THE FIRE AT BARNUM’S MUSEUM.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 6, Issue 326, 23 November 1865, Page 3

THE FIRE AT BARNUM’S MUSEUM.

HOW THE ANIMALS FAEED. The following account of how the animals and other curiosities fared in the great fire which on the 13th inst. totally destroyed Bamum’s Museum, and other adjacent property, is extracted from the New York Herald’s report of the conflagration ; “The majority of the crowd seemed delighted at the chance of seeing the curiosities gratis. One of the employes at the museum, who passed through the crowd with a bunch of coral in one hand, and a stuffed racoon in the other, was loudly cheered. But the excitement rose to its height when the giantess, the fat lady, and the white woolly headed Albino passed down Fultonstreet, followed be a number of the ladies of the •corpse de bullet, who, poor things, had lost ail of their threatrical ward robe. The pantomime of the Green Monster was to have been performed at the museum in the afternoon; but the monster was consumed with the whales, the Happy family, and the snakes. The fat lady, the giantess, and the ballet girls found a temporary refuge in a newspaper office, where they rehearsed their losses to a small but select audience, and the Albino was spirited away to a more private location, where she could not be seen without paying for the privilege. About 100 persons must have been thrown out of employment at the museum, and many of the pantomimists, dancers, and keepers will find it difficult to obtain employment at this dull season for amusements. The crowd did not think of this, however. They were incessant in their cries of ‘ boiled whale,’ ‘ fried snakes,’ * broiled monkeys,’ and roast elephant, thus displaying a sort of gamia wit and a perfect familiarity with the contents of the museum. * Throw me out one of the canoes’ or ‘ pitch me the bow-con-Btructor, I wants it for a tippet,’ or ‘ how are you learned seal ?’ provoked continued laughter. We suggest, however, that the fire has rather a serious side to it, and that the membeps of the theatrical profession in his city ought to organise a mammoth benefit at the Academy of Music, the proceeds to be divided among those whom this conflagration has deprived of their engagements for summer. When the fire first broke out and the smoke commenced to penetrate there arose a most peculiar Bable of sounds which it was ever alloted to mortaltohear. The ‘HappyFamily’ quite belied their cognomen ; the monkeys jabbered, the dogs barked, the cats mewed, parrots screamed, bears growled, kangaroos kangarooed, parroquets screamed ‘ Otter, otter,’ and poor ■otter, not caring for the smoke, buried himself in his native element. The Birds fluttered against the bars of their cages, and sang most doleful melodies. To save these poor animals was one of the first things thought of, and the first who presented himself to our notice was poor ‘ bruin’ himself, making the descent of the ladder in a very peculiar manner. He seemed quite savage, and not at all inclined for fun. Accustomed to be looked at through iron bars, he seemed at a loss to understand his present situation. Several times, ns his feet slipped through the rounds of the ladder, the tightening of the rope caused him to pale •visibly, and certainly show his canines, or, more properly, bearines. After some considerable time be reached, not the top of the ladder, but the foot, and once on terra Jlrma, bo looked as contented as a bear could under such circumstances. Louder grew the jabberings of the monkey tribe, who leaped frantically about, the boa constrictor writhed in agony as the heat became stronger, and a dismal series of wails from the whales, who tad not been used to tropical seas, mingled with the rhapsodies of the astrologer, the pantings of the fat woman, and the groanings of the giantess. The two latter were half frantic, and the maniac penman made .the most artistic flourishes with bis quilL Poor Ned, the educated seal, who was wont to astonish spectators with his sagacity, who used to turn the handle of a barrel organ, and do everything but speak, was seized upon by a couple of men, one evidently a Hibernian. ‘Bad luek to ye, he’s biting me, Miek,; and so ho was. ‘Fetch me a basket, was the cry, and still Ned wriggled about in the most fishy manner, the erowd making way on every side. At length his

rescuers succeeded iu bringing Ned to a place of safety, and we may at some future time see him perform as of yore With these exceptions we fear all the interesting collection of animals fell a prey to the fiery element, with the exception perhaps, of a few birds, which may have succeeded in flying away. The crowd outside were most anxious about “ dumb craythurs who niver did no one any harm, barren the bite the sale give me’ as our friend the Hibernian called them, and anxious inquhies was made as to whether the water in the aquaria would’nt prevent their finny inhabitants from being burnt. It may be some time before we can have so fine a collection of tropical fish as was in the Museum. The aquaria were made on the most approved plan, and arranged so that the water was kept fresh by a passage of air through them. The collection of birds, too, was most extensive. The animals were numerous and well trained, so that they all lived together without any squabling—making one think that even by training the millennial characteristic of the ‘ lion laying down with the lamb’ would not be so strange after all. The collection comprised a large amount of the monkey tribe, kangaroo, cat, dog, and other species, and afforded much amuseument to the children of our city, to whom a visit to Barnum’s was always a great treat. Country cousins, too, who viewed the white cat, that had no tail, and therefore could not ‘ a tail unfold,’ will have no place where to study the beauties of natural history, and many now will feel sorry for having given the monkey blind nuts, now that he is no more. Many will think of Jocko who used to submit to their persecutions ‘ without a word of anger or reproach.* Poor Jocko ! Unfortunate pussy you are now where even the great showman cannot find you. We drop a tear for your memories and though you sometimes attemped to bite our fingers when we approached too near your prison-house, still we will faithfully adhere to the injunction, ‘fie mortuis nil nisi bomtm.’ ”