New Britain herald., 1916-07-15
T0un Topics

New Britain is growing and grow ing faster than some realize. Not necessarily so much in mere numeri- cal figures of population, but as a regular city, For considerably more than year traffic posts have been found a necessity here to keep traffic going right and to protect the public. It has been found necessary to in crease the number of traffic posts and another sign of the times is the mark ing of aises Of safety across Main street The idea of this Is to permit people to cross at these points with a maximum degree of safety All vehicles should be made to watch these zones especially and should be absolutely prohibited from stopping so as to block the passage. With these big city rules another one must soon be added a S a civic necessity, although tt is sure to raise a storm of protests. That is to make time restrictions for vehicles parking on the business thoroughfare. At present an ordi- nance prohibits vehicles from staying more than five minutes between the National Bank and St. Marks church, but at any other place, except near hydrants, they can stay all day. It is fast becoming so that from the Strickland House corner at Main and East Main streets to the South church corner there are times when there Is an almost unbrol1en string of teams and motor cars parked along the curb ing. Merchants are protesting against this and say that it really drives busi- ness from them as people who might 61-iv n N h a O do not do so as there is often no place to stop their machines. The mayor is known to be in favor of new traffic or dinances prohibiting the parking of cars along the business thOrOughfare and it is probable that within a short time the safety board will take the matter up. It has been suggested that an ordinance be drafted to prohibit any vehicle from being parked in the business section for more than a half hour at a time. Such a rule might seem unjust and hard to some men who are went to leave their cars in front of their offices all day long but the time is coming when this will have to be done and the sooner the better. Then cars would have to be left on side streets as they are in Hartford, Waterbury, New Haven and other cities where they have well regulated traffic.
 The visit of famous Buffalo Bill here with a wild west show during the past week recalls to the mind of many the days long since gone when the biggest circuses in the country were wont to include New Britain in their itinerary. For more than ten years however, the bigger shows and circuses have side stepped New Britain because of lack of adequate transportation and grounds. But there was a time when the biggest circuses in the world exhibited here and performed before thousands of people, To briefly trace the history Of the circus In New Britain one must go back beyond the memory of the average person and the Honorable William Bulkeley, Berlin's grand old man, gives the earliest verbal account of a circus here, He remembers New. Britain when it was a part of Berlin and it is of that period he speaks He can remember a time when Barnum S circus exhibited near where the Lock Shop pond is now. All the country boys for miles around went to the circus grounds where a band stand built on stilts was regarded as a won derful structure. To young Bulleley and his friends it seemed to he an ideal joke to knock the stilts out from under the band stand but before they could put their plans into opera tion a gang of circus roustabOuts put these village boys to rOut. Another circus event that MT. Bulkeley can re- call, and he Is one of the few living men who can, was when circus gave a show in Central park, the village green as it was then, which is now the triangle But that was many, r1any years ago.
 Among other places in this city where circuscs have exhibited in the past is Walnut Hill Park and it was here that Barnum and Bailey's famous circus once pitched it's tents. At that time Jumbo, the famous elephant, and the little baby elephant were the big attraction. Jumbo was the biggest, and at the same time one of the most Intelligent elephants that was ever in captivity. It was about the year 1882 that Jumbo ate hay in Walnut Hill park. Years later Jumbo was killed in Canada. The circus parade was crossing some railroad tracks when Jumbo essayed to butt an express train off the tracks. Immediately thereafter P. T. Barnum had to look for another drawing card. Circuses have been given in what is now Belvi- dcro and small circuses have exhibited on Maple street between Whiting and Ellis streets At present about the only available ground is on Shuttle Meadow avenue. But it was at the famous old circus grounds on South Main street that the worlds biggest shows exhibited and these old grounds are still remembered. From Trinity street east and south was a broad eypanse of open land known as Bassott'S lots or Bassett'S woods