Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1880-02-20

| ~ new Oub VI ltio W3 AAS ihSH vi
horseback gallOped back to the farm,
and he after them. But he was tired,
and when they got under cover he
took up a position in the stack yard,
where there were three hay stacks.
Around them he tramped, hunt
ing all who came near him, but not
going outside the fence. They got
Shot guns and fired buckshot into
his head with no other effect than to
check his wild rushes at them. Eve
ry now and then, when he thought
people ere on the other side of the
stack from him, be would exert his
utmost strength trying to tOpPle the
hay over on them. When they
found that shOtguns were no use
they tried rifles, but still they avoid
ed aiming at any. vital part for he
was valuable beast, and they hoped
to be able to subdue without killing
him. But men almost lost the use
of their arms from holding guns
that kicked like mules every time
they heaved handful of lead aginst.
him, and still there was no signs of
his weakning in his fury. The
fight went on steadily for three days
and nights, during which time he
had not a bite to eat-for he was to
mad even to take any of the hay
around him-and not drop of wat
er. At length a marksman with a
rifle that carried bullet as big as
your thumb managed to put out the
sight of one of his eyes. They hoped
then to be able to get on his blind
side, slip ropes on him, trip him
down and set to work on him with
clubs, for even yet they thought to
save him. But he would allow no.
body to approach his blind side. He
would hear the lightest step, and
wheel with his good eye toward it
quicker than horse could turn.
Finally the hope of saving him was
abandoned, and the order given,
"Kill him." The marksman put one
of those big bullets into his head,
somewhere about the ear-One of an
elephants vital pOints-and Canada
dropped to his fore knees. There
he knelt for three-quarters of an
hour before anybody would venture
close enough behind to hamstring
him with an axe. When that was
done he tnmbled over, and then by
shooting into his head at short range
they killed him. That was in 1868.
Cow elephants never are vicious
They are sometimes mischievOus, but
never malicious and mnrderous.
The bulls are apt to get that way
about four times a year, especially
as they grow old. At such times
they get those sudden fits of uncon-
troliable rage, such as Canada had,
and woe be to whatever living thing
is in their way then. Sometimes,
however, a good tempered elephant
is spoiled by cruel keeper. There
was John Nathans-so called after
his first owner, for instance. While
Elephant Bill had him in charge he
was as good as an eggplant could be
but after Cooley had him awhile in
the John O'Brien show, he got so
bad that they had to kill him. He
killed female elephant and a man
named Bill Perl, l think. Then at
or Germantown, Pa, they
killed him.
Gan elephant is worse than any
other wild beast when he is wicked,
because he has so much intelligence
in planning deViltry, and cunning
ferocity in exercising it with his ter
rible power. If an elephant could
talk he'd be match in cuteness for
most men. And they do talk among
themselves. In 1862, when I was
travelling with Maybie's show, we
were going to Independence, Iowa,
the town where Mr.. Older, our man
ager, lived, and, as it was his own
town, he wanted to put on some
style there. So we had three ele-
plants hitched to the band wagon.
They were tandem, of course, Bet
sy, a small COW elephant, went first;
Mary, larger COW elephant, was
second, and Sultan, very big bull |
was between the shafts. |
We had to cross a bridge going into |
the town-a wooden bridge, forty |
feet high, over the rocky bed of a
stream that all the water had gone |
out of. When you come to a bridge |
with elephants it isn't go as you
please, but go as they please. Those
three moved 50 slowly that we were |
full fifteen minutes going fifty feet.
| was sitting on the front of the band |
wagon, and could just feel it move |
and that was all. Betsy would put |
down a foot, try to shake the bridge |
with it, put her weight upon it grad |
lally, and then back a series of the |
1ueerest little grnnts and whinnies |
that you ever heard, to Sultan, and
he would answer her in the same way.
Sometimes Mary would join in their |
Just as we got to the |
centre of the bridge there was a
crash, and Sultan dropped right |
through from between the shafts and |
clean out of sight, like a bullet would |
sink in water, and the other two
larted across to solid ground, each |
giving a frightened yen as it made |
.he plunge. The band wagon, with |
ZEN musicians, the driver and myself |
stopped just at the edge of the hole
through which Sultan went down.
sprang off and shouted to the mu-
Iicians to jump out. They all did so
except the trombone player, "a fat
who had dropped his in
,trument in the confusion, and who
rose up and said: No, l don't got
1uet midout dot instrument We'll,
we ran down to Sultan. He had fall
IN in a sitting posture, and there he
still sat, groaning dreadfully. 1t
sook twenty men and ten. horses, with
blocks and tackle to hoist him to- his
feet. With great trouble we got
lim out of the ravine and up to Mr..
Older's farm where they nursed him
for a week. They dosed him ;lnd
Used liniment on him by the kegt al,
out still nothing seemed to relieve