Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1877-04-21
CELEBRITIES AT HOME.
z. 7. Barnum at bridgeport.
From the London World.

From the London World.
| A stranger in America happenin,
to alight at Bridgeport thrivin,
/ city of some %, 00iEhabitants, beau
tifully situated on the shore of Ions
Island Sound, within sixty miles o
New York City-might be surpriset
to discover that much of its prosper
! ity is due to the business tact anC
energy of Phineas Taylor Barnum
the one American whose name has
become common noun in English
speech, the prince o.
humbug and good-nature and au
dacity. Ask any inhabitant of this
| third city of the State of Connection
who built these rows of cottages, re,
minding an English traveller Of
those erected by the more philan-
thropic manufacturers at home, and
| the answer comes, "Barnum. p
Chow is it that so many of the ope-
ratives possess homes of their own?''
Again the answer "Barnum helped
them" "Who planned your Noun
tain Grove ?''-one of the most beau
tiful cemeteries in America. Once
more the answer, "Barnum started
it :" and thereby did away with an
old neglected burying- ground which
used to be in the very heart of the
city. "And your lovely Seaside
Park, who originated that ?" go,
Barnum of course he gave some of
the land, begged and bought the re-
mainder. and never rested till the
park became what it is-the greatest
ornament to our city" While hum
bugging the universal world, and
imposing on the credulity ofnations,
forcing his showman's pranks into
the sacred precincts of a court, and
humbugging Majesty itself, Barnum
has shoWerd advantages upon his
own home. That his fellow-citizens
appreciate his labors is apparent.
They elected him Mayor, twice sent
him to represent the town in the
State Legislature, and made him
the candidate of the Republican par
ty for the L. S. Congress. On one
occasion within the last few years,
ou his return from a visit to Eng
land, over two hundred of the most
substantial citizens of Bridgeport
gave a complimentary dinner ''in
honor of the liberality and energy
in private enterprise, in promoting
the industries and public improve
ments of Bridgeport, and the genu-
inc philanthropy" of their popular
toWnsman. The rumor that the
canny old Snowman paid for the
dinner himself, as an advertisement,
was generally believed in cynical
New York, but disdainfully rejected
in thrifty Connecticut.
Mr.. Barnum when at home is in
great request. Few temperance
meetings are considered complete
unless he is a prominent speaker; /;
church-bazaars expecting to succeed
call on him to opensthem with hui
mOrous address, which seldom fails
to find its way to hearts and purses.
Standing on a slight eminence, look
inc down on Seaside Park, and
across its narrowest part to the
waters of the Sound, over whose sur
face steamers, yachts, and every
variety of water-craft are continu-
ally passing, is Waldemere, from
whose cupola floats silken flag,
bearing the well-knOwn monogram
''P. Z. b." whenever the ''king of
showmen," the prOgenitor of the
india-rubber nurse of Washington,
and the discoverer of the woody
horse, is at home. Waldemere,
"woOds by the sea" so named by
its owners friend, Bayarf Taylor, is
an estate whose natural beauty is
perfected by art. Its well-kept
lawns, broad and sweeping, are or
namented with fountains of bronze
and marble; statues gleam against
a background of grove and thicket;
the house is girdled with a broad
belt of flowers, whilst tiOwer-beds OF
every English device border the
drives from gateway to porch. The
house itself is an astOundingly be-
wildering composition of Gothic,
Italian, and French architecture and
decoration, and great deal Of Yam
kee thrown in-presenting q front
160 feet long to the water, whereby
most of the rooms command very
charming VieW-and as it can be
seen from the passing trains, is gen
orally considered as Barnum's most
striking advertisement. On enter
ing one is pleasantly surprised at
the spaciousness of hall and rooms.
Taste as well as wealth is shown in
the furniture. Pictures Of high
merit hang on tinted walls and
stand on easels; Chinese vases of
quaint and wonderful design guard
the fireplaces; busts and statuettes
fill hooks and corners. On a pedes-
tai in place of honor stands mar
bic bust of Jenny Lind, whose orig
inai contract with p. 4. Barnum
hangs framed in neighboring
APARTMENT; the signatures of Jenny
Lind, Sir Jules Benedict, Giovanni
Belletti, and p. II. Barnum cOmpell-
ing us to pause moment before it.
A corner-bracket in a cosy sitting
room holds q small Parian Racchus,
a Christmas gift from the Swedish
Nightingale to Mr.. Barnum, In good
natured ridicule of his firm tempe
rance principles and practice. On
an etdgeTe in this same pleasant room
lie dimpled marble models of Tom
Thumbs hand and foot, taken when
his size was smallest and his fame
greatest. One looks in vain Tor the
Fiji mermaid, or the "What Il it"'
OF some of the beSt-knOWn achieve
ments of the owner. These, how
ever, are the trifes Of an earlier and
more eccentric life. Barnum, as we
see him in Waldemere, is Barnum
in happy and VirtuOus retirement
the advocate of temperance, and the
benefactOr of that human race he
has humhugged for two generations.
Mr.. Barnum is q firm believer III
cleanliness, if not in gOdliness. The
mansion Is intersected with a net
work of water-pipes, there being
scarcely room that has not bath
room or lavatory attached. Many
of the rooms bear the names of dis
tinguished guests who have Qccuz
pied them. \ spacious bedroom,
with hangings and furniture of pale
green and white, is known as the
HGreeley rOOm," for here had HOr-
ace Greeley reposed. Two pleasant
rooms are associated with the mem
DRY of the sister pOetesses, Alice and
Phoebe Cary. Doubtless there will
sometime be a "Twain rOOm," as
the hUmorist is frequent guest at
NNuI6aDlgra