Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1881-12-12
PUBLIC LEDGER.
Ronaay Eyenlag. Doc e. "a.
selIIng Dad . MenagerIe.

new AOIhk HhsI
Bolivar was a very sad elephant, as
he stood uBdcr the large tent at Van
AmDurgh a. Co.'S winter quarters at
Amenia. lie glanced wistfully from
the double horned rhinooeros TO one
r r. Thompson, who stood upon a
high circus waKO proclaiming Boil
vars virtues. Bolivar was sad because
he thought nc vas about to be parted
from his friend, the %rhinoceros, who
himself was much depressed. The
Burmese COW was eying obviously the
double bumped Bactrian camel, called
By children and poets the ship of the
desert" Two dromedaries (which"
said a keeper in an explanatory tone,
"they has but one hump, whereas most
folks believes they has two" were
hanging their heads in decorus silence.
The hyena laughed his mocking. sar-
donic laugh at the oryx and the harte-
beste. and even went so far as TO rid
icule the hay animal.
Bolivar has been for many years the
fye-tOn pet Of Van Amburgh q Co.
Phcy never punished him when he
strolled from his stall to the candy
stand and consumed its contentsi in the
absence Of its guileless vendor. They
merely called out, johnson is com
ing and then Bolivar hurried back
To his stall. johnson hiss been Boil.
vars keeper, and his insinuating man
ners have given him great influence
over this child of India. These five
tons Of e~lephantine matter were greatly
admired yesterday. Ad. Forepaugh
and his son Addie regarded them with
respect; Johnny Forepaugh, O'Brien's
agent, was lost in calculations, while
w. w. Cole, striking an attitude ia
which he resembled Edwin Booth in
Hamlet. muttered: ITO buy or not to
buy" Jim Bailey, Dan Shelby, Doc
Thayer (the ex-showman), Oscar Hy-
att, w. G. Coup, Virgins, Of Detroit,
Louis Sells, Kelch, Gaylard and Try
er. Hutchinson, Fouqua (Barnum's
horseman), Martin, the Robinses and
Furzman were there, while Hyatt
Frost and D. j. Ferguson, who are
Van Amburgh & Co, peryaded the
tent.
"Bolivsr," said Mr.. Thompson from
the wagon, is the largest elephant in
q. this country. The only elephant that's
larger belongs to the Prince Of Wales,
and is at the London Zoo. Bolivar will
dance a waltz, balance himself on a
pedestal and stand on two legs. What
do you bid for Bolivar, gentlemen"
Five thousand dollars" sang out
Jake Reed, Adam Forebagh's buyer.
Bailey went him one hundred better,
and the bidding continued between
the two until Bolivar was knocked
down to Forepaugh at $1,000.
THE double-horned rhinocerous,
gentleman" called out Mr.. Thompson,
weighs $500 pounds. There's none
like him. What's your bid, gentle
mani" Again was the bidding against
Forepaugh and Bailey, until the rhi-
noceroas was knocked off to the for
mer at $2450. Most of the other ami
mails we're also bought by Adam Fore
paugh, whose purchases aggregated
$l7, 800. The bids on the Burmese
COW and the zebra we're SO slow that
these were not sold, and they regard
ed the proceedings with contempt.
The drOmedary brought 1925, the
Bactriau camel 1925 and the harte-
beste $3.50.
Then some of the wagon cages aud
wardrobe wagons were put up.
A large number Of horses were sold
to farmers from the neighborhood.
Tho prices varied from $50 to 1851.
All the animals except the oryx
were left on the ground. The shades
Of night had fallen when two men
emerged from the depot bearing a
wooden Stat box. A horn moved yio-
lently to and fro between two Of the
Stats and a leg was kicked Justify at
the nearest carrier. A nan who
walked alongside was poking his um-
brella into the box and stirring ii
around as one stirs a soup la1le. is
that the oryx?" asked Cole. And
when he received an affirmative ans
ver. he again struck a Hamlet atti-
tude and muttered: ALAS, poor
Oryxl'
Van Amburgh & Co. say that they
were not selling because theyintended
TO retire, though the contrary opinion
was expressed by several shoWmen.
Van Amburgh's name has been Oh the
show bills for s;xty-one years.