Arizona state miner., 1925-05-09
Destruction of Madame Tus-
saud's Museum in London
Is Great Loss.

LOndOn.-FeW fires within the past
century have aroused such worldwide
interest and national CONSERVATION"
as that which recently destroyed a
huge building on MaryIebone road,
northwest London. There was no loss
OF life or hairbreadth escapes, and
although the financial loss exceeded a
quarter Of million sterling, that hg-
ure Is not so heavy as to account for
special interest
The reason was that the building de-
Stroyed was Nine. Tussaud's, famed
far and wide as perhaps the most re-
markable waxworks collection In the
world. Nine. Tussaud's was more than
mere place of amusement, the COM
liberalization of the display Of wax
work figures Of celebrities past and
present; it was a national institution.
Mecca of Tourists.
True, LOndoners did not take any
special pride in housing Nine. Tus-
sauds; they displayed tolerant
sense of amusement that anybody
should want to see a collection of wax
efngies, but 1t was the mecca of "coun-
try cousins" and foreign tourists Wis.,
lung the metropolis. 1t Is safe to say
that whichever of the sights of Lon
don the tourist missed, 1t was not
Nine. Tussaud's. For the last half
century 1t has been part of the edu-
cation of millions Of juveniles to visit
Mime. 'I1JCCQn6'o nd
doubtedly more people in the English
provincial centers and country dis
tr1cts who are familiar with the Mary
Iebone Road exhibition than there are
In London. Even the average Lon
doner visited it occasionally, his chill
dren had to be taken some time or
other, and he certainly had to pilot
provincial visitors there the moment
they arrived in town.
Now the country cousins are In de-
spatr, for the famous exhibition is de-
stroyed and even though the directors
talk of 1t rising phoenixlike from it's
pyre, there is little comfort in this, for
many of the exhibits cannot be re-
placed, and any future display must
A~SNCSooA hJ COlISISL vi mere COplGE
famous originals.
NapoIeonic Relics.
Nine. Tussaud possessed one Of the
most remarkable collections of Ma
poleonic relics in the world, and these
were among the exhibits destroyed.
They cannot be replaced and can hard
ly be copied accurately. Again many
of the wax figures were made from
casts taken from the living and dead
bodies Of people who have been dust
this hundred years. The majority Of
the original casts and death masks
were destroyed by the flames and no
duplicates are possible. The loss,
therefore, is irreparable and any fu-
ture Nine. Tussaud must be but a
ghost of the original and will de-
servedly be relegated to the position
of local "waxworks," designed to at
tract the cOppers of neighboring ju,
veniles.
1t is characteristic of public psy-
chology on such matters that the mo-
ment the news spread through London,
mime. Tussaud's on fire." at about
10: 80 in the evening, LOndoners be-
came frightfully agitated over the fate
Of the building they had been accus-
toned to regard with semf-tolerant,
semi-shamefaced amusement. Had 1t
been buckingham palace on fire there
could not have been greater excite
ment; indeed perhaps not as much for
few know anything about the interior
Of the royal palace, while everybody
was familiar with the contents of the
famous waXwOrks.
LOndoners accordingly f1ocked to the
scene and displayed the most intense
interest in the attempts to salve the