The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1908-08-15
BARNUM'S OLD PLACE
THE HISTORIC MUSEUM THAT STOOD
LOWER NEW YORK.
Facts About the Famous Curio Hall
That Brought n Fortune to the En-
erGetfc showman-Forty Thousand
Persons Saw IL Consumed by Fire.

Persons Saw 1t Consumed by Fire.
We will ascend TO the top Of st.
Paurs skyscraper and take New York
city in at glance" said my friend as
We passed the corner OF Broadway and
Ann street. Entering the doorway and
taking the elevator il took but few
moments TO find ourselves at the top
where from the windows we not only
took in the entire city, with its brick
walls and smoking chimneys. but as
far as the eye could reach we saw
water ,snd 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 10 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 stylish little coach
and who married Miss Lavinia War
rem. the wedding taking place before a
vast assemhlage at Grace church while
multitudes lined the sidewalks outside;
the living whale that was kept in a
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 il
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 we'll remembered dog
and baby shows.
Then there were the wax figures of
! pirates and murderers, Franklin
Pierce, Patrick Henry, General Wash.
I 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 THE Storm al
Sea-" where a vessel was struck by
| lightning and the crew rescued by be-
ing drawn by asrope 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 10. 1855. 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 lhis 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.