The Waterbury Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1917-1946, 1944-07-07
Desolate Aftermath
Of Circus Described
Broadway COIumnist Says Damage Was Like Looking
at Giant Skeleton Stripped of All Flesh

York city and saw 1.-The greatest
show on earth" in all the spickness
and spanness Of new season aus
piciously begun.
Last night in the brigh; moonlight
and this morning under cloudless
sky ! slipped, stumbled and high
stepped across shamhles in a field
in the north end Of Hartford that
had been an arena Of death few
hours before for 139 persons and
now was an acrid-smelling tumble
Of the pride and glory Of the Ring
ling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey
Circus.
The sight was an eerie one In
darkness or daylight but the shock
was greater in the daytime because
you could see it all at once. 1t was
like looking at a giant skeleton
stripped Of all flesh.
Nothing but tiers of charred and
broken seats and the smashed,
twisted remains Of three hugh steel
cat act cages showed above the
ground level. On the ground was an
incredible debris Of broken, frayed
and burned rope and sables; charred
tent poles Of all sizes, the bent and
blistered piping Of the aerial act
platforms, broken, scattered bundles
Of straw; whole and shattered soft
drink bottles.
The fire had not left vestige Of
the big top" itself.
And more personal things.
The woman's blue straw hat with
the large flower ornament hardly
toucheS and surrounded by ruins.
The childs shoe over in one Of the
worst burned sections Of seats.
Crushed but not burned.
The buried remains Of q wornan's
pocketbook. Police said the owner
was on a cot in the armory, dead.
At night the lights Of the circus
own power system illuminated parts
of the ground but 1t was only when
the sun came UP that you saw such
details as the burned out organ on
the bandstand where the musicians
played for the panic-stricken throng
until falling flaming canvas forced
them to retire; the shells Of two
kettle drums: large piece Of I'M
burned, water-soaked blue corduroy
cloth that had been fancy trapping
for one of the spangled displays; a
folded, untouched safety net that
never got into action at yesterday
afternoons performance.
City and State Police guarded the
grounds throughout the night and
day and only a few persons were
permitted to visit the scene Of death.
Circus roustabouts slept on the
ground under some of the wagons
but were UP at dawn to take care
Of what was left Of the circus
mostly the animals which were
housed in their canvas-shrouded
wagons drawn UP in coral fashion
out in the open just east Of where
the main tent had been. They were
a silent lot and haggard. Wonder
ing about tomorrow's Job. The herd
of elephants was chained down sew
eral hundred yards east Of the fire
scene. The camelS were tethered
beside the wagons Of the other ami
mails.
More than a mile away in the
yards Of the New York, New Haven
& Hartford railroad, In the red
pullmans of the circus, were the per-
formers. Few of them rose early.
Those who did looked as though
they had had little sleep and they
did not want to talk either. They
still could hardly believe that the
tragedy had occurred and that they
would be bound for Sarasota. Fla.
when the authorities permitted them
to leave instead Of to nearby town
for another days work. It will be
a long time before they work again.
And the people who went to the
circus.
There were the fortunate thous-
ands who escaped with nothing but
q scare. They stood on street cor
ners, leaned over back fences. used
telephones, idled at work while they
recounted their escape for friends.
There were the more than 200,
many of them children. suffering in
hospitals; some Of them dying de-
spite the miracles Of modern medi-
cine; some Of them waiting to get
up and go home.
There were the filled and empty
cots in the armory, resting places
of the unidentified dead and recent
resting places Of victims who had
been Identified and removed TO fu-
neral homes.
There was the unidentified adult
victim on an armory cot covered in
adequately with a blanket, the legs
sticking out at one end, the arms
at the other.
The circus had visited Hartford.
It was a date to remember.