Part 33 (1/2)
The Lecture-Room Entertainments embrace PEtitE DRAMA, VAUDEVILLE, BURLETTA and FARCE By a company of rare musical and dramatic talent Miss DAWRON, DOUBLE-VOICED VOCALIST, Mlle MATILDA E
TOEDT,
The Talented Young Violinist, &c
Admission to all, 25 cents; Children under 10, 15 cents
Nor did the monster fail to receivediscoentle and loving whales, Mr Barnuain invested untold heaps of ain a tenant, and the great public have huge amphibious matter for their wonder under the unwieldy naentlee loveliness of his countenance cannot fail to captivate the crowd His youth, too, gives him a special claim to the consideration of the ladies, for he is a little darling of only three years--a very baby of a hippopotao, daily sucked his few gallons of lacteal nourishment from the fond bosoyptian river The young gentleives you the idea that he is the result of the as, a seal, a dozen India-rubber blankets, and an old-fashi+oned horse-hide covered trunk Big as he is, unwieldy as he is, strange, uncouth, and monstrous as he is, he appears after all to be most mild and even-teood-natured muley cow; and if by chance he should hurt anybody, he would have to achieve it ainst hi over upon hiets over the railing and stands by the side of young Hippo, doesn't, after all, do a deed of such superhu, for all he does it with such an air of reckless sacrifice of self for the public good
The hippopota and attractive of all the strange creatures ever yet caught by Mr
Barnu public He is orth a visit, and an hour's inspection He receives daily, froood supply of salt water Barnued his aquarium, which was the first show of the kind ever seen in A sharks, porpoises, sea-horses andthe ocean in search of marine novelties In this way he secured el fishes and others that never had been seen in New York before He also purchased the Aquarial Gardens in Boston, and removed the entire collection to his Museureatest hits must be told in his oords: ”In December, 1861,” he related, ”I was visited at the Museuent little felloith a deal of drollery and wit He had a splendid head, was perfectly formed, and was very attractive, and, in short, for a 'showman,' he was a perfect treasure His naton Morrison Nutt, and his father was Major Rodnia Nutt, a substantial far in dispatching an efficient agent to Manchester, and in overcoer to secure this extraordinary piged hie that he was christened the 30,000 Nutt; I, in theupon hied him, placards, posters and the columns of the newspapers proclaimed the presence of 'Commodore Nutt' at the Museum I also procured for the Commodore a pair of Shetland ponies, old-e, which, when closed, represented a gigantic English walnut The little Corew rapidly in public favor
General To in the South and West For so these years he had increased considerably in rotundity and had changed ular fact, however, that Commodore Nutt was almost a fac-simile of General Tom Thumb, as he looked half-a-dozen years before Consequently, veryallowance for the time which had elapsed since they had last seen the General, declared that there was no such person as 'Co my old friend Tom Thumb under a new name
”Commodore Nutt enjoyed the joke very much He would sometimes half admit the deception, si portion of my visitors
”It was evident that here was an opportunity to turn all doubts into hard cash, by si the his Western engage with August 11, 1862, in my Museum Announcements headed 'The Two Dro,' as I expected, drew large crowds to see theard to the genuineness of the 'Nutt' But here I was considerably nonplussed, for, astonishi+ng as it may seem, the doubts of many of the visitors were confired, anyhow,'
still declared that Commodore Nutt was General To to pass off as Tom Thumb, was no more like the General than he was like theto see how people will so too incredulous
”In 1862 I sent the Co him there, I received an invitation from President Lincoln to call at the White House withat the appointed hour, I was infor, but that he had left word if I called to be shown in to him with the Commodore These were dark days in the rebellion, and I felt that my visit, if not ill-timed, must at all events be brief When ere admitted, Mr Lincoln received us cordially, and introduced us to the members of the Cabinet When Mr Chase was introduced as the Secretary of the Treasury, the little Coentle so much of Uncle Sam's money?'
” 'No, indeed,' said the Secretary of War, Mr Stanton, very pro the ood cause, anyhow, and I guess it will coht'
”His apt remark created , lank body, and taking Nutt by the hand, he said:
” 'Co word of advice
When you are in co taken prisoner, I advise you to wade ashore'
The Co hi his eyes up the whole length of Mr Lincoln's very long legs, he replied:
” 'I guess, Mr President, you could do that better than I could' ”
In no place did extremes ever meet in a more practical sense than in the American Museum Commodore Nutt was the shortest of men; and at the same time the Museum contained the tallest of women
Her name was Anna Swan, and she cah a Quaker, as visiting the Museum
This visitor cairl, only seventeen years old, who lived near hient up there, who brought the young lady back to New York She was an intelligent girl, and, despite her enor ti attraction at Barnureat attention there
Forparties of American Indians from the far West to exhibit at the Museum
He had also sent several parties of thearded as extraordinary curiosities
In 1864 ten or twelve chiefs, of as many different tribes, visited the President of the United States, at Washi+ngton By a pretty liberal outlay ofthem to New York, and to pass so these Indians to dance, or to give any illustration of their games or pastimes, was out of the question They were real chiefs of powerful tribes, and would no ive an exhibition of theistrate of our own nation would have done Their interpreter could not therefore promise that they would remain at the Museum for any definite ti as they suppose all your patrons come to pay them visits of honor If they suspected that your Museu,” he continued, ”you could not keep them a moment after the discovery”
On their arrival at the Museue and personally introduced them to the public The Indians liked this attention from him, as they had been inforreat establishuests His patrons were of course pleased to see these old chiefs, as they knew they were the ”REAL thing,” and several of the friendly or cruel to the whites After one or two appearances on the stage, Barnues and visited the Mayor of New York in the Governor's room at the City Hall Here the Mayorinterpreted to the savages, was responded to by a speech from one of the chiefs, in which he thanked the ”Great Father” of the city for his pleasant words, and for his kindness in pointing out the portraits of his predecessors hanging on the walls of the Governor's room
On another occasion Barnue public schools up town The teachers were pleased to see theed an exhibition of special exercises by the scholars, which they thought would be ratify their barbaric visitors At the close of these exercises, one old chief arose, and simply said: ”This is all new to us We are mere unlearned sons of the forest, and cannot understand e have seen and heard”