Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1894-06-15
COSTLY ANIMALS.
HIGH PRICES PAID FOR nIENAG.
ERIE STOCK.
Jumbo Cost $40, 900, but Elephants
Arc Cheaper Now-GIraffes Arc
Very Expensive-HowW Wild
Animals Arc Caught.

TANIES A. BAILEY has bought
more wild animals than any
~ man i'll this country, and he is
therefore looked upon rs an
authority upon prices. Tho figures
here given are his. While there is a
fixed scale, which is varied slightly
from time to time by the supply and
demand, there are other things which
regulate prices
The value of somo animals depends
entirely upon tho uses to which they
may be put i'll show, either OK
hibition or utilitarinn. For instance.
Jumbo cost originally $40, 900, which
subsequent expenses, including trans
portation, increased to $2S, 900. The
public interest in tho great beast in
creased his value SO much that, when
the owner of the big wooden elephant
Mt Concy Island made proposition to
rent the elephant for the summer, Mr.,
Bailey made this reply:
Jumbo is worth to our show $780,
600 per week, and We will lot you have
him for twenty-six weeks for $780,
000."
Chico and Johanna. tho gorilla and
the chimpanzee, cost $4,000 and $3.50
respectively, but they could not now
be bought for several times that sum.
Strange to say, elephants arc cheapest
III the United States of all tho coun-
tries of tho globe. Tho reason for this
is that elephants aro glut in the
animal. market. Not long ago the
Barnum show shipped sixteen back
to Europe. Atthat time the show had
forty-four elephants. 1t now has
twenty. Tho market price of ordinary
elephants now vnrics from $1,000 to
$4,000, according to size and tomper.
At ono timc Mr.. Bailey had with his
London show five performing ole
plants, which were valued ut $l20, 600.
or all animals which are not trained
to perform astonishing tricks, tho
most valuable are girnlres. Thoy nro
quoted Mt $4,000 each, and they nre
pretty steady at that figure Tho wild
beasts of the jungle, MS the show bills
call them, because of the difficulty in
capturing thom and of raising Thorn in
cold climates, AFRO the most expensive.
a hippopotamus is worth $1,000. h
$4,000. Another horn adds just $1,000
to his value. Lions range from $3.50
to $1,000. A lionoss costs $1,000, md
tigers are quoted Mt $1,000 Grizzly
bears are becoming scarce, and are
hard to keep in captivity. A really
fine specimen is worth $1,000, and they
range from that down to $500. Polnr
bears come Mt $500 Other benrs range
from $50 to 5000. A camel with ono
hump is worth $3.50, and two humps
brings tho market value up to 800.
Ostriches are valued at $500 apiece.
Gnus, which don't attract much Mt
tention arc found in every first-class
monngerie and cost 500. Tho Amori-
can buffalo is worth $500, just 800
moro than his Indian brother. Tho
Rocky Mountain goat is quoted rnthcr
high. 5000, while panthcrs and leopnrds
are plenty nj $3.50 each, and hyenas
and pumas go for SITE. Anteopes
range all tho way from $175 to $500.
and deor from S75 to 500, whilo IL
moose brings $500, tho same price ma
n nylghaus.
An ant-entcr is worth $500; hnrt-
beests IN kind of antelope,) wart hogs
and sloths, $3.50; cheetahs, afpacas and
guanacos, $500; tapirs, S4OO. Sea lions
bring from 5000 to $500, while aenls
are worth but 800 Zcbus are worth
$3.50; llamns, $500; cmus, &175, and
mountain lions. 500. Armadillos AFRO
to DO had for $50, and porcupines for
half that amount. Wolves como lit
tie higher. They average $75. Kan
garoos have increased in valuo of lnte
years. They arc now quoted Mt $50.
The moro valuable monkeys range
from $50 to SO.
The manner in which the wild ami
mails are captured is interesting.
Africa is the most productive field.
A number OF experienced men are sent
into the heart of the country, either
by dealer ora Snowman. They take
with them supplies, arms, n large sum
of money, silver dollars in boxes to
pny the native hunters and two or
three hundred goats.
When they reach suitable spot in
the interior they make IL camp, build
huts, till the ground and prepare for
stay of year or more. They hunt
systematically. One day parties will
go ont for hippopotami. They kill
the old ones and take the young ones
to camp. This plan is followed with
regard to NIL tho wild animals, only
the young being taken. These are
fed upon the milk of the goats.
When sufficient number of ami
mails is secured to warrant return,
they are slung across the backs of
mules to be carried to the nearest sen-
port. The goatsare, of course, driven
along, and progress is necessarily slow.
Sometimes these expeditions are fail
ures because of the wars between the
natives. AT other times the party will
return with large quantities of ivory
and other valuables, which more than
pay the entire expenses. -New York
World.