The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1892-07-30
| swALLowED AN ELrpHANr.
Tale OF an Eyewitness-Unsvsiii Saga.
city Of the Doomed Brute

'Dlu ever see an elepnant der
said the keeper repeating New
York Tribune reporters question.
.'Well. did and / didn't"
How was thatp" asked the repor-
ter. feeling for his notebook.
Il did not see him actually die.
said the keeper without the vestige OF
q smile. He was living when lost
sight OF him. He was swallowed
alive"
This Is going to be pretty stiff
yarn. keeper remarked the reporter.
as shade of disappointment crossed
his face. Il guess won't need the
notebook. You saw him swallowed
alive Ell? always thought you were
an antiquity. never suspected you
to be antediluvian. What did it--a
megalosaurusp"
Never heard OF such thing" said
the keeper gruffiy. This was quick
sand
''Oh. ouicksand. Go on. old
man." responded the reporter de-
lighted as he pulled out pencil or
two. Tell us all about it,"
1T wa; in India" said the old
keeper "where learned good deal
about elephants. never thinking that
it would become useful to me in Bar
NUNS menagerie In after years
Elephants are common beasts of bur-
den there. and on this day heavily
loaded one was crossing a shallow but
broad stream by wading. The sa-
gacious brute had refused to step on
the badly constructed bridge which
the natives had erected; but his in
stinct did not warn him of the dan
gerous 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 predicament he was in
their howls OF grief and despair were
ear-splitting. | suggested that bun
dies OF turf and branches be thrown
to the elephant and this was done.
Tho old fellow, seemingly aware of
bis danger took each bundle with his
trunk and thrust it under water.
Then. with mighty effort. dragging
up one foot out of the sucking sand,
he would put 1t on the bundle OF fag-
OTIS 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 in and still let him
down farther into its depths.
His master procured a small boat
aud poled it out to him. Then they
took all his load OF goods of, put
them in the boat and brought them
ashore. This lessened 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. / cannot help thinking
OF an elephant as person-no one
can who has been with them and
witnessed their intelligence as much
l have.
Collecting some floating boards
which had been thrown out to him. he
made sort OF raft of them with his
trunk and rested his big head on
them. 1t was no use. however. He
was doomed aud he knew it. Before
long the water covered his mouth.
Then he lifted his long trunk and
curled il back over his forehead. The
water filed his ears and he Tapped
they vigorously for time. Soon it
reached his eyelashes and then his
big, burning eyes just at the water
edge. took on pitiable expression.
They seemed to beseech aid and
succor from those he had served SO
long and so faithfully. and his masters
fairly groveled in the dust as they
yelled TO their gods and frothed at
the mouth in their frantic Indian way
of expressing sorrow. The tears
came into my own eyes as l looked at
the old fellow and knew there was no
help for him.
las the water covered his eyes his
courage gave way at last and he
uttered a piercing scream OF fright
through his trunk and repeated 1t
several times 1t made my blood
curdle. tell you. Have you heard
horses scream in burning buildingP
1t Is almost human. So was the
old fellows death-cry. The end was
close at hand. His long trunk still
waved wildly above the water. but
nothing else of him was visible. Its
length grew less and less and finally
the water poured over the top of it.
One more bubbling choked gasping
scream threw the water out again into
a high jet but that effort was the
last The stream quickly filed up
his only channel to the air above. and
the old elephant was buried before he
was dead. could have watched
dozen natives swallowed up in the
same way without feeling half as bad
about it,"
sssuz