The Wichita daily eagle., 1893-12-06
KICKED THE BUCKET.
En- Exile From Cent raj America, Shnfaed on
the Nor IL coil

Big BeSS IS oeaI.
She was daisy in her day., but daisie
die and pass away.
''Men who live by the sword die By th
sword,'' is an old saying; it is the sam
way with Big Bess. Ste lived by her gri
and died by the grip.
Bess was a boa constructor Her earl,
youth was passed IN Central America, ant
IL IS said that she came from a famou
family. Her keeper AYERS that her grand
father on the mothers side would take
cow in its grip. squeeze 1t TO death. eat
at one bite and lick his chops after
with the ease aud grace that a hobo woulc
| dispatch a fried oyster at a free lunch
| der mother was known 10 eat three Ia
dians Tor dinner one day. and then follow
ed French engineer three miles in hope.
of having him for dessert.
| At an early age Big Bsss was caugh,
/ mapping and disregarding her innocence
| and youth yankee circus agent kidnap
| ped her aud brought her away from hei
| friends and her country into strange
land only 10 shock her maiden modesty by
putting her on exhibition before the you th
OF America who have no regard for the
sex, age or previous condition OF a poor
lonely constructor. She was then a tender
little tot only fifteen teet long, but hap
PLY the American air agreed with her and
after eating a keeper or two she grew to
be about forty feet in her vamps.
Last week she took sick with the gripp
aud notwithstanding her wonderful up-
petite and constitution she shook of
her mortal COLI Sunday Morning
when the gray streaks of dawn ilIumned
the eastern horizon. She ate hearty
dinner consisting of u raw horse and other
delicacies on Thanksgiving day and it was
thought at first that she died Of indiges-
ton, bu, the post mortum examination
showed that the digestive organs were
good and that the grip took her. A broken
window near where her cage was per-
mitted the cold air to come in on her Fri
day night and the evidence shows that it
gradually advanced into well developed
case Of the influenza.
Her death was attended by hesrtrending
scenes. At times she screamed as il she
had the toothache and at other times she
pounded her cage with her head un-
til the entire structure seemed TO
be tottering on its foundation. At other
times her groans were heard half mile
away and for two nights the elephant
couldn't get wink of sleep. while the
callous hearted monkeys growled and COM
planned and were about TO petition the
management to have her removed. As
death approached she grew calm and re-
signed and the lonely look on her wan
face was enough to make the hardest heart
ache with compassion. Her bright eye
grew dim and her wasted form, once the
admiration of the small boy, was sickeu-
ing to look at. 1t was sad indeed to see
the poor exile tsttering on the bring OF
her grave in a strange land without n
kinsfolk within 1900 miles of her. No
father or mother or sister or brother stood
near her dying bed to stroke her fevered
brow as she crossed the dark river
or give her drink TO cool
her parched tongue. She was among
hard hearted strangers from Europe, Asia
and Africa, none Of whom cared straw
whether she died or lived. The elephant
saw her draw the last breath with sleepy
Indifference, and not a tear moistened the
eye of the cold-hearted giraffe. A dozen
monkeys gamboled in their cage and saw
uncoil without murmur or sigh. The
hippopotamus slept lazily near by and
grunted only when the last agonizing cry
of the dying Bess fell on his ear. The
mountain goat chewed his cud as calmly
as if the angel of death was ten thousand
miles away. while the panthers and the
lions and the tigers roared aloud
instead of keeping mum and walking
around on tip toe as decent panthers,
lions and tigers would have done in
a sick room The camel looked on with
out sign Of emotion and seemingly didn't
care a cent whether Bess had repented or
not before going hence to answer for her
sins. The trained pig grunted about
while the bear was busy max
ing mental computation of the increased
of food per capita that Bess' death
would cause. Man was the only thing
in the menagire that had compassionate
heart, and the keeper OF Big Bess wePt
when she had drawn the last breath. He
forgave her for the few times she squeezed
him almost to death, and in the supreme
moment when her light was going out be
thought of nothing but her good qualities.
When life was extinct tender hands laid
her out on the floor until she looked like
a joint of fire department hose. Not even
then did the hard-hearted elephant, bear
or giraffe shed tear. In due time Big
Bess was conveyed to Dold's packing
house. where she Was stripped Of her skin
aud given decent burial, although in
strange land where neither kit or kin can
visit her grave or plant flower over her
last resting place.
The skin will be properly stuffed and
that Will be the only monument 10 call to
mind the strange and sad history OF
wronged boa that had been rutbIessly |
torn from her native haunts, her family !
and friends. while yet in the freshness Of |
ner youth and in the full, fresh enjoyment |
Of her grlbood dreams.