In San Francisco Barnum discovered another valuable dwarf. He was smaller than General Tom Thumb, and handsome; his father, Gabriel Kahn, a German, asked Barnum to exhibit his son, and Barnum could not resist the temptation. He hesitated, for he had determined to retire, but the dwarf was pert in both German and English, and Barnum finally engaged him for a long term of years, christening him immediately “Admiral Dot, the Eldorado Elf.” Admiral Dot was exhibited in San Francisco for three weeks under Barnum’s management, and his levees were crowded. Then the party returned to New York. Admiral Dot was joined later by a nephew, known as Major Atom. Barnum was also financially interested in the world tour of General Tom Thumb, Mrs. Tom Thumb, Minnie Warren, and Commodore Nutt and his brother, Rodnia Nutt. He also arranged a tour for The Siamese Twins in Great Britain. Interest was aroused in this enterprise by the previous announcement that they were visiting Great Britain to consult eminent surgeons with a view to their separation. Of course, they had no intention of becoming by a stroke of the knife merely two Siamese, instead of The Siamese Twins, but the publicity was effective. All these enterprises, however, were only silent partnerships, and Barnum was not satisfied with such comparative inactivity. His energies, unassuaged by travel and entertainment, insisted upon a wider outlet, and in 1870, when he was sixty years old, he organized the first forerunner of what was later to become the famous Barnum & Bailey circus. CHAPTER XIII THE CIRCUS I An immense traveling show, combining all the elements of the museum, menagerie, and variety performance, was not Barnum’s own conception, at least in 1870, when he first joined some other showmen in the organization of such a combination. It is true that forerunners of the circus were present in “Barnum’s Great Asiatic Caravan, Museum, and Menagerie,” and in Barnum’s and Van Amburgh’s Museum and Menagerie, but these were nothing in comparison with the enterprise which was now projected. W. C. Coup and Dan Costello, showmen of experience, called upon Barnum during the period of his semi-retirement and urged that he form with them a great traveling show. They asked for the power of his name and for any financial support he was willing to supply, and they arrived at the correct time, for, tired of doing comparatively nothing, Barnum approved of all their plans. In 1869 he had decided that it was time for him to devote himself “to serious reflections on the ends and aims of human existence,” and he had no thought of engaging in the circus business. In 1870 he was making preparations with his new partners for the huge exhibition which they suggested, and which was larger than anything Barnum had ever previously attempted.