Struggles and Triumphs by P.T. Barnum — Read

Another Reopening -- A Cherry-Colored Cat -- The Cat Let Out of the Bag -- My First Whaling Expedition -- Plans for Capture -- Success of the Scheme -- Transporting Living Whales by Land -- Public Excitement -- The Great Tank -- Salt Water Pumped from the Bay to the Museum -- More Whales -- Expedition to Labrador -- The First Hippopotamus in America -- Tropical Fish -- Commodore Nutt and His First "Engagement" -- The Two Dromios -- President Lincoln Sees Commodore Nutt -- Wading Ashore -- A Question of Legs -- Self-Deception -- The Golden Angel Fish -- Anna Swan, the Nova Scotia Giantess -- The Tallest Woman in the World -- Indian Chiefs -- Expedition to Cyprus -- My Agent in a Pasha's Harem.

On the 13th of October, 1860, the American Museum was the scene of another reopening, which was, in fact, the commencement of the fall dramatic season, the summer months having been devoted to pantomime. A grand flourish of trumpets in the way of newspaper advertisements and flaming posters drew a crowded house. Among other attractions, it was announced that Mr. Barnum would introduce a mysterious novelty never before seen in that establishment. I appeared upon the stage behind a small table, in front of which was nailed a white sack, on which was inscribed, in large letters, "The cat let out of the bag. " I then stated that, having spent two of the summer months in the country, leaving the Museum in charge of Mr. Greenwood, he had purchased a curiosity with which he was not satisfied; but, for my part, I thought he had received his money's worth, and I proposed to exhibit it to the audience, for the purpose of getting their opinion on the subject. I stated that a farmer came in from the country, and said he had got a "cherry-colored cat" at home which he would like to sell; that Mr. Greenwood gave him a writing promising to pay him twenty-five dollars for such a cat delivered in good health, provided it was not artificially colored; and that the cat was then in the bag in front of the table, ready for exhibition. Whereupon, my assistant drew from the bag a common black cat, and I informed the audience that when the farmer brought his "cherry-colored cat," he quietly remarked to Mr. Greenwood, that, of course, he meant "a cat of the color of black cherries. " The laughter that followed this narration was uproarious, and the audience unanimously voted that the "cherry-colored cat," all things considered, was well worth twenty-five dollars. The cat, adorned with a collar bearing the inscription, "The Cherry-colored Cat," was then placed in the cage of the "Happy Family," and the story getting into the newspapers, it became another advertisement of the Museum.