The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1894-06-16
II ~ q 81
MAD. ELEPHANTS.

MAD. Ell EPHA MS.
The Peculiar Affection That Often
S5izes the Great Beasts.
Instances in India When tho Crazy Crea-
lures Have Conc ON the Rampage
and Killed and Destroyed Peo-s
pie and Property.
In the East Indies, where tame ele-
plants are classed as intelligent ma
chimes and are invalua bic adjuncts to
civil engineering and transportation, q
'srogue" elephant is as much dreaded
as an outbreak of cholera, a tornado,
or q man-eating tiger. It's very sagacity
makes it all the more dangerous, and
once started on career of destruction
and ife-taking its methods appear Gym
ical in their pertinacity and Ingenuity.
OF such ''rogues'' there are the wild
beast excluded from communion with
it's fellows and the domesticated animal
in the condition of must" The latter
is more dangerous than the other be-
cause its spell of blind fury generally
begins in densely populated neighbor-
hoods.
East Indian official statistics, how
ever, prove that, as rule, where one
person is killed by an elephant nearly
forty are destroyed by tigers, leopards,
bears, wolves and hyenas. Exceptions
alter these data. In one instance a
tame elephant which had been docile
for years became demoniacal and tore
away trunpeting to the woods. Before
it was killed it had ravaged a commu-
nifty and killed thirty-fve persons.
In India the condition known as
must which is synonymous with
madness, is heralded by an emulation
on the forehead of the bull elephant
and swelling Of the temples. Such an
animal in captivity is shackled, and
caution is observed in approaching it.
Occasionally elephants with chronic
bad tempers are found, but they should
not be classed with those who are
periodically dangerous, or the wild
outcasts which are also known as
''solitaries.'' A typical ''rogue" ran
amuck near Jubbalpore in 1875, and is
spoken of as a man eater, because in
killing some of it's victims it took them
in it's mouth and tore them to pieces.
Many of the 'srogue" elephant stories
from Asia are based on the doings OF
either ostracised beasts or those who
escaped from captivity, who in hunting
agricultural neighborhoods to feed on
crops devastated plantations and killed
people who came in their way. One
which wandered in the Doom district
for fifteen years, and destroyed rice
fields and killed many persons, was the
property of the government, and never
rid itself of "a chain which it carried
away when it escaped. It's presence
near the village was known by the
clank of the broken letters. All such
marauding brutes are simply preda-
tory and vicious, sleeping in the jungle
during the day and travelling at night.
They are not ''rogues'' proper, or
elephants suffering from periodical
fury.
Cruelty sometimes makes ''rogues"
Of elephants. In 1886, while an ele-
plant was being ridden by it's keeper in
the district of Sultanpore, in Dude, the
animal resented prodding with spear
by pulling the man from; his back and
throwing him some distance away.
Fortunately the man fell in hollow
and remained there undiscovered by
the elephant, who went to a neighbor-
ing village. There he chased an old
man into house, then broke down the
walls, pulled the man out and dashed
him to pieces.
The same night the elephant
knocked down several houses in quest
of human beings in the villages of Sar-
dapur, Bargaon and Jaisingpur. He
killed six men in Bersoma, three in
Sora, four in Ganges, and four in Mar
dan. He likewise killed bullock and
pony and also destroyed a new car
rage. The animal used to stand at the
door of a house, force his entry by de-
molishing the walls on either side, and
would then kill as many of the inmates
as he could, pursuing those who tried
to run away. He mangled his corpses
terribly.
After securing victim he sometimes
returned to the spot to see if life were
extinct, and would commence mutilatr
ing the body afresh. He carried sew
eral bodies long distances and threw
them into ravines, etc. The elephant
found his way into the dehra rajah's
palace, where he tried to enter the
house of gardener, but some men,
mounted on three elephants, assisted
by sportsman, drove him off. He
then returned to Bebipur, where he
tried to break down his masters house,
ID which several persons had taken ref
uge. The police got into the house
from back window and were obliged
to send for help to the dehra rajah,
who sent three elephants and some
spearsmen. The animal received two
gunshots on the head at Bebipur,
which, however, only temporarily
drove him off. He was ultimately cap
tured at imminent risk by the rajah's
three elephants and men.
National Wealth Of Europe.