Captain was a nine-year-old dappled chestnut owned by W. A. Sigsbee. He was named for the owner's cousin, the naval officer who commanded the Maine when she blew up in Havana harbor. After five years of training, Captain could count the men, women and children in the front row. He could make small change, match ribbons to the colors of ladies' hats, add and subtract with numbered blocks, tap out large numbers with a hoof and play simple tunes on bells. His owner never ran the act the same way twice. Skeptics said he was cued. Todd replied that it would have been a great performance even so.
From June he shared his little theater with Madame Ellis. She sat blindfolded on stage while her husband collected questions, visiting cards and banknote numbers from the audience, and she named them with startling speed and accuracy. One quarter admitted visitors to both acts, which alternated continuously. Together they took in over $62,000.
At a glance
- Receipts over $62,000; admission 25 cents for both acts.
- Madame Ellis joined in June 1915.
- Captain was a nine-year-old dappled chestnut of about 1,100 pounds, owned by W. A. Sigsbee.
Afterward
Demolished with the Zone in 1916.
Where it stood
Captain, the Educated Horse (and Madame Ellis) stood at about 37.80121 N, 122.43570 W on today's map. The whole fairground over the city →
Sources
- Frank Morton Todd, The Story of the Exposition, vol. II (1921), ch. LXV, pp. 359-360
- Map of the Zone concessions, spring 1915 (reproduced in 'Let Me Get There', USC Scalar), Shamrock Isle position