THE DAY THE CLOWNS CRIED One of the most horrific disasters in American history was the Hartford Circus Fire. On July 6, 1944, during a performance of the Ringling Brothers & Barnum and Bailey Circus in Hartford, Connecticut, the big top caught fire and was consumed in a matter of minutes. The circus trains rolled into Hartford on the afternoon of July 5th and set up their big top tent for their first performance that evening. The Ringling Bros & Barnum and Bailey big top was the largest in the nation, containing three rings and seating 9,000. The tent itself was a single, huge canvas that had been waterproofed by coating it with 1,800 lbs of paraffin wax dissolved in gasoline. The next afternoon saw an audience of approximately 7,000 people, mostly women and children. Just as the lions finished performing, a small fire was spotted on the southwest wall of the tent. The band began to play Stars and Stripes Forever, the traditional circus distress call. The ringmaster attempted to direct the audience members to calmly move to the exits, but the sound system had already failed and no one heard him. In the ensuing confusion and hysteria, people were injured jumping from the bleachers, bottlenecked at the exits and trampled each other, collapsed from smoke inhalation, and were burned by the falling chunks of paraffin-coated canvas. The best estimates say that 168 or so died and upwards of 700 were injured. Many of the injured were not counted since they did not seek medical treatment at the hospital, instead staggering home in shock. None of the circus animals were injured; only the lions were in the big top at the time and they were quickly herded out by their trainers. The big top had completely collapsed in about eight minutes from the time the fire was first spotted, trapping the hundreds who were still inside. Most of the dead were found piled up at the exits, suffocated by the smoke or crushed under the weight of other victims. Others perished because they remained in their seats, waiting for the fire to be extinguished, or because they went back in to look for family members. It is possible that the death count should be higher than 168, since the intensity of the fire could easily have completely cremated human bodies, leaving no remains to be recovered and identified. There were also a number of apparent drifters who had scored free tickets, and who would not have been reported missing afterwards. The cause of the fire was never definitively proven. Possibly it was a discarded cigarette, but there have been many who believed it was deliberate arson. Years later, a former roustabout confessed to setting the fire. He later recanted and was never brought to trial. The circus held back profits for the next ten years to pay out $5 million in claims from survivors and families of the victims. Although several circus officials were convicted of negligence in the fire, no one was ever convicted of starting it, and no one ever served jail time. Of the two most enduring images from the fire, one was a photo of the famous clown Emmett Kelly in his sad-clown makeup, carrying a water bucket toward the big top. It was widely reprinted in newspapers, with the caption The Day The Clowns Cried. The other image was a photo of one of the victims, a little blond girl about 6 years old. Despite the horror of her final moments, her face was remarkably unmarred. Investigators took photographs, fingerprints, and dental records in hopes of identifying her, but all efforts were in vain. She was eventually buried in a Hartford cemetery. Her grave marker bore only the name Little Miss 1565, the morgue designation for her remains. In 1991 the shaky claim that she was Eleanor Cook of Southampton, Massachusetts was accepted by the courts, who allowed her to be exhumed and reburied in Southampton. Most professional and amateur historians are still doubtful as to Little Miss 1565s true identity. The Hartford Circus Fire was possibly the ultimate example of how mass hysteria can be as much a danger as the source of the hysteria. Even today, local law enforcement officers across the country are still attempting to educate the public on how to stay alive and successfully escape in similar situations. The Freelance Historian 2014.10.25
Posted on: Sat, 25 Oct 2014 13:31:51 +0000
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