BARNUM OFFERS TO TAKE A CONTRACT.
[American Paper.) There was a mommoth temperance meeting in Barnum’s Hippodrome tent at Philadelphia on Sunday, and among the speakers was the great showman, who, in closing his speech, made the following proposition, as reported in the Times of that city : —“ I will undertake and give bonds for the faithful fulfilment of the contract, that if the city of Philadelphia will stop selling liquor and give me as much as was expended here for liquor last year, to run the city next year. I will pay all the city expenses (pause); no person living within |her borders shall pay taxes (pause) ; there shall be no insurance on property (pause) ; a good dress and suit shall be given to every poor boy, girl, man, and woman (pause); all the educational expenses shall be paid (pause); a barrel of Hour shall be given to every needy and worthy person (sensation); and I will clear a half-million or a million dollars myself on the operation ! (Cries of ‘ Hurrah !’) It would be the best business speculation I was even in. Unfortunately they wouldn’t give it to me. As Benjamin Franklin said, ‘ We are paying too dear for our whistle.’ ”
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Globe, Volume IV, Issue 407, 1 October 1875, Page 4
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201BARNUM OFFERS TO TAKE A CONTRACT. Globe, Volume IV, Issue 407, 1 October 1875, Page 4
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