The New York herald., 1874-12-05
A RHINocRRos RATTLE.
Desperate Fighs between she Male
Rhinoceros .sPete'' and . Female
Rhfnoeeros at the Hfppcdronae-An
Exciting scene.


Exciting Scene.
Yesterday morning az about halEpast nins
O'Clock while the employees IN the Hlppodr0ms
were removing some OF the suimas u fhe south
ern ana lower part OF the brilalny an accident oc-
Cured which might have caused serious loss of
lite and property had it not been Tor tie energetic
measures which were Immediately taken to pre-.
yent disaster
The wen known and enormous sized rainoceros
ralied "Pefc.m who weighs over 400 pounds.
snd who = familiar so ali Of the visitors q, the
Hlppodromc, has OF ate been observed TO be A
low spirits ana quite moody Ia manner. A pen
mad been buiit Tor him 20 feet Ia length.
feet IN height ana iect 2 inches IN width
IRON the brick wan OF the Hppodrome 20 the
stanchions on the inner side OF tns pen. iroa
pars aoous an inch IN diameter were fastened to-
gether by other iron bars orgreater tntcEness and
outside or al these were large and heavy wooden
braces that seemed 10 defy al attempts
of the animal to escape or break through THe
fooring Of the cage was OF solid brick and me en-
tire structure was believed TO DC perfectly ssie.
but II was discovered that the iron bars we're
found too weak TO stand the strain that thet we're
put 70. The pen or the rhinoceros "Pese' = "a
the southeastern end OF the Hppodromc. but ~ the
southwestern end OF the building there - connncd
= female rhinoceros named Mary Jane, who =
about nineteen years OF age aud weighs
$500 pounds. This female fhinoceros. Mary
lane, has quite a gentle and anectlonate dispo-
sition aud for such an ugly and misshapen beast
she Is quite popular among the keepers. Mr.. Z.
4. Fuller the general agent for the Hippodrome.
observing the gloomy condition OF "Pete'sn mind.
tnought that ne might be pIning for female so.
ciety, ana accordingly II was determined 10 place
Mary Jane, the female rhinoceros, IN the pen--s
huge one-with him, in order that the male rhinoc-
eros Gl2nt be cheered up. But Pete" proved 70
he
sequel win show AT hali-past nine O'Clock yesier-
nay morning II was determined 70 move the
wagon which contained Mary Jane down 10 po-
Hition in the buiiding Just opposite where the pen
of 'Pete' stands, and this was done under the
Barnum and large number OF the empioyes.
There was not any audience in the building At the
lime, as the matinee does not commence until
halt-past two O'Clock OF each day.
TERRIBLE FIGHT.
The female rhinoceros let out OF the mov-
able cage twenty or thirty Keepers stanQing
around armed with iron spears, hooks and tri-
dents IN case any danger should result ID the
Lransier OF the huge beast it was noticeable thar
fhe male rninoceros watched the transfer with
suriy hook, and began 70 growl IN a voice IKE
distant thunder as ne saw the female rhinoceros
mary Jane) approach has cage low wooden
half door was let down, and Mary Jane was
pushed INTO The pen or 'Pete," who now began
TO dance around with terrific rapidify for an an
imal whose measurement Is Il ieet IRON norn
tail, and whose circumference at the abdo-
men IS IA feet, feet around the neck
and 50 inches around the ankle at tue
JOINT. No sooner had the female rh,noce-
Tos entered the pen than the male, .'Pete,r
commenced an awfui assault on the unonending
Mary Jane, who made no hgnt or a Jew minutes.
The huge monster hurled himself ON hts antag-
pnIsJ with velocity and power that was smpy
terrible. The weapon used by .Peten was ms
huge horn, tnat mad been fled down to
lake the point on. but which was yet a fearful
weapon tor assault. The movements OF ..Peter
became so rapid and violent that Mary Jane iairly
beloved Tor lear and yelled until her waits Of
terror filled the building The male rhinoceros
assaulted her on the flank. on the legs ana In the
Aodo men, and by this time the keepers nad sprung
TO the defence with IRON spears and trldents,
axes and bars VI IRON. BY THIS time
all the animals on the south or Twenty-sixth
street side or the building had become ierocious,
and the uproar was something appalling In It's
ture and volume. on that side OF the building
Enere were imprisoned in cages nine camels. three
hyenas. two male lions one tapr, one sacred bul..
who was almost frightened to death; two Bengal
tigers and five elephants, the largest being named
Betsy, and weighing 6.4oo pounds. The other ee-
plants weigh each about 4,500 pounds, and are
It was fortunate tnat there was no audi
alarm might have occurred among women and
children who might have been present. The male
rhinoceros made the most desperate and Zero
standing all the efforts OF over twenty
Keepers and assistants the fight continued for an
hour and hali, and at last the female rhinoC.
eros was gored and torn in frightu manner, and
wallowed her abdomen with absolute fear.
Finally a barricade OF iosts and planking was
erected through the bars OF the cage, and q large
sailcoth was thrown over 10 SO as TO nide the fe-
male rhnoccros from .Pele," the male. and when
brought out OF the pen, and Pete" lay down
sulkIiy In corner badly beaten. but still inll OF
tight. The female was then taken TO her cage at
ike pig and evidently wishing that sne
had never seen .Pete.r The iron bars
were bent and smashed and the woodwork was
torn spiinters, but 1t due TO Mr. Fue1 and his
assistants 70 say tnat they never lost the mastery
OF the furious rhinoceros and the other animals.
which were greatly alarmed, were Kept under fun
control.