Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1892-05-24
AN ELEPHANT SWALLOWED UP.
rms WONDERFUL sAoAcrrr or riIE
sRrrE rAiLEp IN sAvE u.

"Dld I ever zee an elephant diet" said
the keeper repeating . reporters ques-
tion. swell, I did and didn't"
"IIow Was thatr' asked the REPORTER,
feeling for his notebook.
81 did not eco him actually de-" re-
piled the keeper without the vestigc. of
q smile. "lIe Was living when ! lost
sight of him. lie was swallowed alive. "
"This IL going to be . pretty stin
yarn" remarked the reporter, ~
shade Of disappointment crossed his
face. ~ guess won't need the note
book. You saw him swallowed alive,
Ell, I always thought yoa were an an
tIquity. never suspected youto be Ar-
tediluvlan. What did u, . megAlosAu-
rusr'
"Neyer heard Of such = thing" said
the keeper grufiiy. "ihl' was quick
sand"
"Oh, q auckland. Go on, old man."
responded the reporter. delighted, as he
pulled out q pencil or two. "rell us
all about L."
"It Was In India" said the old keep
er, "wherc I learned q good deal about
elephants, never thinking that II would
come useful tn me In IIarnum's mensg.-
rie In after years. Elephants are CON-
mon beasts of burden there, aud on this
day a heavily loaded one Was crossing .
shallow but broad stream BY wading.
The sagacious brute refused to step on
the badly constructed bridge which the
native. had erected; but his Instinct did
not warn him of q dangerous quicksAnd
which the water concealed near the
farther bank.
III was attracted Ia the scene by the
shouts Of hls owners, i've Indian mer-
chants, whose wares he carried from Que
bazaar Ia smother. They did not Know
Of the quicksand aud could not under
stand Why their elephant did not come
out of the str.am which hc had almost
crossed. when they learned the pre-
dicament he MAS la, their bowls OF grief
and despair were esr--pllitlng. j aug.
ge.ted that bundle. Of turf aud branche.
be thrown Ia the elephant, and this wss
done. The old fellow, seemingly aware
Of his danger, took each bundle with
al. trunk aud thrust u under water
Then with mighty effort, dragging up
one foot out IL the sucking sand, he
~ould put IL on q bundle of fagots aud
pres. u down. ~. got lot Of them un-
der him In TIL. way with more skill and
precision than YOU would think possible I.
bu, the .oft sand took them all In aud
.tlll let him down farther Into its dcpth..
"iil. master procured q small boat
aud polcd u out Ia him. Then they took
oil hl. Load aud brought them ashore.
This lc..cned his weight q good deal,
bu, the sand was by that time up above
al. shoulder. aud soon hls entire hack
va. covered by the water. Only hl.
head showed now, and silll the old TEL
Low VA. IN. ouly calm and collected In
dl,Idual In the crowd. ! cannot help
thinking % an elephant a. person; no
on. can Who Ia. been with them aud
witnessed their intelligence q. much a.
! have.
COLLECTING some hosting board.
which had been thrown out la him, h-
made a sort 81 raft II them With hl.
trunk aud rested hi. big head on them.
II va. no use, however. lie VA. doom.
ell aud Ne knew u. Before long the
water covered hi. mouth. Then be INT
I'll his long trunk aud curled u back
over al. forehead. The water flllci BAL.
ears Aui u' HaplEb tNh ''A'''NF -
q time. soon II reached hi. ey.lashcs
and then hi. biz barnlng EYES, Ju.t at
the water. edge took on pliiful expires.
.iou. They seemed 10 b..ecch pity aud
.uccor from those be had served 50
long aud .o faithfully, aud his mas-
ter. fairly gro,ellc,i la the dust q. They
yelled IL their gods aud frothci at the
mouth la their frantic Indian way OF ex-
pressing .orrow. The tears came into
INV own eve. a. looked at the old TEL
low aud knew there VAS no b.lp for him.
"a. the water covered hl. eyes hl.
courage gave Wy aud be uttered pierre
Ing scream IL fright through the trunk
aud repeated IL several tunes. II made
my blood curdlc. tell you. Have YOU
heard horse. SCREAM In burning build
iugt II !. almost human. 30 was the
old fellow. death cry. The cnd VA.
,lo.e at hand. III. long trunk It'll
wa,rl wildly above the water, but moth
Ing else ~ him wa. Visible. It, length
grew les. aud lc.., and finally the water
poured over the top ~ IL. tine more
bubbling. chok-i, gi.plng scream
threw the water out again Into q high
i.t, but that effort was the last. The
stream quickly filled up his only chan
nel To- the air above, aud the oil .le.
plant was buried before he VA. dssi.
could have watched q dozen native.
swallowed up In the same way without
t..ti,, h.if a. hal ahaut IN