The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1906-09-11
BARNUM'S OLD PLACE
THE HISTORIC MUSEUM THAT STOOD
IN LOWER NEW YORK.

Facts About the Famous CuriO Hall
That Brought a Fortune to the En-
ergetic Showman-Forty Thousand
Persons Saw 1t Consumed by Fire.
eve will ascend to the top of St
Paul's skyscraper and take New York
city in at a glance" said my friend as
we passed the corner of Broadway and
Ann street Entering the doorway and
taking the elevator it took but few
moments to find ourselves at the top
where from the windows we not only
stook inn the entire city, with its brick
walls and smoking chimneys, but as
far as the eye could reach we saw
water and green fields. AS we de-
scended we could not help thinking that
on this spot for many years stood Bar
NUNS museum, once the dream of all
children and a place of universal in
terest to every one.
Among the many sights and curiosi-
ties seen in the museum some are ia
miliar to this day, as Niagara Falls,
with real water, trees, rocks, ETC.; Joice
Heth. the aged colored woman, 161
years old, who had once been nurse to
General Washington; the woolly horse,
said to have been captured by the Ere
mont exploring party in the Rocky
mountains; the Indian wedding dance;
the club that killed Captain Cook;
Tom Thumb, the dwarf who drove
around the city in a stylish little coach
and who married Miss Lavinia War
rem, the wedding taking place before
vast assemblage at Grace church while
multitudes lined the sidewalks outside;
the living whale that was kept in
tank of salt water pumped in from the
bay; the hippopotamus, the tropical
fish, Commodore Mutt, known as the
$4,000 Mutt: the two dromios; the
! lightning calculator who could add a
square Of figures at a glance, and who
became a Methodist minister; the fat
boy; Anna Swan, the Nova Scotia
| giantess; the tallest man in the world;
| the fat woman, Pashasharend. the
what is it." no one knowing whether it
was a man or a monkey; the boa con-
strictor, seen inside a large glass case;
| the cherry colored cat; the happy fam
| lily, a collection of cats, rats, adders,
rabbits, parrots, birds, etc, all in one
cage; also two vast alligators, the liv-
| ing skeleton, the baby mite that
weighed only three pounds, the fish
with legs, the Fiji mermaid, the
giraffe, the rhinoceros, with the tropi-
cal birds, parrots, cockatoos, hooking
birds, humming birds, vultures and
eagle, and the well remembered dog
and baby shows.
Then there were the wax figures of
pirates and murderers, Franklin
Pierce, Patrick Henry, General Wash
ington. James Buchanan, General Mar
ion, General Lafayette, James Madi-
son. Governor Morris, Prince Imperial
of France, Nine. Roland, Moll Pitcher,
Nathan Hale Poor Richard, Daniel
Lambert, the Yelled Murderess, etc.
In many of the plays thrilling scenes
were produced, as in 1.-THE Storm at
Sea-" where a vessel was struck by
lightning and the crew rescued by be-
ing drawn by a rope up rocky sum-
nit and the army ascending through
the narrow defiles of the Swiss Alps.
The museum was burned on the aft
ernoon of July Is, 1865 The fire, ii
was thought, originated in the engine
room, it being necessary to keep up
steam to pump fresh air into the wa
ter of the aquaria and to propel the
fans that kept the heated halls cool
The flames began in the managers
office and extended to all parts of the
building. The manager showed great
presence of mind by depositing several
thousands of dollars in a safe before
he escaped from the building. Fully
10000 persons witnessed the fire, who
saw the tall woman lowered by means
of ropes to the sidewalk and heard the
shrieks of animals in the menagerie
and the growls of the Bengal tiger
The lion and his mate, who had es
capped from their cage, were seen walk
ing along the floor and an encounter
beneath the roof between the eagle
and serpent, when the victorious ca
gle bore off his enemy In his talons
amid loud cheers. The polar bear
escaping from the building, walked
through the streets to the custom
house, where, ascending to the bal
cony, he fell and broke his neck. 9th
er animals. jumping from the win
dows, caused the crowd to stampede
when some lost their hats, others had
their coats torn. and many became
awfully disfgured by falling in the
mud. The remains of the two whales
the kangaroo and crocodile were found
in the ruins. The loss of no Other
building in the city could have caused
so much excitement and regret as Bar
NUNS museum Brooklyn Citizen