The Beaufort tribune and Port Royal commercial. [volume] (Beaufort, S.C.) 1877-1879, 1877-12-27
TRAINING ELEPHANTS.

TRAINING ELEPHANTS.
A Keepers Account Of how the Unwieldy
Beasts are Trained-Peculiarities of Ele-
plants.
A New York Sun reporter has had an
interview with the keeper of five ele-
plants, performing in a circus at CHI
more's Garden, and obtained from him
the following "points" d" in regard to
training such animals:
81 suppose" said the reporter, "you
know the elephants nature pretty thor
oughly-how to care for them, and how
to handle them ?" 4 re- A.
"Weil, I ought to- I have been with
them over nineteen years, and have had
charge Of a good many. I have never
be IN very badly hurt as yet, though l
have been in the hospital three times
through injuries they gave mo. / was
once laid up for five weeks; but / suppose
INV time will come, for almost every ele-
plant trainer is killed or disabled finally.
/ was with Forepaugh's circus when the
vicious Romeo killed his keeper, a good
fellow named Williams ; I afterward had
charge of the elephant. Williams thor
oughly understood his business, but long
familiarity with the beaets had made him
careless, and he paid for his carelessness
with his life. Romeo had one tusk
broken off Short, and it was fearful
weapon. He was subject to ugly spells,
and then it was not safe for any enc man
to 90 near him, unless others were near
at hand to give him assistance if he
should need it. His keeper knew this
well; but one Saturday morning when
Romeo had one of his spells on him,
Williams, over confident, went up to and
spoke to him. In an instant the beast
knocked him down, jumped on him with
his fore feet, drove his terrible tusk
nearly through him, and-poor fellow
almost before he could cry out for help
he was dead. We rushed up as quickly
as possible, scared the brute of, and
picked up the body of Williams. You
| would be astonished to see how thor
oughly, with their feet and tusks, ele-
plants can mangle a body"
"What did you then do with Romeo
confne him?"
"Confne him? Well, that is good
Why, there was not house in the place,
nor chains in the village strong enough
to hold him. In his blind rage he would
have torn everything to pieces, and if he
had got away from us, heaven knows how
| much property he would have destroyed,
or how many people he would have
killed. We did as welalways do in such
cases. With ropes, chains, and bars we
tripped and threw him. Then we set to
work to bring him into subsection.
Half a dozen men, armed with hoop
poles, big blacksnake whips--such as
mule drivers use = and anything else
that would hurt, but not break bones,
thrashed him, laying on the blows as
hard as they knew how. When they
were exhausted others took their places,
and so we kept it up for four hours be-
fore the brute squealed, and then we let
him up"
"What do you mean by that ?"
"Why, when an elephant squeals
from licking, it is signal that he is
conquered, that he gives in, and then
it is safe to unite him and let him up.
81 have here five Asiatic elephants,
which were captured near Oeylon."
"What is the best age to begin to
teach a trick or performing elephant ?"
"Well, about eight or nine years.
They then grow and develop slowly
until they are about forty-eight or fifty
and then grow in treachery as they
increase in years. Chieftain, there, is
beginning to show his disposition al
ready, and ten years from now he will
be an ugly fellow to handle. I'm captivity
their average age is from seventy-fve
to eighty Years, but in their wild state
they will frequently live for century
and half. These fellows have good
appetites. I give each one about 125
pounds of hay. two bushels of oats, and
twenty-five or thirty gallons of water.
Every Sunday they are thoroughly
washed with carbolic soap, and they are
now in splendid condition. They are
very fond of water, and when we are on
the road, if we come to pond or river,
it is almost impossible to keep them out
of it. When they do get in they splash
about and cut up as many pranks as 80
many children. Like the children, too,
they never know when they have been in
long enough, and I frequently have con-
siderable trouble in getting them out.
A singular thing about them when we
are travelling, and have to camp out, is
that they never 60 in pairs. The females
90 by themselves and the males by
themselves, and they do not seem to
care at all for each other"
"Do you have much trouble in teach
ing them to perform?"
eyes, it requires great deal Of
patience, and they are very timid about
mounting platforms, or going up and
down stairs; but they can go up and
down sleeper fight or hill than a
horse. There is one satisfaction in train
ing them, though; when they have once
learned trick they never forget it.
We use blocks and falls in teaching them
to raise their feet, legs, and bodies, and
after they once understand what want
them to do, I have but little trouble
with them. Sometimes, when one does
particularly well, I give him a piece of
carrot or some other dainty, and he
knows what that means precious quick. I"
"Do you induce them to learn by q
series of rewards ?"
"Not bit of it. If we were to show
them too much kindness they would get
the upper hand of us in day, and the
trainers life would not be safe for q
n 4 IL