Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1880-04-08
ELBPHAKT sTORIEs.

Frank Melville has been telling ks-
porter something Of his observation on
elephants. He says: never Get
tired OF watching them, for they are al-
ways doing something new, showing
how intelligent, cunning, and ! may
say devlIish, they are. They under
stood what said 70 them - welbas
most people do, and think about what
they want to do Just as person would.
! have seen elephants again and again.
when they thought nobody was about
Ito watch them, perpetfate thefts with
an ingenuity In avoiding detection that
human thief would hardly beat. IL is
no uncommon thing for an elephant to
pull up The stake 10 WHICH he 10 CHASED,
90 20 feed bin containing oats or car
rots, wrench OF the lock, raise the lid,
eat all he wants, put the lid down again,
return TO his place. poke the stake TO
which. his cham Is fastened back into
the same hole it came out Of, and stamp
il down with bis foot, and then when
his keeper comes he will look as inno-
cent as a lamb; but il you wall watch
the beast until the man begins eurslne
about the robbery of the feed bin, you'll
observe Cd amused twinkle in. his
wicked, watchful little eyes that shows
his enjoyment Of the situation. The el-
ephsnt is always on the outlook to play
a trick. Incautiously leave jacket or q
shirt where he can get at II, and he will
when he thinks himself unobserved, de.
Iiberately pull every brtton of it, and
then put il back just where you lefl it.
and show that he finds 1t funny when
you get mad. I have seen two ofthem
get up a sham fight TO attract the atten.
lion OF third, so that fourth could gel
q chance 10 steal the feed of the third
"Tippoo Saib was the grandest elc-
| phant | ever saw. He had tusks ter
feet long, and when he was mad he was
able TO close their points together ol
spread them apart. as be liked, in way
I've never seen any other do. When
he got q chance to kill anything he
would first knock 1t down, then put the
points Of those tremendous tusks to-
gether, and. dropping on hIs knees,
would drive those points through what
ever he was numbering, or mash il into
the ground with them. AT one little
town in Iowa. where We were stopping
over q Sunday. we had q sort Of canvas
incIosure around bim, where he was
chained to stake. The keeper went
away 20 bis dinner, leaving . watchman
in charge Of him.
"a young doctor came around and
wanted to get into the inclosure TO look
at Tippoo Saib. He had been to the
show the day before and seen hlm there,
but he wanted quiet look at him. The
watchman told hIm the beast was dam
gerous and he had better not 60 near
him, but the young doctor allowed that
he knew all about il; that elephants
were docile, intelligent animals, and he
was not afraid Of them. As he was so
confident, and seemed to know so much
about elephants, the watchman went to
his dinner. When he came back Tip
poo had literally torn the young doc
tors head of his body. }slt
"After that they cut his tusks of short,
and II seemed to break his heart. They
were fitted with iron sockets. to screw
them as weapons to kill anything with;
appeared to know they were no longer
a part of him, but Just an attachment,
and he never was the same proud ele-
phant again. His keeper used TO keep
his money IN the hollow Of the sockets
Of one of the tusks. But, even with
his tusks of, he was regarded as dan
gerous. He would roll bis trunk up
into close roll, like coiling up spring,
and then flip il out, and whatever he
struck that way was gone. Ibelieve he
could have knocked down a hIppopota-
mus with one crack ofthat trunk. Some
times pigs would come about him while
he was eating. He wouldn't appear TO
pay any attention until one would get
close enough; then tap would be Civ
en- him by that monster trunk and the
life be fairly knocked out of piggy. He
would reach for the pig, aud make a
sure job of il by standing on him \ mo-
ment, then toss the shapeless carcass
behind him, and 60 on eating as placid
ly IS ever. In Somerset, Ohio. l think
II was, he got stubborn, and struck at
everybody that came near him, and, in
tear Of what he might do il he got fairly
started, they killed him-shot him in
the eye with large rife ball, and set
lied him.
"Cow elephants never are vicious.
They are sometimes mischievous, but
never malicious and murdercus. The
bulls are apt to get that way about four
times . xear. especially IS they grow
old. AT such times they get those sud-
den fits Of uncomfortable rage and woe
be TO whatever living thing in their
way then. An elephant IL worse shan
any other wild beast when he is wicked,
because he has so much intelligence in
planning deviltry and cunning ferocisy
in exercising il with his terrible power.
IL an elephant could talk, he'd be .
match In cuteness for most men. And
they do talk among themselves. Ia
1862, when was travelling with May
bie's show. We we're going to Indepen-
dence, Iowa, the town where Mr.. Old
ef, our manager, lived, and, rs Il was
his own town, he wanted to phi on some
style there.
$50 We had three elephants hisched
to the band wagon. They were tam
dem, OF course. Betsy, small COW ell
ephant. went first; Mary, little larger
COW elephant, was second, and Sultan.
q very big bull elephant, was between
the shafts. We had 10 cross bridge
going into town---a wooden bridge. for
y feet high. over The rocky bed os !