animals, comprising 132 horses, 18 ponies, 9 elephants, 7 lions, 6 camels, besides monkeys, dogs, and mules. The estimated value of matériel alone is £150,000, and the daily expenses are over £250. Another idea of its extent may be gained from a few facts as to its transport to England, which required a train of no less than 46 waggons, besides passenger carriages, for the conveyance from Paris to Boulogne, where it was transferred to the two steam-vessels Leo and Rhine, which were specially detached from the General Steam Navigation Company’s Continental service, for the voyage to London. The area of the stabling and harness-rooms at the Crystal Palace is no less than 27,456 square feet; and the dressing-rooms alone occupy 3,472 square feet. The elephants, horses, and camels require about 10,000 pounds of corn, 8,000 pounds of hay, 8,000 pounds of straw, 2,000 pounds of bran, and 3,000 pounds of potatoes per week; while the lions consume 400 pounds of beef per week.

Career of Mr. Myers.

Mr. J. W. Myers, the proprietor of the largest Hippodrome in the world, was born in New York in 1828. Though still in the prime of life, he is a veteran in his profession, having commenced his public career at the early age of nine by apprenticing himself as an equestrian to Aaron Turner and Sons, partners of the celebrated Barnum. Ex nihilo nihil fit, and Mr. Myers thus early recognised the truth of the proverb by taking care to be provided with the small though substantial capital of one halfpenny, with which, as the nucleus of fortune, he fled from his home. He made rapid progress in his calling, and soon distinguished himself as being the first who ever did a double somersault over horses. A few years’ experience placed him foremost among equestrians, and at the age of twenty-one he started a Circus and Menagerie of his own, with which he travelled over the United States for seven years. He then sold his property to Mr. John Wilson (whose establishment was at the time the largest of its kind in America) and came to England, having, shortly after his arrival, the distinguished honour of performing before Her Majesty the Queen and the late Prince Consort, at Windsor Castle.

Mr. Myers was for seventeen months engaged with Messrs. Howes and Cushing, and at the expiration of that time he again formed a company of his own, and performed with great success at Birmingham and other English towns. Leaving England for the Continent he commenced the career which has culminated in the formation of an establishment of unprecedented magnitude.

The Mecca of Mr. Myers’ long pilgrimage was, of course, Paris; and a Paris journal gives a characteristic account of the interview in which the entrepreneur acquired possession of the Magasins Réunis, which he has transformed into the vast establishment which has been the sensation of the capital of the world of pleasure during the last six months. The Paris Figaro states that on a certain day in last autumn the proprietor of the Magasins Réunis, Baron E----, was visited by a stranger who expressed his desire to hire the structure, till then a drug in the market. Baron E---- was startled for a moment, but, soon recovering his self-possession, replied that he was willing to let, but only on a twenty years’ lease. “Be it so,” answered the applicant. The owner believed himself the sport of a dream, and could only feebly articulate “75,000 francs (£3,000) a year.” “I’ll give you 75,000 francs a year,” answered the visitor, “and here’s a year’s rent in advance.” The bargain was struck, and the applicant announced himself as Mr. J. W. Myers, the proprietor of a peripatetic hippodrome. Mr. Myers set himself with all possible speed to adapt his new acquisition to his purposes, and the great range of warehouses at the Château d’Eau was in a very few weeks transformed, at an outlay of not less than a million of francs, into a place of entertainment which has been one of the wonders of Paris since December 19, 1875, when it was first opened to the public. The great circus into which the central court was converted accommodates an audience of more than 8,000 persons, and the establishment is described by La France as a complete world in itself. In fact, the Paris press is singularly unanimous in pronouncing it to be not only the greatest hippodrome which has ever visited Paris, but (what is perhaps synonymous) the greatest in the world, unparalleled in grandeur and magnificence.

For the Hippodrome of Mr. Myers has attained its present unequalled proportions by gradual and steady growth. There is an eclecticism even in Circus business, and Mr. Myers has excelled the doings of his predecessors and contemporaries, not merely by employing nine elephants where they used to employ one performer and three or four “dummies”; by doubling the usual number of the band, of the horses, and other component parts of such an establishment: but he has taken care that his horses shall be the best bred; that his elephants shall be the most highly trained; that his equestrians shall be the most finished and daring; that his clowns shall be the most amusing; that his acrobats shall be the most graceful that have ever been seen in public. If the patronage of the great ones of the earth be a test of merit, Mr. Myers may claim to possess that merit in a supereminent degree. The Emperor William of Germany, the Empress Augusta, the Emperor Francis Joseph and the Empress of Austria, King Victor Emmanuel of Italy, King Alfonso of Spain, the King and Queen of the Belgians, the King and Queen of the Netherlands, the King and Queen of Saxony, the Queen of Greece, the Khedive of Egypt, the President of Switzerland, the late Emperor Napoleon III., the Empress Eugenie, the ex-Queen Isabella of Spain, the King and Queen of Hanover, and the unfortunate Abdul Aziz of Turkey, have all, at various times and places, honoured Mr. Myers with their presence at his performances. Lyons, Bordeaux, Toulon, Dijon, Nimes, St. Étienne, Nice, Grenoble, Avignon, Toulouse, and all the great towns in France; Berlin, Hamburg, Frankfort, Breslau, Dresden, Königsberg, Leipsic, Cologne, Mayence, Vienna, Nuremberg, Munich, Bremen, Dantzic, Stettin, Regensburg, Strasburg, Metz, in Germany; Rome, Turin, Milan, Florence, Genoa, Verona, Venice, Padua, in Italy; Amsterdam, Rotterdam, the Hague, Utrecht, in Holland; Brussels, and other towns in Belgium; Berne, Aarau, Schaffhausen, Zurich, Lausanne, Geneva, Zug, Basle, St. Gallen, in Switzerland, have all been visited by Mr. Myers; and the press of these places has been unanimous in its laudatory notices of his establishment and its performances.