The Morristown gazette. [volume] (Morristown, Tenn.) 1867-1920, 1881-01-12

the gallant elephant would empty
the hat and return it in good shape.
The boozy visitor believed it all. He
g bought hat full of apples and ten
: dered it to. his big friend with the
trunk. Bolivar wound his proboscis
: around the. hat, and 'swash went
his hat, apples and all down his ca
, paciOus- jaws, disappearing at gulp
The owner of the hat stood aghast,
|, half sobered at the sight. Then, re
covering his senses and realizing his
loss, he began to squeal. Robinson
was glad to get rid of him, and sent
him away to buy a new hat at the
shows expense. -. s..
"What became of Bolivar 2" t.. p.
! ave sold him to another show,
and he died some years after in
Maryland, near Hagerstown 1t
was supposed that he was poisoned. "
| Chow many elephants have you
now p
"Three-Mary, or the Empress,
| Chief and Princess" ,f
/ " Can you relate their histories p
! "Well, Empress is probably the
most noted of the three. We know
her to be sc years old. We bought
| her from John Nathans, who impor
ted her from Asia, she had been
used as a pack animal We bought
her in 1866, for $4,000. Got her
cheap on account of defect in one
of her feet, which made her bad pro-
perty for. shows at those times, when
they travelled mostly without rail-
roads or boats. The defect still ex-
lists, but does not hurt her for per-
forming or street parades. Empress
is a powerful animal, and has always
ruled every elephant the show ever
had. She will beat Chief till the
fellow will cry like child, Indeed,
Mary is the only power Chief fears,
and she has saved more than one life
from Chiefs viciousness. LII -. |
"Tell US some instances. ....,.
"Well, lastwinter in New Orleans,
Chief was just about killing a boy, |
when Mary rushed up and Knocked
him clean through the canvas. She
has interfered more than once to |
save her keeper, John King. The |
poor fellow knew her power over
Chief, and his last words were,
Fetch Mary, quick! This was in |
Charlotte, North Carolina, last sum-
mer. We had just come into town,
and were unloading the elephants |
from their cars. AS Chief was slip |
ping down by means of the pedestals
King carelessly passed in front of
the brute. The latter hit him with |
his trunk and knocked him up
against box car He had hardly |
time to shout, Fetch Mary, quick 7
when Chief butted him against the
car, crushing Kings skull like pea
nut shell. When the keeper fell to
the ground, the brute, not satisfied,
ran tusk through his crushed head.
By this time Mary came up, and
Chief started down the railroad
track on a run, Mary following and
lashing the murderer at every step.
But Chief got away, and, turning off
into one of the main streets, he went
charging through Charlotte, spread
ing terror on every square. John
Shumate, the boss hostler, and as
plucky a man as God ever made,
had followed in hot pursuit, and just
as the big animal was charging on a
lady and gentleman whom he had
cornered. Shumate caught him in
the corner of the mouth with tent
hook and held him till Mary and
Princess came up, when he was Sc
cured and taken back"
Did you punish him ?" ss.I f,
. -HNot that time. We had no OPP
portunity. But last year he killed
very valuable pony. Then we
went for him. We took him on to q
small Island in the Ohio river below
Blennerhassett, threw him down.
tied him with ropes, and beat him
till we were all tired out; but he
never blubbered Then we strung
him up by the two hind legs between
two trees by means of block and
tackle and burned him. " ~
Burned him p alf sH,
Yes, sir; built fire which began
to lscorch his neck and when it got |
hot you ought to have heard him
below" --.--.-s-.-.-..-
Weaken did he2"
"Well, I should say So Whined |
and cried ike a whipped child. Well,
we let him down, and a better ele-
phant wasgnever seen for month |
afterward Then he got the devil
in him again" .o'''ff
"Has he always been abad ele-
phant ?" -r5F,TYrg vfy
"No, no. When we bought him |
he was of reasonable good disposi-
ton, He began to grow mean three
years ago, and showed it by throw
ing sticks and stones He hates
nigger above all things earthly, and |
I think his one aim in life is to kill
one of the cofored race.
i'Is he valuable elephant?'''
''Not so valuable as Mary, because |
he is not the performer she is. About |
all he does is to teeter and aid in the |
pyramid" e 3..a ..'-1
Chow old is he ?'' q 'a'
anThirteen years. y at,4''i lA2
care he and Empress Of the same !
species ?'' = - 'l
i'cYes both are Asiatic Chief
came from Ceylon'' 9 'te.
l"What is the difference between
the Asiatic and African elephants ?"
''The Asiatic is grayish whitish in
color, while the African is nearly
black. The latter has ears three
times as large and is more bonyA
not so plump as the Asiatic kind.
The Asiatic elephant is much. more
tractable and affectionate. Now,
there's Mary she simply loves
Princess, the young elephant, and
doesn't like to let her 20 out of her