Morning journal and courier., 1893-07-05
BARNUM,s MEMORY


!" Great Day in Bridgeport-A Fine I
Parade-Thousands OF People at
seaside Park-The Barnum statue
"A Beautiful Tribute, Looking Sea-
ward, to the Famous American
Snowman. ~
Five years ago, on the Fourth of July, 3
1888, Bridgeport, little but enterprising | r
ftv eighteen miles from New Haven, cele- | {
rated a centennial of some kind or other. t
hundreds of people from all parts of the q
tate assisted Bridgeport natives in the {
nomentous event, and some of the news {
paper men who were the leaders of the ,
,elebrants remained there for about five
lays. They did themselves proud and the ,
people of Bridgeport were proud of them.
Yesterday they were there again in full
force, and 80 also were thousands of other
people from every town in the state which
had any sort of railroad communication
with the Park City. Some people said a
few days ago that the celebration of 1888
could not be beaten anywhere in NewEng-
land, but after yesterday they are hiding
In their collars or else have taken to the
woods to remain in the bushes until the
effect of their rash statement is felt no
more.
Tuesday, the 4th of July, 1898. was Bar
mum day. It will hereafter be known as
such. And why should 1t nota The most
beautiful statue of the most wonderful |
Snowman who was ever born looks out on |
Long Island sound from Seaside park He |
built Seaside park, and a more fitting place |
for his statue could not have been selected, |
and his widow as she looks from her cham /
Der window in the early morning can see |
the sunbeams reflected from perfect rep
resentation of her husband in bronze at
the park.
Thousands of people were at Seaside |
park and In Bridgeport yesterday. They |
were there to do honor to "Barnum day."
and to the late Phineas Taylor Barnum.
Unlike the celebration of few years ago
they on this occasion came from every cor
ner and mich in the state, and there we're
at least two thousand of them from New
Haven. There were veterans of the war,
old showmen, newspaper men and the pub
stood for hours In the sun on the line of
parade, cheered the passing militia, fire
companies and other organisations, and as
side issue got fairly sunburned. And
not contented with the last, almost all of
them went to Seaside park, where they got
more sunburn and Precipitation and at the
same time enthused most heartily at the
unwilling of the statue of Phineas T. Bar
mum.
As has been said before the day was
great one. Nothinghke it has ever been
seen in the city Of Bridgeport. Prepare
tons had been made weeks ago for the en-
tertainment of the city's guests. The
statue had been erected on solid granite
pedestal. All the visitors had accepted
| the invitation to be present at the exercises
| and they were there in full force. The full
program as had been arranged was fully
| carried out and the Bsrnum statue was
/ fully dedicated with the most impressive
| ceremonies. The following is the full pro-
| gram as carried out:
THE PARADE AND EXERCISES.
Promptly at 1:45 O'Clock the parade
started over the following line of march:
The line formed on Broad, Elm, Fair
field avenue, Cannon and John streets,
right resting on Broad street; and moved
down Broad street to State, to Park ave-
| nue., 20 Waldemere avenue, to Iranistan
avenue, to the monument After the ex-
ercises the line reformed and marched
| through the park to Broad street, past the
reviewing stand at the city hall and was
| dismissed.
The various organizations participating
In the parade and exercise were as pub
lished in the COURIER yesterday morning.
Not an uninteresting feature of the parade
and unwilling exercises was the presence of
newspaper men from all over the state as
we'll as number from New York city.
The unwilling exercises at the park were
simply grand and impressive though by
no means ostentatfous. The act of IN
yelling the statue, which was presented by
James A. Bailey of the Bsrnum & Bailey
company, was performed by Miss Nancy
Barnum Lsisb, a great granddaughter OF
the great Snowman.
The statue was worthy of the demon
strstion that attended the unwilling. The
monument is handsome work of art ss
| we'll as being an excellent representation OF
the man who owned the greatest show OF
earth" and who did so much for Bridge
port, directly and Indirectly. It Is on the
boulevard which will soon be run through
| to Black Rock and in the west portion OF
the park. 1t has been the cynosure of ali
eyes for four or five months, though only
peek could be obtained through some
knot hole in the fence that had been built
around 1t, while the workmen were busy
The statue itself was commenced in 1887
and three years ago arrived In New York
| where 1t was stored for a time before II
was placed in Central park, where it was
intended to place 1t. 1t was made BY
Sculptor Thomas Ball in Florence in 1884
The original was plaster cast, but in 1885,
1t was sent to the Royal Bronze foundry al
Munich and cast in bronze. It weighs
5000 pounds. 1t has been placed on {
granite base which measures twenty-foul
feet In diameter. Four steps lead to the
base and shaft nine feet high rises from
it. On the four sides of the shaft arr
I IL Ill
the genius of life and death and the -four
seasons. On the front is a shield with the
dates of Barnum's birth and death, 1910
1891, engraved upon 1t. The statue will
be valuable addition to the park which
before his death, Barnum benefited 81
much.
The program at the park was as follows
80 salutaris"-Brandies ws:.,s. :; w;;;:o. ., -,
....,:: .Assembiage led BY band and chorus
AMERICAN Hymn-M Kear hex Msls o aons
Hon W H. Marigolidi, chairman Commute.
Ss Waiter Sa B. tsie
"The Vacant Chair ....Whesier { wilson Bant
Patriotic by Rev lew, b. oEsf W H'e
Address: Hon. william B. Hurs
<>-' Led by Band and Chorus sAe'' '''s'
| At the conclusion of the exercises at tht
park the procession reformed and marched
bsck to the city hall, where 1t was dis
missed. Altogether the day was one Of
the greatest in the history of the Park City
and one which will be long remembered BY
the residents and out of-town guests who
took part in the proceedings.
THE CONNECTICUT PRESS ASSOCIATION.
Incidental to the unwilling of the Bar
mum statue was the reunion of the Connec
ticut Press association. Representatives
from nearly every paper in the state were
present, as were also the representatives Of
the leading New York dsilies. When the
various members of the association ar
rived they were met by the reception com
mittee, consisting of John Orr, Rufus
Lyons and JOHN Kane, and escorted to the
psrlors of the Atlantic hotel, where an
elaborate luncheon was served. After
luncheon the representatives of the press
of the state were escorted to carriages,
which were in waiting, and took part in
the parade.
After the ceremonies at the park the