Fairhaven herald. [volume] (Fairhaven, Wash.) 1890-????, 1892-06-15
IN A QUICKSAND.
ELEPHANT SWALLOWED WHOLE
BY TREAcHERoUS MUD.

Unavailing sagacity Of the Doomed
reatare-Calm In the Midst of Dam
er, the Intelligent Brute Grew Fright
med Only at the Very Last.
ibid | ever see an elephant der said
keeper, repeating reporters ques-
n. "Wel, did and didn't"
SLOW was thatY' asked the reporter,
cling for his notebook.
81 did not see him actually die" re-
led the keeper, without the vestige of
smile "He was living when | lost
yht Of him. He was swallowed alive
''This is going to be a pretty stiff yarn,
seper," remarked the reporter, as a
lade of disappointment crossed his
ce. II guess | won't need the note
ook. You saw him swallowed alive,
~ Railways thought you were an an
guilty, never suspected you to be an
sdiluvian. What did it, a megalo-
aurus?"
"Never heard Of such a thing" said
be keeper grufily. This was a quick
and"
"Oh, quicksand! Go on, old man."
esponded the reporter, delighted, as he
uIled out n pencil or two. Tell us all
bout it.
at was in India" said the old keeper,
where learned a good deal about ele-
,hants, never thinking that it would
;ome useful TO me in after years. Ele-
Dhants are common beasts Of burden
here, AMI on this day heavily loaded
,ne was crossing a shallow but broad
stream by wading. The sagacious brute
lad refused TO step ON the badly con-
,tructed bridge which the natives had
erected, but his instinct did not warn
him of n dangerous quicksand which the
water concealed, near the farther bank,
Il was attracted to the scene by the
shouts Of his owners, five Indian mer-
chants, whose wares he carried from
one bazaar to another. They did not
know of the quicksand and could not
understand why their elephant did not
come out Of the stream which he had
almost crossed. When they learned the
predicanent he was in, their bowls Of
grief and despair were earsplitting. /
suggested that bundles of turf and
branches be thrown to the elephant, and
this was done. The old fellow, seem
ingly aware of his danger, took each
bundle with his trunk and thrust it
under water. Then with a mighty eff
fort dragging up one foot out of the
sucking sand, he would put it on the
bundle of fagots and press it down. He
got lot of them under him in this way
with more skill and precision than you
would think possible, but the soft sand
took them all b and still let him down
farther into its depths.
Ellis master procured a small boat
and poled it out to him. Then they took
all his load of goods off, put them in the
boat and brought them ashore. This
lessenod his weight good deal, but the
sand was by that time up above his
shoulders and soon his entire back was
covered by the water. Only his head
showed now, and still the old fellow was
the only calm and collected individual
in the crowd. Icannot help thinking Of
an elephant as person; no one can who
has been with them and witnessed Their
intelligence as much as | have.
"Collecting some floating boards which
had been thrown out to him, he made a
sort OF raft Of them with his trunk and
rested his big head on them. 1t was nc
use, however. He was doomed and we
knew it. Before long the water covered
his mouth. Then he lifted his long
trunk and curled it back over his fore
head. The water filled his ears and he
tapped them vigorously for time. Soor
it reached his eyelashes, and then his BIG
burning eyes. just at the waters edge
took on a pitiable expression.
"They seemed to beseech aid and succol
from those he had served so long and Sc
faithfully. and his masters fairly grow
eled ia the dust as they yelled to theil
gods and frothed at the mouth in theil
frantic Indian way Of expressing sorrow
The tears came into my own eyes as
looked at the old fellow and knew Their,
was no help for him.
Gas the water covered his eyes hi
courage gave way at last, and he uttere,
piercing scream Of fright through hi
trunk and repeated it several times. |
made my blood curdle, tell you Hav
you heard horses scream in a burnin
building? 1t is almost human. SO wa
the old fellows death cry. Tho end wa
close at hand. His long trunk sti
waved wildly above the water, but notl
ing else of him was visible. Its lengt
grew less and less, and finally the wats
poured over the top Of it.
Zone more bubbling, choked, gaspin
scream threw the water out again into
high Jet, but that effort was the last. II
stream quickly filed up his only cham
to the air above, and the old elepha'
was buried before he was dead. l couI
have watched dozen natives swallows
up in the same way without feeling ha
as bad about it.r-New York Tribune.
Cmcar's Ignoble End.