Thibodaux minerva. [volume] (Thibodaux, La.) 18??-1858, 1855-12-29
Origin Of 6 Secing the EIcphnmt.r

Some years since, at one of the Philadelphia
theatres, pageant was i'll rehearsal, in which it
was necessary to have an elephant No elephant
was to be had. The .swid beasts were all
travelling, and the property man, stage director
and managers almost had fits when they thought
of it. Days passed i'll the hopeless task Of try
ing to secure one Z: but at last Yankee ingenuity
triumphed as indeed it always does, and an ell
ephant was made to order Of wood, skins. paint
and varnish. Thus far the matter was all very
we'll; but as yet, they found no means to make
said combination travel. Here again, the genius
Of the managers, the stage director and proper
ty man stuck out, and two I" broths' were duly
Installed as legs. Ned c., one of the true gen
uine bhoys," held the station of fore legs, and
for several nights he played that heavy part to
delight of the audience.
The part, however, was n 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 s. wet
ting his whistle So he set his wits to work to
find way to carry wee drop with him. The
eyes of the elephant being made of porter
bottles, with the necks in, Ned conceived the
brilliant idea of filing them with good stuff.
This he fully carried out; and elated with sue
cess, he willingly undertook to play the fore
legs again
Night came on-the theatre was densely crow
ded with the denzens of the Quaker city-the
music was played in the sweetest strains-the
curtain rose and the play began. Ned and the
'hind legs" marched upon the stage. The ele-
plant was greeted with round upon round of APP
plause The decorations and trappings were
gorgeous The elephant and the prince seated
upon his back were loudly cheered. The play
proceeded; the elephant was marched round and
round upon the stage. The fore legs got dry,
withdrew one of the corks, and treated the hind
legs and then drank the health of the audience
in bumper Of genuine elephant eye whisky,
brand, by the way, till then unknown. Onwent
the play, and on went Ned drinking The con-
cluson march was to be made-the signal was
given, and the fore legs staggered towards the
front of the stage. The conductor pulled the
ears of the elephant to the right--the fore legs
staggered to the left. The foot lights obstruct-
ed the way. and he raised his foot and stepped
plump into the orchestra! Down went the fore
legs on to the LEADERS, fddle-over, of course,
turned the elephant, sending the prince and
hind legs into the middle of the pit The man
ayers stood horror struck-the prince and the
hind legs lay COMMUNICATIVE boxes in convu-
sons, the actors choking with laughter, and
poor Ned. casting one look strange blending
of drunkenness. grief and laughter at the scene
fed hastily out Of the theatre, closely followed
by the leader with the the wreck of his fiddle,
performing various cut and thrust motions in
the air The curtain dropped on a scene behind
the scenes. No more pageant-no more fore legs
but everybody held their sides. Music,
tors, pit, boxes, and gallery, rushed from the
theatre, shlieking between every breath-''Haue
you seen the elephant. ?"