Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1888-06-01
A QUEER INDUSTRY.
Trading in the Beasts That Live
in Menageries.
Hunting Parties Sent Every
where in Search of Curiosities.

The expenditure OF hundreds of thou
sands Of dollars each year in the pro
curement Of wild beasts, birds and rep
tiles seems like the wicked cxtrava--
gai &c Of some magnificent potentate,
but when it is incurred in the course OF
trade it furnishes food for thought by
the philosopher, talk by the moralist
and amusement and instruction for the
multitude. MIR. Rcichc, New York
dealer in wild animals, has been inter
viewed on this subject by a Graphic re-
| porter.
1--WE send out some half a dozen
expeditions every year." he said, to
different parts OF the world. There arc
three points in Africa to which we send.
| Oao goes to the north of Africa and
thence to th3 Interior az far a. circum-
stances may ct ,te Another gocs to
Cape Town and thence northcrly by OK
teams iato the interior as far towards
Rider Haggard's land of story as may
be. The third goes to the west coast
and through Liberia. Thea we send
one to Pra ald that goes to any point
in South America that seems most de-
sirablc. Another goes to Australia and
New Zealand. Thea we send parties
out for walrusses and sea lions towards
the South Pole. They sometimes catch
a polar bear, but not often.
'It would be almost impossible to say
what is expended 10 the pursuit The
entire capital invested is turned over
as frequently as possible. Sometimes
We have money lying idle for tim,,
and sometimes it i, all invested in the
different consignments that are coming
home. 1t would be equally hard to es-
timatc the profits, for, of course, the
business is full of accidents We are
liza BILE 10 lose the beasts that have cost
us the most, and we may get very high
prices for some that have cost com
paratively little. There was one hippo
potamus that our hunter, Lohse
lought for $50 from some natives on
the Settle River in Africa. The ami
NAL was only a few days old when no
bouphs i. and it kept forsa.srs.ssa &avsee
Lcfore it was sold for $40, 600 o.
course the difference between the two
sums was rot all or nearly all profit, but
they are illustrative.
Necessarily our hunters run into all
sorts of dangers, NOT only from the wild
beasts themselves, but from the natives
in some of the wild countries they have
to explore. They are trained men,
though, and seldom come to utter grief
though some of the men they employ
arc frequently killed. In Africa they
will have sometimes party of 200 or
300, or even 500 natives employed in
hunting the big game. Their stories of
adventure are as thrilling as those in
any book of travel, Lut the professional
hunter is not oftea a professional story
teller, and the stories that you find in
books are generally told second hand.
'What do we do with our goods
when we get them2 They are, the
most Of them, taken to Germany, to our
headquarters at AlfeId. There they are
kept for time if they ara
out of condition in any way,
or if they havo to be accli-
mated. From Alfold they are shipped
to one of cur distributing depot3. We
have several places in different parts Of
the world similar to this one. You may
call them salcsroom'. Tnen we send
direct TO our Gu toners.
"Who buy them2 Oh, circus people,
city governments and private collectors.
OF course, the circus people arc the
largest buyers. They use up a great
many animals. That is, their curiosi-
ties die faster than they would if it were
not for the constant travel. They are
cared for as we'll as possible, but of
course the life is hard on them. Then
there are public and private geological
gardens which we supply and multi
tudes of peop'e buy all sorts Of pets
Here, for instance, is pet that would
be appreciat ID by great many"
Aud he reached down into the barrel,
the bottom Of which was covered with
young ali ;ators, which were squirming
aud straddiin5 around In two or three
inches of dirty water. Picking one of
these up by the head he held it in his
hand and poked it to show that it was
soft, being newly hatch d. Then he
tried to see If it would bite him, and
finding it wou'd d not put it carefully
back among its brethren.