The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1872-12-24
CHAPTER ON WILD BEASTS.

Il CHAPTER ON WILD BEASTS. ].
- :
The Lion and Tiger Trade--Kow the
monarchs ~ the Forest are Bought
and Sold.
From the New York Timesl
In the course Of my wsnderings around the
| city I came, the other day, across q monopolist
pur ct simple. He is a trader on . large scale,
but ia generally very careful not to handle
that live stock in which he deals; nor for that
matter, do any Of his employees. His usine
| is the importation Of every variety OF wild
beast and bird, from an elephant to q guinea
pig, from an ostrich to a Java sparrow. docs
the MopTietor-of q mensgerie lose his elephant.
ne Tepairs.to this gentieman's repository. He
an Asiatios elephant. He gives his order &C
oording to his, fancy, and in due time the ami
NAL arrives, and is Immediately shipped TO
wherever his new owners caravan may happen
to be. IF an African lion is wanted. q dispatcn
is at once sent TO Capetown; il horned horses,
girafes, or rhlnoceroses are in demand. orders
are ut once sent out to ship to New York al
thet can be bought or found. The fact ia, this
gentleman has some fifteen employees, who are
scattered over Africa snd Asia, whose sole busl-
ness consists in collecting rare wild for
him. So complete are all his arrangements
that none are found to compete with MN IN
the business. he has the entire trade to MIN
self, and supplies every menagerle 10 tals
country with such animals as they need rom
time to time. There are over thirty menagerles
travelling about the country every, year.
Every wear they lose q certain percentage OF
their animals from natural death. or by aeon.
dent. Some Of the more rare animals are gen.
orally delicate, and never become acolimatlzed,
consequently do NOT live long: This makes
-. oeokly Ntharo on0in lilo Tho oiraffa
often die of sea Sickness on the voyage. The
giraffe too, Is SO SwkHardly built that 1t does
not lie downiwit9 it's legs sunder- It, like others
Of the antelope tribe; consequently, II the ves-
aeI rolls at sea it loses Its balance, ID swung
against the side Of it's cage, and frequently
breaks it's long, ungeinly neck. This risk runs
mp the price OF CRATES tosa hlgn nRures "a
hsd imported four giraffes through the gentle
mans agency, but who took the sea risk on
himself, lost them all on the voyage. He
could not now get four equally good specimens
under twenty-five thousand dollars. But when
a cargo does come safely across the profits to
the importer are very large.
It is a great mistake 10 suppose that any OF
these animals are captured when full grown.
A full grown lion, couId he be trapped and put
in q cage, would;soon pine away and die.
fuII grown, wildelephaDti is the. most :Bavseely
treacherous of animals Even when captured
Young and trained IN q, circus, the elephant
betrays thesetpborn qualities more and more
as he grows older. U 70 only OF late yearst6at
elephants have been imported from Africa
Many persons will r~ecollect P. T.. Barnum'ssd
Yertissment Of rhe first :one-a dwarf-whlch
was to appear IN h;s menaRerle. The animal,
however, died on. the voyage aud was conae-
ouently never seen IN this country. Our mo-
popolist dealer in wild beasts soon after OBJ
tanned four young elephants from Africa and
. .Sa s, 1.-The them tb hs1s "a s saas5snt ,siss y .%bs ~
were babies" The elephant is an animal OF
very slow growth. When five years old it does
not stand more than three feet high; and one
out OF the four alluded TO- above was only
thirty inches high They were, however, q
perfect god-send TO showmen IN the way OF
startling novelties. One. the thirty-inch one,
shown as an ofspring OF an old female ele-
phant, which had been in this country. years
before the %youngster first saw the light in his
native African Jungle. Three OF these young
elephants are still alive in this country, but
they have grown out OF all knowledge, espec-
ialY the dwarf. The showmen who exhibited
the young calf asserted to have been born mere
that elephants will not breed in his
country. Lions breed freely. In fact, there
are few menageries which do not have q litter
of cubs every year. But the mothers always
destroy or desert them, and they are
obliged to be brought mp on milk given to
them in Q bottle, similar to that used IN rear
babies by hand The .hippopotamus has
also been known to. breed in the Geological
Gardens in London. Like the lioness, she de-
stroys her young as soon as they are born;
the attendants in London did once sue
coed in ~rescuing q young one from its mother,
and bring 1t upby hand. But animals brought
up In this artificial way, and born in q confined
cage, never grow up to be such due specimens
those born In q state Of nature. -
when young by the natives, acting under IN
sruc.ions from the white agents. lions are
the natives sally up the country, and
either kill the parents and then securethe cubs,
track the lioness to her den, and then,. wait
till she goes hunting for food, seize the OPP
.portunlty Of stealing, the cubs. !n capturing
elephants they drive them, old and young, into
an Enclosure, hamstring the old ones so as to
disable them from protecting their calves. and
then easily secure the young ones. Az African
lion commands q higher price in the market
an Asiatic lion on account OF his more
noble and commanding appearance. bis name
is much thicker and longer than that OF his
and leugth of the name tB the gtest OF value OF
ions.l An African Hon, sells for 5000; I'D Asia
tc onlyisa0D0.s The same. with tigers. Royal
Bsngsls Eigers will command 5000 aE par;
Brazilian only $4,000 a pair: Csmels and drome-
daries bring about $1,000 apiece, but white
oamels have been sold at $500 esoh. A good
ostrich can be bought for about $500; elephants
5000 to 5000; horned horses (so called,
though they are really only q variety Of ante
LOPEZ from $500 upward.
The importation of animals is only q branch
OF the BUSINESS; but II is in this: case very ex-
teIaiye, nor the las fifteen, years the, value Of
tbs animals imported having averaged over
500, 0O0s ! year. or course, the needs OF every
menagerie are known; and when one wants to
sell q surplus animal or two, or to replace them
with finer specimens, they are almost invaria-
bly, sold direct to this gentleman, or through
him, on commission, to the proprietors OF
other menageries. Avery fair menagerie may
b~8tsIockedsfor 1874, 900; butzsome 3sweof the
giant shoRs' valhe theirSfstock Of animals at
three times ,tbAt fgprey Thaiaggregate
OF all the Wild animals in the different
caravans in this country must approximate
50 500, 900. In no other country in the world
are there 80 many kept in confinement. The
show business is essentially American, and, as
q general thing, is very profitable one.
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