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 Imagine the panic, on Monday, November 9, 1874 when people in New York City read their morning edition of the New York Herald and saw the headlines:
The Wild Animals Broken Loose from Central Park Terrible Scenes of Mutilation Savage Brutes at Large Awful Combatants Between the Beasts and Citizens The first four columns of the five column front page related an eyewitness account of the dramatic escape of a giant rhinoceros that quickly went about freeing the other animals by breaking down the bars of their cages. Before long, the article continued, forty-nine people were dead and 200 injured. It went on to describe how a panther had pinned a zoo keeper and was gnawing at his head. In another case, a leopard had killed a small child and mutilated several women. An African lioness was saturated in the blood from eighteen victims, men, women, and children. Police stations were flooded with people demanding protection. Newspaper editors as far away as Boston, flooded the New York Herald newspaper offices demanding more information. Many men took to the streets armed with revolvers and hunting rifles. Among them was Samuel Tilden and Chester A. Arthur; Both became presidential candidates in just a few years. Few people took the time to read the entire article. The last column explained that there were not ANY animals who had broken out of their cages in the Central Park Zoo. It went on to explain that the purpose was to bring public awareness to the shortcomings of the zoo. Cages were rickety, animals were underfed, and animal transfer methods were not secure. Unfortunately, it is not recorded if the zoo made the necessary changes. In the week following the wild animal hoax, Thomas Nast (at the time a staunch Republican) had one of his illustrations published in Harper’s Weekly. It satirized both the hoax and the Herald’s attempts to scare voters about Grant’s intentions. The illustration showed the Democrats as a donkey, disguised in the skin of a lion tagged "Caesarism." The donkey was scaring zoo animals who were running frightened through the woods of Central Park. One of the animals was an elephant labeled "The Republican Vote." The cartoon was captioned "The Third-Term Panic." For some reason, these political symbols stuck in the people’s minds and remains today as a legacy of the animal hoax.
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Several times a year my mother would go visit Nellie, one of her friends that lived out of town. Although it was 1960, and I was only twelve at the time, I still remember these trips quite well. I loved to go with because each time we visited, Nellie would put on her stereo an album by Martin Denny called Quiet Village. This was to keep my sister and I entertained while Nellie visited with mom. Due to Hawaii becoming a state recently, Hawaiian music was ever so present. Although the album Quiet Village was marketed as Hawaiian music, it was certainly unique. My sister and I would stand there looking down at the record player and watching it spin as the music played. I have no idea why the album was named Quiet Village, because thoughout the album, the music had bird calls, frogs croaking, and other tropical sounds in the background. To listen to the title song, click the blue player button with the white sideways triangle. To stop the music from playing, click the square button to the right of the Play button. (For those with a dialup connection, the music will likely start and stop several times. Let the music play through completely once, then click the play button again. This time the music will play all the way through without the starts and stops.)
From the same album, see if you can recognize the tune below. It is a well-known song from a classic Rodgers & Hammerstein's musical.
The album, even though first released nearly fifty years ago, was reissued in 1997 and is still available for purchase on CD. It can be purchased from Amazon.com
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The new panoramas have enhanced features, such full screen, audio commentary, control of zoom levels, improved quality, and others. The Abraham Lincoln panoramas currently online will be eventually converted to the new format. To be among the first to view the new panoramas, go to: http://www.historybuff.com/panos
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While at a friend's home, the father was telling me about his 16-year-old son that had just obtained his driver's permit. My friend's 8-year-old daughter came to me and annouced that she knew what the different colors on a traffic light meant. She told me that red means stop, green means go, and amber means to tromp on it! We all laughed. The daughter had a puzzled look on her face and, in an effort to defend herself, announced "That's what my dad does!"
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April Contest |
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CONTEST ONE QUESTION: Only one United States President was a Republican and his elected Vice-President was a Democrat. Who were they?
ANSWER: Abraham Lincloln and Andrew Johnson |
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CONTEST TWO QUESTION: Only two fathers of United States Presidents outlived their sons who had became President then died. Who were they?
ANSWER: George Harding and Joseph Kennedy. |
Since the questions were harder, only forty-four people entered. Three had the incorrect subject heading, and nine did not select a prize they wanted if they won. Three prizes went unclaimed. |
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To enter Contest One, answer the question: Who was the last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence?
To enter Contest Two, answer the question: Which United States President was the first to officially proclaim the observance of Thanksgiving?
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(Only one of each offered) | ||
 Book Tapping Hitler's Generals Transcripts of Secret Conversations, 1942-1945 Edited by Sonke Neitzel Between 1942 and 1945, MI-19, a division of the British Decorate of Military Intelligence, created a number of combined Services Detailed Interrogation Centers in and around London. Sophisticated tapping equipment was installed, and secret gramophone recordings were made of conversations between German general staff officers. This book is a transcript of these conversations. This book may be ordered from Amazon.com. For a complete listing of this publisher's titles, please visit www.casematepublishing.com |
 DVD
Four Gene Autry Movies 1937-1947
The Big Show
Boots and Saddles
Springtime in the Rockies Riders of the Whistling Pines
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(Only one of each offered) | |
 DVD
Classic Comedy TV Episodes
Burns & Allen |
 DVD
Crusade in the Pacific Volume II
Six Episodes of this WWII Documentary Series
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| Original Historic Newspapers | |
 Original Manchester American & Messenger (New Hampshire) historic newspaper from 1853 | |
 New York Tribune historic newspaper from 1860 | |
 Original New Hampshire Patriot historic newspaper from 1868 | |
 Original Coldwater Republican (Michigan) historic newspaper from 1876 | |
| That's it for this issue.
Rick Brown
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| To visit HistoryBuff.com go to http://www.historybuff.com |
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