Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1892-09-22
A PoILY ora TIME.
An Elephant Swallows Il Gallon of Fire
water and Makes Things Lively After
wards.


An Elephant Swallows Gallon of Fire
water and Makes Things Lively After
wards.
While the Ringing Brothers circus
was exhibiting in Frankfort, Ind, re.
Gently, Babe, one of the big elephants
in the menagerie, was taken with
cramps. Charlie Maluy, the boss ami
NAL man, sent for gallon Of whisky,
and, according Ia the instructions Of
DIR Alexander, the veterinary surgeon
Of Che show, told Ryan, the elephant
keeper, to give Babe 4 tablespoonful Of
! peppermint in pint Of the whisky
every half hour
Ryan did as he was told, but care
lesslr lett the jug, containing nearly a
gallon of the liquor, on the ground
| within reach of the animal, while he
went elsewhere On his return few
minutes later he was Mortified to find
the cork to the jug gone and the jug
empty. During his absence the elephant
had evidently pulled the cork ont and
drank the whisky. Such is the story
and the conjecture.
Ryan, fearing that he would be dis
charged for his r1re.tssness did not re-
| port the matte a. once, bat took the
| jug and hurried away to the nearest
saloon TO have it letillcd, hoping in this
| Wy to cover up his mistake. In the
meantime the whisky was getting in its
work and Babe began to develop some
| ct the symptoms Of an elephantine
| drunk.
Ills loud trumpeting attracted the at
tentioh ofthc observation-disclosures, who,
| however, were unable to understand the
cause of the elephants queer antics.
The huge brute rocked from side to side,
swung his trunk, and rolled his little
/ eyes as II ina very paroIysm of delight,
| at the same time giving vent to a series
| Of noises such as the oldest elephant
| keepers had never heard before.
| The unusual action OF the elephant
had by this time caused crowd of 80
or 40 Of the employees to gather around
| ii. james Dillon took an elephant hook,
and by ptndding tried to subdue the
animal. His foolhardiness, however,
| nearly cost him his life, for the elephant
became terribly cnraged Quicker than
a flash lie had his trunk wound about
Dillon, and, raising him above his head !,
held him there for fully minute. The
! bystauders were horror stricken, expect
| to the ground and trampled upon.
Waving him in the air, as child
would wave Il penny flag, the powerful
animal threw him fully 20 feet through
| the air against the side Of the tent Had
Dillon been thrown foot farther to the
! right he would have struck against a
pole, and undoubtedly been instantly
! killed; but as it was, the Welding can
/ AZ
shock and thus saved his life. After
| hurting Dillon through the air the ele-
phant gave one mighty wrench, broke
his chains, and began a staggering ram
| plge through the menagerie. The other
elephants were thrown into panic, and
it required all the skill and presence of
| MIND OF their attendants to keep them
| under control.
The cage animals also became frantic,
and the lions and tigers made frantic
attempts to break their cages. Had the
audience in the main tent known what
| was going on q panic would have en-
sued. Babe reeled over to the large
tank of the hippopotamus, and was
| pounding against the side of IL with his
trunk. In the meantime several hun
| dred feet of rope had been secured and
tying slip-knot in one end of it, John
Sneller, the boss canvas man, slipped
the moose under one of Babes hind feet
and in another instant had slipped it
upon her leg. BY number of quick
and skilful movements the big beast
was cntangled within many coils of the
rope, and thus secured TO strong stakes.
Up to this time every onn had sup
posed that the elephant had been seized
with sudden vicious inclination, but
at this juncture Ryan, who had refilled
the jug, quietly slid under the canvas
and deposited it on the ground When
he heard what had happened during his
absence he became greatly agitated, and
confessed his carelessness. The elephant
was kept bound about two hours, at the
end of which time his bonds were re-
leased, and his cramps and drunk were
both over.