The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1877-04-16
ELEPHANTS AND MILK,

ELEPHANIS AND MILK.
A lively gallop soon brought me twelve
miles on my way easterly, over the
hills, to the little village of SOmerstown.
Like great castle on the Rhine with
| its Two or three adjacent appurtenances,
| large brick hotel looms up among the
lew small houses in its neighborhood.
This seemed disproportionate, but my
curiosity was particularly attracted by
| an immense statue of an elephant,
| nearly as large as life-I mean the life
size OF small elephant, of course. This
remarkable resemblance to the animal
was mounted on high post before the
door OF the hotel, and painted over the
front OF the building read, in enormous
letters, elephant Hotel"
1t was time to breathe my horse, and
the ride had given me an appetite for
anything might find within, even if it
should prove to be an elephant steak.
The landlord observed that "the women
tolks were not at home, but he guessed
he could find something" He accord
ingly placed cold turkey and bottle
OF London porter on the table, and
thus proved that his guess was very
correct. AS he sat down by my side, |
asked him the meaning Of all this eIe-
phantine display.
"Wny," he answers, "Hackaliah Bay
ley built this house himsellp
''Hackaliab Bayleyl Who was he?"
"Who was Hackaliah Bayley! DON'T
you know? He was the man who i'm
ported the first elephant in these United
states-old Bet; VI course you have
heard of old Beti"
mo, l have not"
"Wnat, neyersheard OF old BetI Well.
sir, you are pretty well along in lie.
Where have you been all your daysw
told him had not spent them all in
Westminster County,
81 should rather think not" replied
the landlord, "or else you'd have heard
OF Hackaliah Bayley and old Bet. Right
here, from this very spot, he started the
first show in this country. Right round
here is where they breed and winter
wild animals to this day. Folks round
here have grown rich out of the show
business. There's men in this town that
have been to Asia and AfrIca to get ami
mails; and Bayley's big circus (he's old
Hackaliah's son has grown UP out from
the small beginning when Hackalian
imported old Bet, and that wasn't more
than fifty or sixty years ago. Yes, sir,
Hackallan began on that one she-ele-
phant. He and a boy were all the COM
pany. They Travelled nights and showed
day times. Old Bet she knew just how
much every bridge in the country
would bear before she put her
loot on ii. Bimbeby they got cage
OF monkeys and carted them along, and
gradually 1T got up to bears, lions, Ilgers,
camels, boa-constrJc ctors, alligators, Tom
Thumb, hippopotamuses, and the tat
woman-in fact, to where il is now,
Yes, sir; p. L. Barnum got the first ru-
n limo of ed Ii
liah Bayley, right here in Somerstown.
Elephants ana milk have made this
town. In fact, we all live on elephants
and milk"
elephants and milk! Good gracious"
l exclaimed, "What a dietW
''Lord, sir" retorted my landlord,
s'did you think that | meant that we
crumbled elephants into milk and ate
'emf No; mean 10 say the elephant
business and the milk business are what
have built up this place. Pve told you
what elephants have done for us, and
now Pll tell you about milk. There's far
mers round here owning hun
dred COWS apiece. From the little
depot OF Purdy's you'll pass a
mile beyond this we send four thou
sand gallons OF milk every day to New
York; andit starts from here pure, let
brought up In the show business. Then
right in our neignborhood are two con-
densed-milk factories, where they use
as much more. There's eight thousand
gallons. The farmers get sixteen cents
for it on the spot. So you see there is a
revenue OF $l,ZSJ day in
this district. Now you've been telling
me of the West, now they raise forty
bushels of wheat TO the acre, and all
that. Well, what does it amount to by
the time they get their returns, paying
all out in railroad freight? You ride
along this afternoon, and if you come
back this way, tell M if the houses and
fXings and things, especially the boys,
and more particularly the gals, look any
better in them fever and-ague diggings
than they do here, il we do live on ele-
plants and miI""- ! I'm Goldman, in
Harper's Ma Il lay.