The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1877-12-20
TRAINING ELEPHANTS.
A Keepers Account of how the UnwieId
Beasts are Traincd-Peculiarities of EIs


Beasts are Observation-Disclosures of EIe.
plants.
A New York Sun reporter has had an
interview with the keeper of five ele.
plants, performing in circus at Gill
more's Garden, and obtained from him
the following "points in regard 10
training such animals:
"I suppose, said the reporter. "you
know the elephants nature pretty thor
oughly-how to care for them, and how
to handle them ?"
"Well, / ought to. have been with
them over nineteen years, and have had
charge of good many. 1 have never
be en very badly hurt as yet, though I
have been in the hospital three times
through injuries they gave me. was
once laid up for five weeks; but suppose
my 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 afterward had
charge of the elephant. Williams thor
oughly understood his business, but long
familiarity with the beasts had made him
careless, and he paid for his carelessness
with his life. Romeo had one tusk
broken off short, and it was a fearful
weapon. He was subject to ugly spells,
and then it was not safe for any one man
to go near him, unless others were near
at hand to give him assistance if he
should need it. His keeper knew this
we'll 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 off, 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 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 we always 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 nr- 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.
:" I have here five Asiatic elephants,
which were captured near Ceylon."
"What is the best age to begin to
teach trick or performing elephant 2"
"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. In captivity
their average age is from seventy-five
to eighty years, but in their wild state
they will frequently live for century
and half. These fellows have good
appetites. L 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 so
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 go in pairs. The females
go 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?"
"Yes, it requires a 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 q sleeper flight or hill than q
horse. There is one satisfaction in train
ing them, though; when they have once
learned a 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 1 want
them to do, have but little trouble
with them. Sometimes, when one does
particularly we'll, give him piece OF
carrot or some other dainty, and he
knows what that means precious quick. "
"Do you induce them to learn by a
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 a
minute. Fear is the only thing that
controls them. They must know all the
time that they have master. We never
punish them unless it is positively neces-
sary, and then seldom severely. Their
skin is as tender as horses, --and they
feel the lash quite as acutely. The in
strument they fear most, though, is this
prod and hook, and the mere sight of ii
will, on ordinary occasions, bring them
to terms. 1t frightens them the same
as it would to tell a child you would
prick it with knife blade. To show
you how cunning they are: At re.
hearsal they do their work quickly, and
make no mistakes; but at night they
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