The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1881-07-23
THE BATHING ELEPHANTS.

As the three elephants in the Zoologi
cal i;ar,icn had not washed themselves
for more than two years. Superintendent
Brown suddenly realized that it would
be eminently proper to give them Il bath,
bnt the difficulty was to find Il bath tub
large enough to accommodate the trio oil
monster prohoscidians. the sea lion pool
or seal tank could not he used, as they
are too small and it was remembered
that when Empress took her last bath in
the duck pond i'll 1871 she Hoped around
in such an extravagant mannerand stirred
up the mud so thoroughly that she came
ont far dlrticr than she WAS when she
went in. 1t was clear that if the clc-
plants We're tn battle n tub would have
to he bulk. The work was begun in
Anvil. and rs il was finished on Friday
the bathers took their first dip yesterday
morning. Tie bath tub is oval in shape,
ten feet deep, about 100 feet in circum-
ference, and has a concrete floor and Is
lined with bricks Half an hour after
the elephants-DomP Pedro, Empress, and
Fanny-bre;hl:lst yesterday morning.
they were marched from their pens I"
the brick covered roadway which iEclincs
to the water in the bathing place. Here
Empress became suspicious about the
solidity of the roadway and stopped.
Ia. t,,,,nl SnN.r11 tap
der places on her body with the harpoon,
and after two or three wicked shorts,
which We're echoed by her companions,
she moved cautiously toward the water.
The plane to the pool is only about sixty
feet along, but So slowly did the hathers
move that fifteen minutes elapsed before
Empress put one of her feet i'll the water,
stopped, raised her trunk and trumpete'l
loudly. This cry seemed to diSrel the
fears Of her companions. for an instant
later Dom Pedro pushed his way to the
front and went boldly into the water.
Fanny plunged i'll next, taking Il genuine
elephantine "headcr and reappearns
III tHc center oi Tue pool. i-iHpltSS cii-
tered very slowly until her legs were Gov
cred and then with grunt, which indi-
Gated intense satisfaction, she topplcd
over on her left side and sank out OF
sight. Dom Pedro. after sousing HIM
| self thoroughly ami going under the water
several times. wadcd tna place where the
| water was only about three feet deep and
! stood there lazily whi>kin@ his good-t"r-
nothing little tai at the llics. rs he viewed
| with evident astonishmen, the preppster-
Gus caperS Fanny was cutting. The Dom
accepted the situation as coollN as though
he bathcd every day instead OF once il
two wears. but the females fairly bulb
faction, and they dived and spoutcd and
! snorted and trumpeted nearly an hour,
| After splashing around fifteen or twenty
| minutes. Fanny walked up the incline
/ and then deliberately rolled down int
| the water again. The effect of this new
| ly discovered feat must have pleased hel
llllcliStlN, JOE 'ii W tHt SUI law
each time her piggish little eyes spark!ed
7 ,joyously and she Scampercd mp the patti
| to repeat the novel performance.
At the moment the spectators were
most deeply interested in Fanny's per
| tormances Dom Pedro showed his i'll,
breeding by sucking a gallon or SO OF
water into his trunk, and, poking that
| member out horizontally until it was Is
! rigid a. IA hose nozzle, he discharged its
/ contents fun III the face Of an observing
naturalist who stood near the edge of the
| pool. The naturalist. on recovering hi>
! breath, used bad language. and Dom
| Pedro beloved as if proud of his per
: Torrance. The keeper had some diff
Guilty III getting the elephants out Of the
water. but he finally succeeded and drov,
them t." their pens. On the journey,
however. Fanny insisted on rolling in
the dust. 50 that when she reached hel
apartment she was about three times a
, dirty looking as when she Went into the
/ bath. WNadHphio Times.