Gallipolis journal. [volume] (Gallipolis, Ohio) 1837-1919, 1869-08-05
How Elephants are Trained.

n DctfOlt paper udS .tlc lOuOWluR.
"Baby Annie" exhibited on Friday
and Saturday in this city, is as popular
and well known as the majority of hu-
man actors, who tread the boards in
stead of the sawdust ring. Like them,
she endeavors to please, and in her way,
feels chagrin as deeply when she fails
to receive the appreciation believed to
be merited. She is now five years old,
and though far from her "teens," is
nevertheless a pretty good lump of a
body. weighing eighteen hundred
pounds. Her history has been care
fully kept, and Mclaughlin, her
trainer. can tell you every thing about
her.
At the time of her capture she was
only two years old; but Smith, her
captor, assisted by party of Africans
and dogs, found her as hard to control
in her infancy as most women are at
mature age. After a few weeks
training she was started for the coast,
eight hundred miles away, and Ken
yon has yet in his cages two large hy
enas that rode in baskets slung over
Miss Annie's back. Her cost in New
York was eighteen hundred dollars,
and at the time of her purchase she
was the smallest elephant in this coun-
try, and is still the only genui ne Afri-
can elephant. Though she has never
been hard pushed to test her endur-
ance on the road, she once took a
stretch of forty-two miles over the
rocky roads of Pennsylvania in eleven
hours, and showed not the least sign of
exhaustion.
Miss Annie is model female--one
of the old school, and would as soon
twist her head off with her trunk as to
harm human being who treated her
courteously. Last winter, in her quar-
ters at Philadelphia, she exhibited love
and hate in very singular manner.
Mclaughlin had imbibed rather freely,
and returning to the barn, got into a
difficulty with a policeman, who was
bent on arresting him. The cop had
been around the barn good deal, and
was somewhat acquainted with the ele-
phant. The trainer fed to the barn
and getting behind "Baby'' refused to
submit to arrest. The NJ. P. boldly
advanced to bring him out, when the
elephant thrust him aside with her
trunk. This was repeated several
times, the trainer encouraging her,
when the policeman gave her an angry
blow with his baton and sought to push
by. Blowing her shrill trumpet,
"Baby" caught him around the waist,
and giving him strong whirl deposit
ed the frightened blue coat in barrel
of oats thirty-fve feet away. AS he
had no instructions to arrest elephants,
and could not arrest the man without
her, he concluded not to press matters.
At another time last summer, dur
ing a hot night, Mclaughlin laid
down beside "Baby" on bale of hay,
and soon fell asleep. Near him was
the cage of the Bengal tiger, fierce
and ungovernable animal, and treach-
erous to the last degree. By lying
down the beast could get his paws at
full length under the bars, and on the
morning of that very day he had thus
given his unsuspecting keeper stroke
with his claws that tore open the mans
cheek in horrible manner. Restless,
Mclaughlin rolled about, and the eyes
of the Royal glistened as he saw the
body coming nearer to his cruel claws.
At length, just as one of the keepers
entered the door, the trainer rolled
down SO near that the tiger reached
out and caught his clothes. With a
savage snarl, he was Strengthening
back for pull, to get the flesh under
his nails, when the elephant, who had
also been sleeping, rose up at the
growl, and seeing the situation at a
glance rushed forward, before the man
at the door had scarcely advanced a
step, and with a blow of her trunk
made the tiger let go of her hold and
scream with pain and fury.
Since her capture she has increased
seven hundred pounds in weight, and
six inches in hight. Three years ago
she had not sign of tusk; now she
has worries six inches long, and grow
ing finely. In the summer, when the
weather is dry. she gets bath at every
creek, and her trainer gives her a doz-
en- pals of water over the back if stand
ing long in the tent. About twice
year she gets six gallons of linseed oil
rubbed over her skin; without it, the
hide would get so dry as to feel and
sound like board. Her usual feed |
per day is bushel of oats and one |
hundred and fifty pounds of hay, and |
she drinks, if moderately thirsty, twen-
ty pals of water at a time. AS stated,
she is very docile, minding readily If |
she understands what is wanted. Do
ing wrong through ignorance, let her
trainer "bless her eyes" little, and
"Babv" shows as much sorrow as q re-