, 1881-07-17
DELIGHTED ELEPHANTS:

| Their First Igutls in Year~. and How
They Luxurintcd III Ii.
| Philadelphia Prtss.
AS the elephants in the Geological Garden
had not washed themselves for more than
two years, SUPERINTENDENT Brown suddenly
realized that it would be emlnrntIy proper
| to give them bath; but the difficulty was
| to find batf-tub large enough to accom-
not'ate the trio Of monster probosctdans.
| The sealion pool or seal tank could not be
| used, as they were too small. and It was re-
nlelnbered that when Empress took her last
bath In the duck-pond in 1870 she Topped
around IN such an extrayagant manner and
stirred up the mud SO thoroughly that she
came out far dirtief than she was when she
went ill., It was clear that if the elephants
were to bathe a tub would have to
be built. Tile work was begun in
April, and, as it was finished OH Fri
day. the batters took their first dip on
yesterday morning. The bath-tub Is oval Ill
shape, ten feet deep, about l2o feet in cir
cunlference, and has Il concrete floor and is
lined with bricks. Half an hour after the
elephants Dom Pedro, Empress, and Fanny
breakfasted yesterday morning they were
marched from their pens to the brick
covered roadway which inclines to the
water III the bathing-place. Here En-
l"t, prxsS 6Fcaae b. an suspicious @ s+'; ahot ; Ens
keeper, however, found several tender places
Oil her body with his harpoon. and after two
Or TIRES wicked snortS. which was ECHOED
by her companions, she moved cautiously
is only about sixty, feet long, but 50
Slowly did the bathers move that tf-
teen minutes elapsed before Empress
put one Of her feet in the water. Stopnned,
raised her trunk and trunpeted loudly. This
ions, for all instant later Dnm Pedro pushed
his way to the front and went boldly
into the. water. Fanny plunged in
neXt, !. Tt, IT. ta;;Sng genuine elopllantlne
TIRE Of tile pool Empress entered very
slowly until her legs were covered and then
with low grunt, which indicated intense
satisfaction She tnpp]ed over on her left side
and satk. out Of sight, Dom Pedro, after |
the water several times, watled to a place |
where the water was only about three feet !
deep and stnod there whisking. his good |
fnr-nothIng little tail at the flies, as he |
p"sterous capers Fanny WAS cutting. The
Dom accepted the situation as conlly as |
though he hathed every day instead of once |
in two Years, but the females fairly bubbled |
over with manifestations of satisfaction, nnd |
they diycd, and spoutett. and snorted, aud
around fifteen Or twenty minutes. Fanny
walked up the Incline, and tlien deliberately
rolled down into the water again. The
effect Of this new1y-disc0yerel feat n:ust
have pleased her intensely. for. on coming
to the surface each time, ller, plssish little
eyes sparkled ioyonsly and she sca'ntered
up the path to repeat the novel performance.
At the moment the spectators were most
deeply Interested III Fanny's performances
Doln Pedro showed his ill-brecdng by suck
ing Il galipn or so Of water into his trunk,
and: p"Sil,g that member out horizontally
until it was as rigid as a hose nozzle. lie
DISCHARGED its contents full in the face
OF an observing naturalist who stood near
the edge Of the pool. The naturalist;
langusse M a po pedFa belloWed aSyu as
proud Of his performance. The keeper had
some difficulty in getting the elephants out
IT tile water, bnt lie tinally succeeded, and
drove them to their pens. On the journey,
however. Fanny insisted OH rolling lit the
lust, so: that when she reached her apart
nent she was about three times as dirty
oOking as when she went into the bath.