A NOTABLE FIRE. BARNUM'S MENAGERIE BURNED. STRANGE SIGHTS AND SOUNDS. THE PEOPLE OF , BRIDGEPORT TERRORISED BY WILD BEASTS. NARROW ESCAPES.

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 238, 21 January 1888, Page 3

A NOTABLE FIRE.

BARNUM'S MENAGERIE BURNED. STRANGE SIGHTS AND SOUNDS. THE PEOPLE OF , BRIDGEPORT TERRORISED BY WILD BEASTS. NARROW ESCAPES.

(A recent cable despatch announced the destruction of Barnum's menagerie by fire. The following description of the occurrence is ffom the Bridgeport special to the " New York Times " of November ,22nd.} A choicer selection of howls, roars and screams, and a subtler combination of all • three, was never heard in Africa, Asia, Europe or Australia, than was produced . here last night by the burning of the main ■ building at the winter headquarters of Barnum and Bailey's circus. Bridgeport's Chief of Police says that he never heard anything to equal it .in his life, and he has travelled extensively in Connecticut and Rhode" island. Narrow is not the word ; it is not thin enough to convey a fair conception of the character of the escapes made on Sunday night by worthy burghers from ferocious denizens of the jungles on the outskirts of this city. Some of these escapes will furbish conversation for the ensuing winter, and the visitor will learn that even in a peaceful community like this it is possible, even in moderate weather, to have •one's veins packed with molecules of ice. Gone are the gorgeous band chariots ; gone the glittering tableaux vehicular contrivances, for no mad with a pinch of the picturesque could write them down waggons. They burned freely, and played a strong .though quiet part in tho play of Sunday .night. Paraphernalia of all kinds was turned into ashes in a few hours, but the burning of inanimate matter created no excitement among- the- thousands' who witnessed the fire. The people thought only •of the animals whose roars and screams of rage and terror both fascinated and frightened the listeners. Not until to-day was it- learned that the actual loss of animal life was confined to four .elephants, one lion, some horses, a number of ponies and small aDi Dials, several cages of birds, and part of a rhinoceros. For four hours after the fire had done its worst it was supposed that the number of animal? lost was much larger, and the loss in dollars was placed at 1,000,000. Daylight lessened the loss, lowered the number of casualties, and strengthened the nerves. And it brought Barnuni andBailey to the scene. Mr Bailey was cheerful ; Mr Barnum was himself. The loss of Animal life grieved them, both, of course,, arid according tq both it was difficult, or rather it entailed much labour and a great deal of ingenuity, in this age, to pick up £1,000,000, but, on the whole, the fire was not such a disastrous affair as it might have been. Barnum and Bailey still lived. Had they been burned, up the country might have been forced to remain satisfied with the efforts of ordinary men. But the bounding Bs were still on deck, and in a position to predict that the phoenix of the future would be 80 surpassingly and indescribably dazzling that the old bird would sink into oblivion without causing a ripple, except as an advertising medium. In that role, of course, it would be worked until it fell to pieces. No antiques in the coming greatest show on earth ; no lions with molars so dulled as to be unable to leave an indelible Barnum & Bailey stamp on the tender leg of a yearling heifer. Everything — the old stock included— will be brandnew ; down to George Washington's coach and Noah's ark ; in short, on none of the exhibits of the coming show will there be a single fly. This was a great city for Bridgeport, for the inhabitants of the surrounding country knocked off work and just raced to get here. As Mr Barnum gazed at the crowd it may have occurred to him that at 50 cents a head there was at least §6,060 in, if the' fence hadn't been down — sections of it at least— and the money went back with the visitors. The latter, however, had little excitement compared with that which filled the townspeople last night. To-day's visitors saw only the ruins. Of the burned elephant they saw the remains, but betvreen those of ordinary elephants and the sacred white elephant of Siam there was no difference. They are all charred to the same condition and their flavour is high. But for their own obstinacy, none of the elephants would have been burned. SamaonTefused to have his ."hackles knocked j off, and struck his keeper a blow with his trunk that almost finished him.

The Sacred White Elephant was evidently tired of life. He was given an opportunity to escape. He lunged toward the door, apparently under the impression, on account of the temperature, that he was in the vicinity of his native lair. One sniff of Bridgeport ozone undeceived the beast. He executed a right-about-face movement, shook his brief and undignified tail in a manner suggestive of disdain at the staring thousand, bent his sacred cocoanut before the fierce blast, and was cremated. Some of bis admirers main* tain that his, death was due to the cruel doubts expressed by many that he was not as white as he might have been, But as Jumbo; or his hide, was not lost, the American youth is permitted to enjoy his thanksgiving dinner with a grateful heart. Samson, Alice, and a companion may have been burned, another elephant may have preferred a watery grave and drowned himself or been drowned, but their loss can be | borne as long as Jumbo's hide is safe. The fire burned with tremendous vigour. Everybody seemed to expect that the circus headquarters would eventually meet with such a fate, but nobody was apparently prepared for the fire, not even the water-supply. George W. Myers, the watchman who discovered the fire and sounded the fire alarm, had an experience that seemed to prove the fire to have been of incendiary origin. He found the door of the stable in which the ponies were housed open when it ought to have been Closed. The stable was already on fire. He sounded the alarm, then laid the lantern he was carrying on the ground, and was about to enter the stable to loose the ponies when he was struck on the head with a billy by an unknown man. He lay unconscious, he supposes, for ten or fifteen minutes. When he recovered the fire was raging in all quarters of the main building, which was about 200 feet broad by 500 feet long. / There were

Thirty-one Elephantf In the Building. • '-„-, . And twenty-seven of these were taken out by Keeper :Mahir~ and^ other circus employees. 1 Some of these wandered whereeverth r ey chose and carried consternation' with them; - iNbne of them did any injury. One of them wandered' 1 down to the water's edge and this morning concluded to take a smm." j He ay^am out td one of the beacons and cUmbered up on the foundation. There lie w&a 1 noticed' by some men, who went to his aaaisUnce in a boat. •' The poor brute looked at £he men as they appr<>ached. '

They spoke to him in a coaxing ffltanefr ;and he seemed to make tip hisumnd-w wSturnwith them. -. He entered theiwater.' It was very oold and hesanklalmlst im* , mediately.* In a few minutes -thj- huge body .came to the suHace, but the .cfeohanb was dead. His carcase went outi vpfen the tide, and will probably furnish a fr sh.crop. of sea-seroent stories. ■ " I ~ i<M

Kimrod, the felon, i I was rescued by -ex-Trainer ikUteljy, who came out of the burning, building nth his right hand grasping the mane of tie great beast. The animal was trembli g' with fright and followed the reecuer like a do<*. Possibly on accountof his pacific demjanour, Policeman Small and another, man; began firing at the lion with revolvers. Bjflkeley j ,tried to save the beast and called pn the shooters to desist. The lion broke away, but was recaptured by Bulkeley, whdforced him into a pen. Thence he was frightened by the fire and made his way to thj fence. There had been, a large number oi people on the^ fence, but on seeing the lon approach they got down or fell down. On the other side of the fence was peorgo Tucker. He knew nothing of the li«n, and the lion was unacquainted with him A The lion jumged over the fence and alighted on, Mr Tucker. * That gentleman gave one yell. It nearly knocked the remaining life out of the lion, and put'him in such a hurry to get away that he took with him some of Mr Tucker's trousers and also some of the underlying cuticlo, but as he left at once and forgot to kill Mr Tucker, the latter is satisfied. Nimrod had a pitiiul ending. After his adventure with Mr Tuckey he found his way into a cow-shed owned by Mrs Marcella Rickord. In the shed were a cow and a heifer Without waiting for an introduction

The Lion Sprang at the Cow and embraced her, The cow bellowed. Mrs Rickord heard the cow and entered the shed. She thought the cow and heifer were fighting. Upon approaching the cow's stall she conducted the cow had been attacked by a huge idog. , She picked up a hoe-hand^e and gave the lion a whack, that must have made his backache. He was Busy exploring the interior of the cow, and paid no attention. Mrs Rickord gave him a poke in the ribs. He looked at her and roared. Mrs Rickord didn't faint until she gob outside. Then a printer named Harry Breen appeared. He was told there was large game on,the premises. He procured a rifle, took aim through a hole in the roof, and killed the animal by shooting him in the head. The lion had killed the cow, and was chewing a leg of the tieiferwhenhe was shot, gmall boys cut 6ff liis claws and tail to-day, and would probably have cut the "carcass into small pieces if Mrs Rickord hadn't ■ been, advised to preserve the body as evidence that she had suffered through his depredations.'

The Rhinoceros Made a Seasatiou that eclipsed the accomplishments of any and. all of • the other animals. Nobody saved him; he saved himself, or part of himself, for when he walked out of the burning building the hide was hanging down in strips. He was terribly burned, and frightened too. He carefully., concealed his fright, and when he approached the crowd the latter gave him all' the room that even a burned rhinoceros had any reason to expect. Wherever he moved he was alone, but when he finally rolled toward the fence there was a scramble that threw all other scrambles in the shade. They fully demonstrated that Bridgeport girls can climb a fence just as easily, more easily in fact, than Bridgeport men. Hundreds of them wero on the wrong side of the fence when the rhinoceros appeared 1 in their vicinity. Though he made no 1 hostile demonstrations, his appearance was against him. Everybody- wanted to get over the fence first. It was every girl for herself and every man for himself. The girls weren't the last to get over, though they received no assistance from the men. Many of them asserted their womanhood; but not until the rhinoceros was on the other side of the fence, by fainting, but such incidents went for very little last night. it is a difficult matter to day to find anybody who was scared last night, but people with weak nerves were not scarce on Sunday night. The report that the town and country was overrun with snakes made hundreds feel weak at the knees. Many of these received an awful shock in one of the dark approaches to the scene of the tire. Upon coming suddenly in sight of a line of fire-hose they turned, and fled, carrying the information that the anaconda was loose and in a state of the utmost exasperation. The driver of a fire engine met an elephant on the way. He loved his horses, and he turned about and got to the fire in another route. A dozen young men joined forces and struck out for the fire. On the way they saw a St. Bernard dog crouched in front of his- master's residence. They walked a mile out of their way rather than disturb the lion, mistaking him for a Nimrod. The fire was a notable one in its way, but the extent in a money sense is far less than was imagined. ,