The Warner sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1885-1???, 1888-04-20
A WICKED ELEPHANT.
PLEASURES or RAILWAY TRAVEL
WITH a VICIOUS BRUTE

~ rUl MI
MDuring the time / wal with Fore
paugh's circus,n says James TwitcheIl,
Buffalo Bill's late manager OF tile Iondc1s
'fWild West Show 81 took part IN IN
exhibitions that were not down on thu
bills. One In particular ] shall not he
likely to forget. The show disbanded ns
Chicago; Bamboo, the tricx~ elephant, was
leased to the Kiralfy brothers, who were
about to open their season ia Boston.
Bamboo had established d name for HIM
self as a savage, t~reacher3us brute, who
had killed and MANNED at least d DOZEN
men. He had q keeper who was in
the habit OF becoming and remaining
drunk. / hadn't much idea OF the
dangerous character Of the journey untn
we were perhaps q hundred miles out Of
Chicago. The bottom of the car WIS
thickly Uttered with hay, in which Bamr
boo, the keeper and myself were to sleau
together. The keepers bottle was q o.
my earliest discoveries and discourage
ments. The novelty OF the situation kept
me awake pretty much all the first night
out, and II was with some dismay that i
discovered that the keeper WAS hopelesaiy
drunk, snoring ia the hay. That would
not have minded had Bamboo only kept
quiet. But he didn't and wouldn't and
that first night, before / had become In
the least accustomed to the situation, waa
simply q night Of horrors. in the still
hours Of that night, with the train rush
ing along at the rate OF thirty miles an
hour, ] would at short intervals heav a.
mulfied snort from the monster at tbs
other end Of the car, and then feel q gi
gantic foot showing against me, or the end
Of his trunk passing inquisitive9y over my
face. Then / would jumD up knd yell Ia
the keeper, with energetic Kicks 10 em-
phasize my remarks.
There, you--wake upl That i~nfernaE
elephant is going to trample us to deathi
THE drunken keeper would set 70 his
feet, swear, give Bamboo an unmercifln
prodding with his fork, the great brute
would lie down and cry, and we would
have peace.
'This scene, with variations, - what
happened all the way from Chicago "a
New York. l wasn't trampled to death
by the elephant; why / was not ! do not
know.
about daylight we were III the Vicinity
Of Erie, Pa. Here Bamboo took c0gni
zanee Of his surroundings IN a Disagree
able way. Elephant cars, be 1t UNDER
stood, nre specially built and fitted for the
transportation of those brntes, and the
car Ia which we first embarked was not
Of this kind. II was not high enough nor
strong enough. When the vicious brute
had thoroughly satisfied himself .of thesa
facts, he rose up out OF the hay, arched
his ugly back, and burst the whole top of
the car ont.
eve stopped ut Erie. There was loud
swearing and clamor by the railroad men
FOR compensation for the damage. I told
them to send their bill to the KiralfyA
and, IN the meantime, II they didn't want
the elephant ontAeir hands to take care
OF, they had better help me get him "a
Boston as fast as possible. They took d
look at Bamboo, observed his vicious eya,
and said they guessed that was so.
eve arrived 1T Buffalo. Al necessity
OF the trip was a change OF cars at thia
point. The elephant had been wen fed
and well warered, and might have had
the decency TO behave himself. To-
keeper got him ont OF the wrecked car In
good shape and started him for his new
quarters IN the waiting train. A grest
pile Of blackberry crates was near. but noe
at all In the way, Aiay ( be blamed
that devilish brute didn't make Tor therH
and destroy t~weuty-four full crates bef0ES
the keeper could restrain him.
oven, everybody knows the law about
elephants and other Wild beasts. 4 had
to settle for the ~blackberries on the apot.
and a large hole 1t made III my 500
1.-THE most dangerous and laborsous im-
cldent Of our trip would not have hap
pened hut for the fact that when the
keeper was sobes he would smoke a pips.
His smoking ret the hay alre near SYRIA
guse, and before it was discovered the car
was filed with smoke, the elephant was
s~norting and trumpeting, and we couldnt
stamp out the fire.
1--WE had two buckets. / rushed with
them through the baggage chr, over TIE
tender, got the fireman in the cab TO an
them, and ran back with them to our car.
This feat, half a dozen times repeated,
with the train going at express speed, was
no small task. The keeper took the pnila
at the door Of our car and dOused the
burning hay with the water. Simple
business, you would say, to put ont such
q fire that way. So It would haze baem
but for that elephant He near
getting us and himself burned up to-
gether, for about every .Fecond he would
swing his trunk a-0und, oYerset the pals
and spill the wS&cr enywhare bnt on taa
IRE. Ihave heard something az the I'M
~telligence Of the elephant; this fellow waa
Ia a panic until we got that fire out.
Zone Sunday morning We unloaded es
the Grand Central station in New York
and getting into broadway, marched III
~umphantly down. OF my 500 + had 1afk
$3.50. Bamboo had eaten up and dn
stroyea more chan $50 worth The keeper
was ~gloriously drunk; but we had passed
the larger part Of the journey, we had but
one stage more, and / had high hopes of
getting into Boston Tuesday morning, az
the furthests
with much trouble we got the brute
quartered IN a barn on Crosby street. We
slept with him, and ate cold junk fot
twenty-four hours. When we marched
aboard the sound steamer with Bamboo
the next day my 81.b0 was gone. and tbs
keeper and / had left our coats as security
for the ELEPHANTS board Yet / prssNlne
the crowd on the ataamer thought it Che
correct thing for gentlemen III care of ana
elephant to appear "a their shirt sleeves.
So or dignity was maintained.
ssThe name Of Kfaify, aided, Z bclieFe.
by q telegram frcm the management q
the captain Of the boat, secured Our trans
portatson, and 4 fDnd1v fancied that an
woes were over. But let mo man put hi
4 a--.E