Lynchburg daily Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1852-1861, 1855-10-05
Origin of So 5ing ths Elephant

Some thirty years since, ut one oi th' fhlludri'
pha Theatres, n pageant was IN rehearsal III
which it was necessary to have an elephant No
elephant was to be had The wild beasts" were
all travelling, and the property man, stage dreo
tor and managers, almost had fits when they
thoght of it, Days passed in the hopeless task
of trying to secure one; but at last Yankee in
genuy iriumphed, as indeed it always does, and
an elephant was made to order OF wood, skins.
paint and varnish. Thus far the matter all
very well, hut yet, they had found no means
to make said combination travel. Here again
the genius of the managers the stage director
and property man stuck out, and two ''brothers"
were duly installed as legs. Ned C, one Of
the srne aud genuine 'b'hoys, held the RESPONSE
bile station of fore legs, aud for several nights no
played that heavy part TO the entire satisfaction
of the managers and the delight of the audi
enc
The part, however was Il very tedious one, AS
tho elephant was obliged to be on the stage for
about an hour aud Ned was rather too fond of
the bottle to remain 30 long without "wettng
his WHISTLE" so he set his wits to work to find n
way to carry n wee drop with him The eyes of
the elephant being mnde of two porter bottles,
with the neck in, Ned conceived the brilliant idea
of filing them with good stuff. This he fully
carried out; and elated with success he willingly
undertook to play fore legs again.
NIGHT came on-the theatre was densely crowd
music was played in sweetest strains-the curtain
rose and the play begun. Ned and ''hind legs"
marched upon the stage. The eggplant was greet
cd with round upon round OF applause. The de-
corations and the 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 bind legs, and then
drank the health of the audience in u bumper of
genuine elephant eye whiskey, n brand by the
way. till then unknown. On went the play
and on went Ned drinking. The conclusion march
was TO be made-the signal was given, and the
fore legs staggered towards the front of the stage
The conductor pulled the cars of the elephant to
the right-the fore legs staggered to the left The
foot lights obstructed the way, and he raised his
foot and step plump into the orchestra Down
went the fore legs on the leaders fiddle-over, of
course turned the elephant, sending the prince and
hind legs into the middle of the pit. The manager
stood horror struck-the prince and the hind legs
lay confounded,the boxes in convusions the actors
choking with laughter and poor Ned,castiDg one
ook,a strange blending of drunkenness, grief and
laughter at the sceneA fed hastily out of the theatre
. closely followed by the leader with the wreck OF
his fiddle, performing various cut and thrust mo-
tions in the air. The curtain dropped on scene
behind the scenes. No more pageant-no more
fore egs--but every body held their sides. Music.
actors, pit boxes a1d gallery, rushed from tho
theatre shriekng between every breath--"Have
you seen the Elrphant!' -
AN INcIDENr.-We copy the following from
Tho Datarshnrp Exnress.