Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1875-01-28
Anecdotes of Elephants.

THE wild elephants roam about To feed
at night, and appear quite glad to enjoy
-" lark" such as pulling down house
and scattering the materials, or walking
over and through it. Il remembers
says missionary in India, = OF seeing the
lines or rows of huts occupied by labor
ors on coffee plantation, through which
herd of elephants had walked on the.
preceding Right, without any intima-
ton of their coming and without single
word of apology. No one, happily, was
injured, and though the poor men sleep
ing inside were astonished and terribly
frightened at their strange midnight Wis
itors, they were thankful to escape with
their lives"
1t is we'll known that solitary or
"rogue" elephants are extremely vicious,
making point of attacking all passers-
by. There is reason to suppose that
they have been banished from society"
for some notorious crime or incurable
vice. Two years ago one Of these dan
gerous animals was wandering about the
Assambu Mountain, where one of our
Christian people was killed by it, There
were four native Christians residing at
Nagercoil, who had been engaged by
planter for the erection of a house on
his estate up in the hills.
These men used to come down on
| Saturdays to their own homes, returning
| to work on Monday morning. On Satur-
day they started together, as usual but
had not gone far when this ferocious
brute rushed out of the forest upon them.
They ran and did not venture to look
back till they had gone q long distance
from the spot. When they collected
their senses they found that one Ct their
number was missing. fastening to the
nearest chapel they called some Of the
Christians, and going back to search for
their cOmrade soon discovered the BODY
of the unfortunate man crushed and
mangled by the savage brute I under
stand that this elephant killed seven or
eight people afterward, but have not
heard whether he was at length de
| stroyed.
One of the most striking illustrations
| have ever heard of the extraordinary
| sagacity of the elephant is related in
| Pettitt's work on the "Tinnevelley
| Mission" 1t runs somewhat as fol-
lows: While the large chapel at Ma
gercoil was building, the missionaries
obtained the loan of a trained elephant
for drawing the larger timber used in it's
erection. The late Mrs. Mault kindly
saw the animal regularly fed, lest the
! food should be stolen by the attendant
! One day the allowance of rice seemed
very deficient in quantity, and the good
| lady expOstulated on the subject with
| the keeper. Raising his hands to heaven
the man loudly and with great apparent
earnestness and sincerity repudiated the
idea of his having taken any of the
rice.
DO you think, madam, that I would
be capable of doing such thing? No,
never! no more than | would deprive my
own children of their daily food"
! While he was speaking and gesticula-
ting the intelligent creature, slyly ex-
tending his trunk, unfastened the mans
waistcloth, thereby splitting out the
| missing rice, which had been concealed
in corner OF the cloth, and exposing
the dishonesty of the attendant have
| been assured of the authenticity of this
| anecdote by Mrs Mault herself-Morae-
| ing Star.