Evansville weekly journal., 1848-05-18
"sEElNG THE ELEPHANT.n

The origin Of this now common and ex-
presive phrase is thus described:
Some years since, at one of the Phladel-
phia theatres, pageant was in rehearsal in
which il was necessary TO have an elephant
No elephant was TO be had. The .'wild
beasts" were all travelling. and the property
man, stage.direcior, aud The manager almost
had the fits when they thought of it. Days
passed in the hopeless task Of endeavoring to
secure one; but at last Yankee ingenuity
lrlumphed, as indeed it, always does, and an
elephant was duly made 10 order of wood,
skins, paint and varnsh. Thus far the mat
ter was all well, but as yet they had found
no meaus 10 make said combination travel
| Here again the genius of the manager, stage
director and properyman stuck Uul,' and
two of the ssupes' were duly installed. Ned
| c., one o! the true and genuine 'bo-'hoys,'
held the responsible station of "foIe-legs,
and for several nights he played that heavy
part 10 the entire satisfaction of the manager
and the delight of the audience. The part,
however, was very tedious one, as the
elephant was obliged to be on the stage for
about an hour, and Ned was rather too fond
of the bottle TO remain so long without 'wet-
ting his whistle,' so he sets his wits TO work
tc find way TO carry a wee drop with him.
The eyes OF The elephant being made oI
two porter bottles, the necks in, Ned con
ceived the brilliant idea of filling them with
good stuff" This he fully carried out, and
elated with his success, willingly undertook
to play the "fore-legs" again.
Night came, the theatre was crowded
with the denizens of the Quaker city; the
music played its sweetest strains, the whis
tie sounded, the curtain rose, and the play
began. Ned and the .'hind-legs" marched
upon the stage. The elephant was greet
ed with round upon round Of applause. -
The decorations, the trappings, were gor
geous, the Prince seated on his back, thu
elephant, all were loudly cheered. Th'
) play proceeded, the elephant was marched
round the stage. The Store legs" got dry
and Withdrew one of the corks, ''treated ih'
hind legs" and dtank the health of the audi
+ ence in bumper of genuine .'elephant eye
whiskey-a brand, by the way, till then un
known. On went The play, and on went Ne,
drinking. The concluding march was TO b.
made-the signal was given and the store
! legs'' staggered towards the front of the stage
| the foot lights obsructed his way; he rase'
his feet and stepped-plump into tile orches
ira. Down went The ''fore-legs" on The lea
der's fiddle; over OF course turned The ele
plant, sending the Prince. closely followe'
by the s'hind-legs," into the middle of th
pit. The manager stood horror-siruck th
Prince and 'hlnd-legs" lay confoundcd, tn,
boxes in convulsions, the actors chokin,
with laughter.
And p or Ned, casting one look, strang
blending of drunkenness, grief, and laughter
at the scene, fed hastily ou. Of the theatre
7 closely followed by the leader, with th
wreck of his fiddle, performing various Gu
} and thrust motion in the air, Imagine tn
scene-pain, II for me, some of you, if yo
D oan.
/ The result, reader, can you not picture it
The curtain dropped on 'sscene behin
scenes" No more pageant, no more Store
e legs" but every body holding their sides
music, pit, gallery and boxes, rushed fror
the theatre, shreking between every breat
! --'HAvE YOU SEEN THE ELEpHANT?"