Feliciana sentinel. [volume] (St. Francisville, La.) 1877-1892, 1891-09-05
cane OF ELEPHANTS.

CANE OF ELEPHANTS.
I('S 16rssssag Esess Ordained Fron an Old
m m Snowman.
& III william Newton, Of the Barnum
HafIev establishment, could, we
- rive points, as far as the care OF |
phants goes, to the head equerry OF
"a 3hc king Of Dude. We know now
TT the elephant ranges over wide
~ and thrives in fairly elevated
nds near the snow-levels. In this
c6Sxifry, and in all geological collec-
efaoaa. he attains fair old age. Their
1rOnhle. Mr.. Newton told us. was a
fSul1eucy to chills- ''You had to be
ssxufnl how you watered them. If the
water was too cold, they were taken
WITH collie; generally good stiff
drink of rum brings them round.
And what might you call stiff
dxinlt?" asked.
s.Oh, gallon.
.sShow any signs of jollity?"
s.Not bit AS sober as judges l
have had to blanket serious cases OF
cramps 1 take as many blankets as l
can get, and steep them in hot water,
and bind them round the elephant; and
when he's swaddled up that way he
looks huge. An elephant will take a
-.RalloH OF oil, or the same measure OF
linseed oil. lie may be u sensible ami
NAL in some respects, but not in all II
~ picks up nail in his foot. which
happens pretty often, he will stop
right away and show you his trouble
md let YOU take it out for him, and
seem sort of grateful, but he doesn't
banker after medicine. The way we
work him is to make him open his
mouth. The oil we put in galvan-
lied iron bottle, and we place that on
Z his tongue, force his head backwards
and down goes the oil. No harm ever
Is done him with the prods. 1t takes
four or Eve hands to make an elephant
take his medicine"
I have always remembered very
clever book of Charles Reade's, Jack OF
All Trades, which gave rather sinister
!. view of an elephant, and I recall, too, a
great deal of nonsense written about
Z the cruelty of elephant prods. 1t would
be absurd to try and manage an AMI
NAL of such prodigious powers-the
strongest we know of-with riding
switch, and prods are necessities An
elephant knows his keeper and obeys
him. may show kind of respect with
some little affection for his master, but
he has no liking for strangers. If
were left alone with any show ele-
plant, the keeper being absent, l should
ut once want to beat a hasty retreat.
Never through curiosity or carelessness
get yourself between an elephant and 4
wall, oryou may have the life crushed
: ont of you. The upshot of which is that
Oriental mahoots or American keepers
must have prods; and it is also fortu
nate for man that elephants have SEN
sitive ears
s12uarreling among elephants is not
common, but we are careful not to put
the males together. Their tempers diff
fer; the females, however. are rarely
cross. In certain seasons we watch the
males very carefully, for they become
dangerous. There is an elephant W.
cured of broken leg. 1t was a Ion;
job. We slung him and used splint
and plaster. Elephants run down il
flesh in summer. because we work them
and they are good deal knocks
about, but in winter they pick up
The tuslss of the female, which ar
short, have ragged ends. and intiic
ugly wounds. When they are SCARED
we use carbolic salve. When the
stand for a long time, we have to Gu
We use rasp and a chisel, and do no
have any trouble"
When at Central Park, Mr.. Conkli
asked me to guess the circumference @
an elephants foot. l was ten inche
ont of the way. Taking the fine brut
Tom in the menagerie, the keepe
passed cord round one of the fore
feet, and it's circumference was fou
. feet eight inches. That" said tn
superintendent, fought to represer
when multiplied by two, Toms create:
elevation" There, upon Il secon
measure was taken. and Toms heigf
was nine feet four inches l haze ha
circle with this circumference draw
in chalk on the floor. and it occupi,
about the room of an ordinary tete-
tete tea-table. The greatest diamett
is only obtainable when the elephant
on his feet; then there is expansion
the massive toes. The books give tt
foot circumference as one of the roue
ways used in India to get at the heigl
of an elephant.-Harper Weekly.
Could Charm Copperheads.