Morning journal and courier., 1882-02-04
The Baby Elephant.
The Arrival of the Stranger-The Train
er's Account of the Event--Maternal
SnIjcituSe and Jox1

SoIicitude and Joy.
There was great excitement, you had bet
ter believe, at Barnums winter quarters
buildings on Thursday evening when the |
bran new baby elephant came to town Yam
kee Doodle was proud over the advent of the /
distinguished stranger-the second baby ele- |
plant born in America, or in captivity the |
world over. Mr. George Arstingstall, the |
head trainer, was well pleased. That's as |
good as 5000, ZOO, he said, looking fondly at |
the new arrival The comiHg of the second |
baby elephant ever born in captivity has been |
anxiously awaited during the greater part of |
the winter, there being great uncertainty
about the time of the denouement. Three
weeks ago Queen, the prospective mother, |
was taken from the pen which she had occu-
pied in a solitary state since last fall, and
tethered in the ring where the herds are
trained for their feats for the coming season.
About 6 O'Clock Thursday evening Mr.. Ar
stingstall sent out word that the interesting
event would surely occur within few hours
The announcement had the effect of bringing
to the show quarters over a hundred curious
visitors, including nearly all the doctors of
the city. Most of them retired, however,
before the occurrence of the actual event,
which took place at precisely eight minutes
past 8 O'Clock Thursday evening. Queen
showed no indications of suffering labor
pains until about ten minutes before the birth
occurred. Arstingstall told how the event
happened.
II was mindful" said he 'sof my expert
ence with Hebe, the mother of the former
baby elephant--Coiumbia by name-and as
you may believe was on the anxious seat as
to what might happen. Hebe was very do
ai1Q opIp ypt,i ss ALL,
vicious and treacherous, and knowledge of
| this did not lessen my anxiety about the out
come of this affair. Hebe, for all her kind
| ness and tractability, took on at an awful
rate when she was in the same situation,
throwing her progeny way across the room,
and in her mad rage upsetting the stove
and causing a general furore among the
| animals. I anticipated something even
| worse from Queen and took measures
accordingly. By o'clock there was sta
| toned in front of each elephant in the room
| man prepared to jab them with pitch
forks or some equally effective instrument
in case of an outbreak. Queen herself I,
| troll One fore leg and one hind leg were
| fastened by chain connected with
| heavy stake driven several feet into the
ground Attached to each of her legs and
passing over her body were guy ropes held
| by men who had instructions to let go as
| soon as gave the orders There was a
| very exciting scene as the baby was dropped
| The mother raised her trunk and beloved in
apparent rage and terror. She looked about
to catch sight of her offspring, and tuggea
l desperately to free herself from her fasten-
| ings The other elephants, sympathizing
| with their mate, set up general chorus Of
whistling and trumpeting, to which the cries
/ room made up strange and confusing ned
| ley Outside the keepers there were not
more than half a dozen persons in the room,
and all of them, fearing general
| outbreak of the elephants, fastened to the
| door. When the baby struck the straw
| on the floor it was completely envel-
| oped by membrane. Queen stepped her
foot on the mass, and the parties at the door
yelled out that she was killing it. Let her
alone for an instant said l. She seemed to
be treading the mass carelessly with her hind
feet, but as [ supposed at the time, and after
wards learned from the actual condition of
the baby, was only stripping off the outer
membrane. This as I had before supposed is
part of the animals natural instinct All
this occupied but moment, and meanwhile
Queen was uttering furious, enraged cries,
and struggling to free herself. I went to the
chain which held one of her front legs-it
was an ordinary OK chain-but she had
broken it. She was still held forward, now
ever, by the ropes, which after being released
udu WOuuu dDOuJ 1u6 bLhk6 duu uSr llI0DS, /
and as the easiest way of releasing her I con-
cluded to pull the stake from the ground. 1t
did not come very readily, being buried in
the ground about four feet, but Queen as
sisted me by leaning over and breaking the
stake off by her head, thereby leaving her
self comparatively free from the ropes. By
this time saw that the baby was held down
by the ropes and released it. The mother
by this time was in greater rage than be-
fore, and raised her trunk as if to strike me.
l would probably have been struck had not
held the infant between myself and the trunk
of the Infatuated mother. She desisted for
second, but when Mr.. Coleman, one of the
trainers, approached she struck at him vi
ciously and would doubtless have foored him,
had he not been out of her reach. After this
matters quieted down. About twenty min
utes after birth the baby was able to stand
and at once began nosing around under the
mother for the source of nourishment I
had provided rubber nipple connected by
nose with a big bottle of milk to supply her
wants in case she should not take readily to
the maternal parent, but finding her strong
and frisky, concluded not to bring it into use.
About three hours after the time of birth the
baby began sucking, being assisted to the
performance of the task by the mother, who
guided her offspring by her trunk as we'll as
infant added Mr.. Arstingstall, ''and since
the time of its birth, six hours ago, has kept
constantly on its feet.''
The new elephant is a female and not much
larger than Newfoundland dog.
P. T. Barnum was appraised of the birth by
telephone and bounded into the show build
ings ten minutes afterwards all aglow with
esger interest. "What is it, was his first
Inquiry, "a girl or boy?n
"a girl, - replied Mr.. Arstingstall.
"That's good'' said Barnum, ''but be care
full of her; there's 100000 on that straw
that can be trampled out in second"
When the baby was weighed, the scales reg
| istered rs pounds, which is 81 pounds less
| than the other elephant weighed at birth.
The feet were of a pinkish tinge at first, but
they changed to a dark color in an hour.
An hour and half after birth the baby
managed to take several steps about the
| ring, which was the sign for general cheer
ing Queen trumpeted, and the other ami
mails set up a roar, making terrific din.
| The mother, however, was not yet entirely
| at ease and only permitted the approach of
the trainer at intervals, driving him away at
| other times In two hours and half after
| the birth Queen became quiet and lay down.
She tossed hay over the young one, tried to
roll it around, and manifested her extreme
Joy in thousand clumsy and expressive
ways At times it seemed as if the mother
would trample on and crush her CHARGE but
in reality she was as careful as any mother