Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1864-09-15
Barnum and his Museum.
From Frank Leslie's Illustrated News.


AS a successful caterer for public
> amusement and instruction Mr.. Z. /
: Barnum undoubtedly stands Wlthou
a rival in the world. Having lost
fortune by placing too much conf
Gence in MS fellow men, he has over
come all obstacles, and by an una
bated energy and almost apparent,
reckless outlay, in procuring extraor
dipary attractions for his Museum
has drawn the most immense multi
Itudes Of patrons there during the las
, twenty wears. The consequence is
he is probably worth to-day Two Mil
lions of Dollars. But good fortune
does not spoil man like Barnum
on the contrary, his indomitabla in.
dustry and suavity keep fall pace viii
his great success, and he declares
that his chief pride and pleasure is
to attend perSonaHy to the business
of his Museum, see to the comfort
OF his visitors and constantly to pro
ducc the greatest possible amount OF
valuable and Startling novelties for
the smallest possible admission
Hence, at daily expense of six hun
dred dollars, more rare, curious and
instructive amusement and "won-
ders" may be enjoyed and seen III
J his Museum for twenty-five cents
! than can be found in any part of
the world for ten times that sum.
4 volume of the most c0mprehen-
sive interest and entertainment might
be filed with a mere list Of all the
novelties in art and nature with
which Mr.. Barnum has at various
times, astounded, pleased, amused
and instructed the people Of both
hemispheres. From the day that he
first took possession Of the Ameri-
can Museum i'll 1911, he has never
failed or falterel iii his purpose Of
satisfying the insatiate and inccs-
SAINT public thirst for all that is
novel, beautiful, grotesque, excep-
tionabic or moustrouS. Scarce an
experiment that he has tried OF "a
enterprise in which he has engaged,
but has been complete and sig
nal triumph. His first cndeavorS
though conducted with q wise re-
Stralnt Of caution, were successes
that laid the foundation OF hand
some fortune, but the adventures in
which he has launched with ar ap-
parent utter disregard Of ordinary
| business chances have been those
| 1. IL L., 40 ct
stupendouS results III money and re-
uoWn. 1t is one Of Mr.. Barnum 5
| itliosyncracieS not to be satisfied
with Offering the public what would
be merely sufficient TO content and
attract them. lie must needs fore
stan ard, as it were, overwheIm
their craving for the novel and mar
velIous by giving them great
deal more than their widest eXpec-
tationS could suggest. lie is not sat
isfed to introduce one dwarf, how
ever remarkable, to them at time :
it must be whole family OF group
Of manikinS.
One giant, who alone would be suf-
ticient to gather an unccasing thronG
d, of admirers, IS not enough for him ;
he must have four Of them-as he
did the other day-whose combined
altitude was in the ncighborhood
of thirtv-three feet. When he organ
ICED :. grand Aquarlal exposition, (and
by the way, the Aquaria are about
the most delightful, and al the same
time instructive things to be seen
at the Museum,) he is not satisfied
with collecting rare and beautiful
fish easily obtained near home, even
though colossal trout Of four to five
pound weight are among them; but
he must 90 to the tropics and pro
cure the gorgeous angel fish, and
then to the coast of Labrador to
catch genuine whale, spending
, more money in such adventurous pro
: iccts than one would think couid
ever come back to him. The an
eel fish may sicken-it is replaced
. with something more strange; tht
, whale may die-aud he Immediately
goes to work to obtain another
: Even at this present time, he hl:
Just completed an immense glass
reservoir 10 be supplied (througl
pipes laid under the streets, 1T Al
expense Of seven thousand dollars
with salt water from the bay, in which
gigantic whale, which he is dali,
expecting to arrive here from th'
, northern seas, is to dlsport ltsel
this present summer. The cost Q
. such an undertaking is enormous
but Mr.. Barnum says it pays, and h
ought to know.
$ \ simple enumeration Of the Iesse
| curiosities with which the Museum
: is crammed, ard in which change
! are going on from day to day-ai
= most from hour to hour-wouid oc
cupv too much space. They com
prise such an infinite variety an
4 sppeal to such endless phases Of POP
ular fancy as 20 defy any attempt a
detailed description. But there
one department of the Museum dc
, serving and requiring pa,tleuia
mention and u1bopnded eulogy;-
- 80 Dramatic Fl