The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1883-06-02
MIDNIGHT I'M a Manarerla.
Don't talk so loud" said the watch.
man; you'll wake the oudad ;,

midnight In MenageFla.
Don't talk so loud said the watch
man; you'll wake the oudad. y
The what?" said the reporter.
The oudad, > replied the Waterman.
that what they cali it; he's a loyely
oird and has voice like buzz saw
ana when he buzzes, gosh! So let him
sleep, and the Waterman silently led
the way past the oudad.
Cheese it, " broke out the Waterman
again DO you hear that?' An ele-
plant had evidently kicked his com.
panion. '' 'oln'
Are the elephants apt to be very
restless at night?'
"oh, very, And when an elephant
IS restless, there's good deal that
restless: They sleep on one side till
lnat tired and then they flop over on
.he other That was flop over we Just
what's thise" asked the reporter,
pointing to something in the path.
That, replied the watchman, fol
lowing up the obstacle with his lantern.
seems to be part of camel But
where's the rest of him? Oh, here it is.
They stretch out well, don't theyf
those are magnificent humps-made
expressly for the circus, too. They are
| harmless. -
What, the humps?''
mo, the camels. And they make
no noise at night unless they find shin.
gle nails in their food. Then they com.
| plain.
Don't get too near the business end
OF that thing, said the Waterman, lift.
ing up his lantern so that it was even
darker than before, ''that is mule
Never interfere with mules plans anG
In approaching him always allow for ;
contraction and subsequent expansion Of
the muscles. Next to the mule are the
zebra-striped ponies We never venture
to use soap on those stripes. Here arc
some very rare things, and they are a,
queer as they ore rare, They never
make the slightest noise either wher
pleased or when frightened. They are
the glratfes. No one overheard a cir
affe murmur.' Observe the length of theil
neck. What a winter resort for diph
iberia! You can get something of al
idea of their length of neck by picturinc
IN your minds eye four yards of sore
throat and the amount of vinegar ant
salt required for one gargle. The OF
raffe is indeed difficult thing to keen
he dies so easily and almost withou
proyocation.
This animal here" continued tn,
Waterman, still walking by the stalled
animals, lis not, as you might have sup
posed, Harlem goat. No; this is the
sacred bull. 1t is said he was taker
from the Pope
lis he very sacred?" asked the in
creduious reporter.
yes; he's extremely sacred. H,
gets more sacred every day. TIL,
amount of reserence he inspires in hi.
keepers is only equaled by that of thu
mule"
Having reached the end of the stalled
animals the watchmen announced. by
twist OF his lantern, that he was. abou
to come upon the fcrocious wild beast
IN cages. He then put out the lantern
and he and the reporter sat down on th,
railing that protects the Gagged animal
from the spectators. Itwas a little earl,
for the usual midnight roar of the ami
mails, but not half so early as the visit
ors had thought, for soon there CAM
from the cage back OF them anoise tina
startled both of them out of week
growth. 1t was the greeting of an Al
rican lion.
1t only required the roar of one liol
| itrIth IN or r-f4 tn HI
nagerie. That beautiful bird called tn
emu was the first to reply to the lion
call. The reply was nothing more thai
mild form of sneeze, but it went
great way. And in less time than
takes to record it the congregation O
animals that were endowed with an
! sort of an apparatus for making a rack
, e. had tuned their pipes andwere blow
iag and believing to see which coul,
make the most noise It.was a livel
place to be in without any light Blu
D., that did not seem to make any differ
ence to the animals. The baboon bark
ed and the rhineeeros grunted. And tn
louder they barked and gruntef tn
louder the lions and tigers reared
Then the elephants joined in the geEorf
: disorder, and when they united in tn
Il chorus there was no peace for the wicl
i ed One elephant is usually considere
5 sufficient to supply one family with Il
> the noise it wants; but when twenty ell
plants lit up their voices in one symps
thetic lamentation. nothing but the deeI
est coal mine could ever furnish sal
h harbor or sure retreat. Add to tn
If the hair-splitting noises of the cockatoC
and the macaws, the mournful lowin
of the Nubian rhinoceros and the III
e paralleled snore of the hippopotamu
and the effect is APPALLING. The watcl
man looked at the reporter and the +
porter eyed the Waterman. Neith'
could speak And it would not hay
L. made any difference if they had spoke
They might have roared until they wen
black in II e face and still not have mat
themselves heard. Each Grasped Il
others hand and bolted for the entran
with as much haste as though pursue
by the whole menagerie. Non Ioi