The Globe-republican., 1891-04-15
p. 7. eARMuM DEAD.

! The Great Snowman Succumbs to Old Ar
| Interesting Sketch of His EventfuI
Life.
BRIDGEPORT. Conn.,. April s.-The
! great Snowman, p. T. Barnum, passed
away at ara o'clock last evening in the
presence of his grief-stricken family.
! The scene in the dying mans cham
Der was deeply pathetic. MIR. Barnum
was fully awake and conscious. although
his nearly exhausted physical powers
made it. impossible for him to talk. The
affectionate messages he conveyed with
his eyes To the weeping atte ndants were
more expressive than words With the
, exception of himself all were in tears.
The physicians say that Mr.. Barnum
had no organic disease whatever, the
enfeebled heart action. which had been
apparent for the past few months. be-
ing due to a gradual failure of his gen.
cral powers resulting from old age.
RIoGkAPHICAL.
Phineas Taylor Bxrnum. store keeper, lot
terry agent. editor, king OF shOwmen, town
builder. leg slatOr. lecturer. author, was
born in Bethel. Conn.,, July S. 1910
Never has a single life more thoroughly
typihed the genuine American than Bar
NUNS. Few men have had either the pluck,
the energy. the aygressiveness. the genial
good natur. or the ability to lind out what
the people wanted and tn get it for them and
to let them know that It WAS IT the service.
than he And in no one man have these
qualities been better combined than In this.
the "l'rince of Hnmbugs" who after all W a.
never n distinguished humbug.
Barnum's father WAS country Inn keeper
~kSv>
his son was hut IL years OF age. leaving the
unl.ttered youth to fiyht til. world ss best
he might
But PhIneaa was already lighting il At u
years OF age he entered business and for
five years did whatever came to- his hand In
New York and In Brooklyn. WHITTIER he had
gone seek ing employment The lad showed
that he possessed the Yankee knack Of
cuunuiating dollars and returned to- his ma.
tive village in 1873 with sufficient money in
his pocket to open up a country store. This
he straightwav proceeded To- do.
The store was a success and the Young
merchant waxed prosperous He took for .
year tho agency OF state lottery. whose
proceeds were to be applied to- the erection
Of the GrotOn monument, and this agency
also proved profitable. With success e:snss
ambition and Barnnm opened n larger store
Here came his first reverse and it affected
him-as all his subsequent sctbacks did
about Ms much as nexion INJURIES Damascus
steel. He trusted people too freely and bad
debts pulled him down.
For this misfortune he cOnsOlcd himself by
getting married and starting newspaper
The marriage to young lady OF his native
town in 1922. aud the newspaper, the Herald
Of Freedom, was started the same year Bt
was so entir.ly free in its sayings ~ TO
cause the Imprisonment of its editor for
sixty days.
This misfortune and others following 1t
reduced Barnum's property and he shortly
removed to- New York seeking fresh fields.
a visit to Philadelphia drew him into the
business which has made his name and
kindly face known the world over. While
in that city he strOlled into a hall wherein
was being exhibited "Joyce ueth." the nurse
Of George Washington.
Joyce lIcth WAS slave woman. alleged,
and advertised by her owner IA beng l6t
years old-in dorrObOratiOn whereof an
ancient, yellow bill Of sale of the date Of 1927
was exhibited
Barnum bought the woman. He paid
81 900 for her, advertised his show in the same
vigorous manner as he later displayed in his
amusement enterprises. and shortly was en-
iOying an income of 81, 500 Il week. Within
the year the woman died, and Il post norton
examination revealed the fact that her
former owner had generously added some
eighty years to her age.
-
with the show business. and he went into it
in earnest. lie travelled through the south
with small SHOWS Of various kinds which,
like small shows generally, were unprOfit.
able.
In 1911 he did one of those bold things
which have contributed so much to his sue
cess. Although he had not dollar he
bought Scudder's American museum,
changed the name to BarnnIn's museum, ad-
ded some new curiOsities, and within u year
had made the concern earn enough to sup
port him and pay for itself Ey 1913 il had
grown to he great amusement enterprise.
His first great hit was made the year after
he bought the American museum lie had
heard of Charles StrattOn, OF Bridgeport,
Conn, a maturcd man who weighed but
sixteen pounds and stood less than two feet
high. Instantly he engaged the piymy STRAIT.
ton, dubbed him Gen. Tom Thumb, exh bited
him all over the world. married him to
Lavinia Warren. female midget, and made
the name Of Tom Thumb well nigh as much
q nous hOl word a. that of Il irnam.
Like everything else sarnun touched. the
little couple achieved wealth and world wide
fame
Who does not remember Gen. Tom Thumb
and his diminutive wife? What Juror they
aroused in the days of their popularity. and
how the people f1ocked to see them, How
many men and women can remember how,
when boys and girls. they stopped down to
kiss Lavinia anu shake hands with Tom?
And there was the bringing of Jenny Lind
to America, one of Barnums greatest sue
ccssrs. The great Swedish cantatrice came
TO America after long negotiations with the
Barnum i'm 1919 She was to
sing at $50 concerts i'm the great cities, buh
only appeared at ninety-fivc. Her reception
was something marvellous, and is talked
about to this day. Her ninety five concerts
drew SIP 900. of which she received $l7b,O00s
Barnum during these years was connected
with numerous other enterprises and in 1915
he removed to bridgeport, Conn. where he
lived in luxury. directing the while h - great
enterprises. To encourage II manufacturing
concern he indOrsed notes aggrryatin$ ST.
oOO, 900. The factory failed and Barnunl's
fortune was swept away lie had. however,
settled much on his wife, and visiting En-
gland with Tom Thumb and iecturing in the
principal cities there he soon returned with
his losses recOuped.
Then he again took charge OF the old mu
scum on Broadway. New York. AMI in July.
1865, this was destroyed by fire. Another
museum he established also burned the two
fires bring among the historical GspnfsayrA-
tons Of New York.
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