Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1877-07-20
An ELEPHANT BORN IN AMERICA /!
It Is Alive and Doing Well!
THE GREATEST GEOLOGICAL WON.
DER OF THE AGE?
TO BE Seen in FOrepaugh's Great Show,
on Monday, July 3Oth!
An Important but Unexpected Event--Inter-
eresting Observation-Disclosures Settled!

An Important but Unexpected Event--Inter-
eresting Observation-Disclosures Settled!
1t seems not unlikely that the world may be-
come Interested in another Germantown baby.
Poor Charlie Ross set the world agog, and his
Fate stirred the prOfOundest depths of love in
the hearts or parents everywhere, and he has
no doubt proved an elephant on the hands of
his abductOrs. Germantown is again the scene
OF remarkable event, the like of which has
never before occurred in this country, and this
time, too, it is q baby"
On the night of the first inst there was born
at the headquarters of Forepaugh's menagerie
and circus, near Germantown, female ele-
plant a IT,; This we believe, is the first event of
on her arrival the baby" weighed about one
hundred pounds and during the
FIRST WEEK OF HER CAREER
she has gained about thirty pounds. She is
three feet and seven inches high and three feet
and eleven inches long, and in every way, ex-
cept in size, a perfect elephant minerva"
the mother, is one of the largest elephants in
the country; she weighs over 1900 pounds, and
is over fifty years old. She has been owned by
Mr. Forepaugh about five years.
THE ELEPHANTS TE.DEUM
Much has been told about the wonderful sa-
gacity and knowledge of the elephant, but of
this and their musical qualities and tastes the
Ike keeper of Forepaugh's relates singular fact;
The arrival OF " Baby " was wholly unexpected
and no person about the premises had any
knowledge of the important event until it had
TRANSFERRED. The Waterman on his rounds at IL
o'clock on the night of February 1st 1877, went
into the apartment where the elephants-six
in number-are kept; nothing unusual wassdis-
cernable, and he went on through all the de-
partmentS. About 2 o clock there arose from
the elephants a very strange noise. They all
seemed to be indulging in one grand bawi 1t
was such chorus as would have thrown a
quarter of a million Whitneys and Kars into
the shade, and caused Wagner to dance with
delight. The keeper rushed to the building
expecting to find the elephants all loose, but
found them fast and in the best of humOr, and
after quiet was restored discovered nothing I'M
usual. The next morning as he entered the
room he discovered Baby" who seemed some
what surprised but showed signs of delight and
a disposition to play. Baby has been steadily
improving since and is very playful and as
tractable as a kitten. She sucks the mother
eats bread and milk and potato parings, and
yesterday made several attempts at eating hay
She manages her trunk with more ingenuity
and with confidence worthy of busted
bOarder
CONTROVERSY SETTLED.
Although so much has been published about
the character, habits and peculiarites of ele-
plants, there is much controversy upon some
points, and a great many interesting facts, es-
Peclaliy IN connection with their young, that
the affection of mother and Offspring. and the
mode of sucking the young, have all been
elaborately discussed and. widely disagreed
about. VI the Irst, we believe that it is being
generally admitted that the statement of Mr..
Corse, who for many years had charge of the
elephants of the East India Company are cor
rect. ne says the period is twenty months and
eighteen days. AT birth the elephant is about
twenty-five inches high; the first year it grows
about eleven inches, and from the second To
the seventh year the growth runs from eight
inches to two-and-a-half inches per year grow
ing less as it grows older; and at about twenty
five years old they cease to grow
1t seems singular that the mode of sucking
the young should have been so long in DISPUTE
Many able writer's on natural history, among
them, Houel, Perrault and Button, who have
especially written of the elephant, claims that
the young elephant sucks the mother with the
the habits of the elephant that the question
couldnot be easily settled. The truth is, how
ever, the baby takes the nipple in the side of
the mouth, pressing the breast with the trunk.
which, by natural instinct it seems to under
stand, will facilitate the flow of milk. The
nipple projects horizontally from the breasts
legs. The baby stands either in front of the
mother or to one side, the mother looping one
leg out of the way. Frequently the mother is
so large-as in this case-it is necessary for the
baby to stand on higher ground.
The affection OF the mother can be doubted
only by those who know nothing of the facts
The mother pays but little attention to this
baby" but will not permit it out of her sight.
When she is taken into the ring for practice
baby must go, and when any person approach
es the queer little animal, she watches them
with great care, although she pays less atten.
ton to person than when any animal comes
near. There can be no doubt hut that the af
lection between them is very great as Is claim
ed by Captain Knox, who spent lifetime in
captivity at Ceylon. He says, ''of all irration-
al creatures the elephant bears greatest love
for its young"
We have said that the baby" at Forepaugh's
was the only event of the kind ever known in
the country, and we might add that only two
such events have ever been known. For years
it was belief that elephants in captivity
would not breed, and the young have only been
procured by capturing wild elephants with
calf. In every way this baby is a wonder
and curiosity, the like of which is very rarely
seen. There seems to be every indication that
she Will be raised, and every care is being taken
to accomplish the desirable end.