The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1853-1911, 1872-06-06
Menageries and what they Cost.

lne best place to study botany is il
the fields where it becomes a deIiehtfu
combination OF recreation and labor. II
! Is not convenient, nor would it be alto
gether satisfactory and pleasant to 90 tc
the deserts, juugles, mountains and
marshes to study zoology. The next
pest thing Is to visit menagerie and
interview the unfortunate animals in
prison. They are not quite themselves
any more than man is himself in irons
FAMED Wild beasts are really stale and
lnslpid compared with their freshness
amid the scenes of their nativity. Tanned
Wild beasts !! They are impossible. They
are not tanned They can only be cowed
nneir spirits can be crushed, not broken
Wild beasts cannot be tanned any more
than barbarian can be civilized. Re.
move the pressure of the stronger power
and governing mind and they relapre
into the freedom and license of mother
nature who gave them their unouench-
able instincts.
Commerce subjugates the whole field
OF nature and weakens the pristine vigor
of everything it embraces in its system
OF conquest. When wild plant is
found to be good for something as a
commodity, and is cultivated for that
purpose, ITS constitution undergoes a
change. 1t looses some of its original
havor, and hosts of enemies arise against
1t as If to exterminate the species. Wild
beasts are hardly in their natural fast
nesses, aud they battle successfully
against the elements, but when they are
caught and put in the meuagerie dens
for commercial purposes, they become
very precarlous property. Although
their appetites are carefully consulted,
and their native climates as far as DOS.
sibie are reproduced for their comfort,
yet their whole life is painting for free.
dom while they languish in luxury.
They have lost vitality, and their health
is necessarily impaired This is the
character of the wild beast we are per
mitted to look at in menageries They
are the best that can be offered to our
inspection, and they doubtless suit the
tastes of spectators better than the real
animal to be met near its chosen habita-
tion
As an article of commerce, it may be
of interest to examine the "tamed wild
beast" in a light in which we do not
view him when acting his part in the
showman's arena. His market value is
a consideration of which owing to his
secluded life very little is known out
side of the comparatively small circle of
showen themselves He will lose none
of his interest in connection with the
figures in which he stands related to his
owner, and some other particulars of his
history 10 the show business.
A great many showmen have been
made bankrupt by the large prices they
pay for stock, and the inclination of the
animals to an early death. Whilst on
the other hand few rare and hardy
brutes have made half dozen fortunes
for as many proprietors. There are
only three or four good collections of
animals in the United States, aud no one
Of these contains some of the rare beasts.
There is only one lonely giraffe living in
the United States, and the only hip
popotamus ever brought to America alive
departed this life ten years ago. His
>lubGu Shtb IL HOh IIuScuiH
lie made three showmen rich while he
lived, and in his death he was not all
destroyed.
There is standing offer of large sum
IF money for good able bodied hippopo
Janus to be landed on our shore, payable
On delivery in perfect healty. Such |
one would probably be worth from Sl5,-
300 to $4,000. Small elephants about
he size of three bullocks, are worth from
5000 to $4,000 according to education
Their general knowledge of things and |
ability to do tricks enhance their value
A large elephant who has killed several
ieepcrs and is looking around for another |
7ictim is worth $4,000. They are always |
represented as exceedingly docile; their
,usks being put on for ornament, and !
heir trunks harmless as bell,ropes.
A shrewd Yankee had money enough |
@ buy the finest pair of lions in all Eu |
.ope for American consumption. He |
paid $500 in gold for them. Single |
ions bring from $1,000 to $500, accor-
ling to age, size and trainging. Trainers
nave been trying to convince themselves
md others that lions born in cages and |
brought up in civilized society are harm
ess and tractable as kittens, and will |
ufer all kinds of liberties patiently
lions, however, have way of shutting
loyn on such noodle heads as are insert |
d between their jaws. The king of
,easts has proved himself the most false
md trcacherous being in his whole king
lom
A rbinoceros costs from $4,000 to S10,- |
100, and is always great feature In an
nimal show. There is one in London
,nown as the 'double horned Sumatran,
severed with hair which is variation
lpon the usual rhinoeeros hide. This
me cost $1,000 sterling in Calcutta, to
az nothing of the cost of TRANSFORMATION.