The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1888-09-28
THE FALL OF ULYSSES.


and il call attention 10 the high social and
literary standing Of the gentleman whom
employed MS IN accomplicc in the affair, It IS
DOT al ali with hope Of thereby lcssenns
my own responsibility Il is certcin that
furnished tho unfortunate creature the cause
for his desperation. l ought also to confess
that felt sense Of profound relief when 70
ncccf.el the only means apparent TO bis
limited undcrs .aading Of freeing himself
from his G.,mma But what was / TO DO;
when niam rms az elephant ON his hands he
should BE- Judged with q kindly consideration
for Tie aWkwalduess Of his situation.
Ny elephant WIS decidedly moro trying
than the AVERAGE variety, Tor the reason that
he was not 1c,apaorical, but real What l
mean is. the. a:a rot speaking il fgurativc
Language about f1.ce o1cious friend or
troublesome relative, Int about a Ccrunc
Asiatic elephant Ulysses by name, who cane
into my possession several years ago, and OF
whom have bgt recently managed % r.l
myself Physically no was n well devclOped
specimen, having no special characteristics
to distinguish him from the rest Of his spe-
cies. intellectually. however, hc WIS sort
OF Frankcnstcia, and / was thcunfortunate
who was responsible for his existence
II intend o teach this animal all that an
elephant can be made to learn, said !.
| engaged ga experienced mahogt, or
driver, an intelligent native by the rano Of
Akbar J determined, however, TO maize use
of his services just sltilo possible, in order
ithst Ulysses Nigh. learn 20 depend upon my
self alone | attended personally to tie
ma ter Of food and drink, and took pains
that my protego should receive no fayors
from The hand OF any ono else soon learned
the things that gave him pleasure, and put
myself g. ne little trouble 70 crafty him on
every possible occasion. | continued this pro
cess, combining with it instruction in such
small services rs ''house elephants in India
are always expected TO perform. until saw
that | hid completely gained his con-
fidence ard affection. During this
period Of bis tutelase. Ulysses would
have trusted and obcycd no to any
extent think he would Willingly have
laid down bis lfo or endured ,Jrturo for
my sake. Nothing made him happier
than 10 be near ITO as sa. under the banYan
tree IN my garden, sssoGing and readias.
When opened MS stall in tho mornings and
called 20 him 10 come ont. he fairly quivcrel
with JOY az the sound Of my voice, and gave
vent TO his satisfaction at seeing M by shril
trumpc;ings His devotion MAS annoying a.
times and one of tho first difficulties that !
experienced w1S il teaching him to be less
denonstratye.
IL Is fact which most readers OF this rar.
ratiyc have proved icr themselves by actual
experiment that animals may b. taagL. tie
meaning Of words. An intelligent do for
example, Possesses 4 consider bic vocabulary
proposed TO rnlertai.ca systematic course
of instruction il the Englisa language WIKI |
Ulysses, and 10 ascertain to what extent 10
was capable of acquiring orr vocabulary. I
Whenever he learned n new word | aalc
note Of i in lo,1, aid by cors;aa, rcviow
contrivcd 70 FL it in BIS ilcmorv. s. soon
as he began 10 comprehend VIVA. ny purpose
was o. he did after hcl been laborlg With
him 4 cou2io Of weeks, Le became very cagcr +
10 learn, AID greatly increased t.se rapidly
of the work
Tho process OF teaching him nouns Was
simple and ossy Each day wcald produce
several new articles, tell him th,ir r;r.cs,
and lrvc him hand them to Elo as / called
for them. taught him 10 say yes AID
''no' by tic wayins Of bis trunk ard made
Z him appreciate that Lc was to- that means .
Of sSnaying 10 mo whether he underwood
me or not.
After was well into the wor: the norm F
ing lesson would go somewhat Is follow:
''ATc You ready for your lesson, Uiyss-an +
Ulysses LIFTS H. trua. celrma.ivcly. Al F.
though he Goes 10, understand 'lcsso1, " to .
word 're>dy" is clear to him by frequent
use
hold out q bal, o new object.
This is a iall Jiyss-s-balln
repeat IL several times, uatil tie sornd T.
has fastcaod Itself IL lis memory Thca
lay it Oh TO ta5ic with pipe, q cur AL
book. as.. lor.1cA, CO after anotlcr, ed
be hands them to !-4e. / add numerous otLcr B.
objects, tho names Of which h. las already
learned, and th.s combine rcyiew with ad-
vance instruction.
Together with To noun 'ban, - I teach him
the verbs "-Oll, throw and "Jrtn." AID F
perhaps an advert c. two. like "laa." Oh
''slovly,' and On cdjec,i.c, round" Some +
timcs there is an answered hitch, AID | have
10 abandon tho G;.c-lp. 10 teach hin sc.o
particular word, referring - il ag~in vixen
his vocabulary has been increased in SOHO
other direction.
A certain poirt oaco passed, it WAS s..-- +
prising wiz what rapidity proceeded. ono
word led TO another, u number Of words u
phrases, and these to complete sentences
finally dropped into way OF talking TO him
about the objects with which we were work
ing, much rs l would have talked 10 a bright
child | was conscious a. times tina. only 4
small part Of what was saying vas under. I.
stood, but it accustomed him TO hearing tho
words that he knew, used in association with /
others, 10 form complete statements
In my search for objects 20 uso in tho in /
struct.on of Ulysses, happened upon lnnn /
Of chalk. With this sketched various /
things on q smooth F.lal; of darl, wood, and |
found that they were readily recognized by I
my pupil From this suddenly conceived |
new idea. | sent to Madras and had a large, |
firm blackboard made, and ordered chalk and I
erasers. Then began systematic and de- /
termined Effort 70 teach Ulysses to read and 1
write
There is one element that enters into all /
teaching, Of which it is difficult to give any /
conception in a narrative OK results, and that .
is time | had been steadily at work with +
Ulysses for nearly a year before | BEGAN 70 I
use tho blackboard, and after adopted that
assistant 1t was many months ere important