San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1923-09-09

sBarnum lost the money he had
made from the Joice Heth curiosity
bin a commercial venture. At 30 he
was again at the foot Of the ladder,
when an opportunity came to buy the
american Museum, at Broadway and
Ann street.
Penniless as he was, he was de-
termiued to acquire it, and when
Friend, said: "What do you intei.d to
buy it withp he replied: Brass,
for silver and gold l have none"
BY sheer power of persuasion Bar
mum induced the owner of the mu-
scum building to purchase the collec-
tion for him and to let him manage
the enterprise without any pay ex-
cept for an allowance of $3.50 a
week for the support of his family.
In less than a year the owner had
been reimbursed for the money he
had put into it, and Barnum owned
1.-THE museum in his own name. His
profits for the first year were
$27, 91262.
The Heart Of Old New York.
Barnum's American Museum, on
Broadway at Ann street, was in the
heart of the New York of its day.
Opposite was the hotel of best re-
pute. the Astor House; four blocks
north was the city's best restaurant,
Delmonico's; between the two was
THE Park, that is, City Hall Park.
st. Paufs church was across the
street. and Trinity church was five
minutes walk from the museum.
The Tribune and Herald offices were
nearby, and the other newspapers
were published in the same district.
No Metropolitan Museum OF Art
offered free exhibition of pictures,
and no American Museum of Natu-
raj History educated the public IN
real natural life; Barnum's Museum
was therefore patronized by those
who today would patronize the Zoo
LOGICAL Gardens and the American
Museum of Natural History for sat
isfaction of their generic curiosity.
as well as by those who enjoyed
freaks. Among it's main attractions
under the previous management
were the stuffed animals. live ana
conda, a tame alligator. and the gal
lery of paintings, supposed to DC
national portraits.
Niagara With Real Water.
One of Barnum's first acquisitions
was a model of that object of ma
tional pride. Niagara Falls. The tails
were eighteen inches high, and every
thing else in the model was in pro-
portion. Into this model Barnum ar
ranged to have water pumped. and he
advertised widely "rhe Great Model
of Niagara Falls. With Real Water.
and many couples who could not af-
ford a honeymoon visited the museum
instead. attracted by Barnum's prom
Use. of real water.
In his autobiography Barnum
thought it necessary to excuse him
self by means of the argument that
IL visitors found his Niagara Falls
small potatoes" they had the rest oil
the magnificent museum for % cents
admission. 1t was always his. opin'
ion that any Misrepresentation was
justified if he gave patrons what they
had not come for after they entered
his museum.
4 First Roof Garden.
Another of Barnum's early i'm
proyements of such a nature was
what he advertised as an aerial gar
den,' which consisted of two cedal
plants, ten pots of wilted flowers
and several small tables. located on
the roof of the museum building
where ice cream was served.
But Barnum's activities were moi
confined to such minor innovations
Besides the experiments in animal
magnetism, which were popular, he
introduced a classic scene by Mr.
Bonnie, entitled I'll Studio, or Liv'
ing Statues"
A splendid attraction for one week
only was the family of Industrious
Fleas. "Thesc insects" Barnum adj
vertised, ''have been taught by a gen
tleman from Germany, and rendered
so docile as to be harnessed to car,
riages and other vehicles of several