Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1894-07-16
ELEPHANTS ON A TEAR"
GREAT BEASTS OFTEN SEIZED BY
A PECULIAR MADNESS.
The Condition is Known as "Must"
-Enraged Elephants Running

-Enraged Elephants Running
Amuck-Emperor Causes Panic.
N the East Indies, where tame ele-
phants are classed as intelligent
machines and are invaluable ad-
6 juncts to civil engineering and
transportation, ''rogue" elephant is
as much dreaded as an outbreak of
cholera, q tornado, or q man-eating
tiger. It's very sagacity makes it all
the more dangerous, and once started
on career of destruction and life
taking its methods appear cynical in
their pertinacity and ingenuity. OF
such "rogues" there are the wild beast
excluded from communion with its
fellows and the domesticated animal
in the condition of "must" The lat
ter is more dangerous than the other
because its spell of blind fury gener-
ally begins in densely populated neigh
borhoods.
East Indian official statistics, how
ever, prove that, as a rule, where one
person is killed by an eleghant nearly
forty are destroyed by tigers, leopards,
bears, wolves and hyenas. Excep-
tions alter these data. In one instance
a tame elephant which had been docile
for years became demoniacal and tore
away trumpeting to the woods. Be-
fore it was killed it had ravaged COM
munity and killed thirty-tve persons.
In India the condition known as
"must, which is synonymous with
madness, is heralded by an exudation
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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, like Tip, or
the wild outcasts which are also known
as "solitaries. A typical "rogue"
ran amuck near Jubbalpore in 1875,
and is spoken of as man eater, be-
cause in killing some of its victims it
took them in its mouth and tore them
to pieces.
Many of the ''rogue" elephant
stories from Asia are based on the
doings of either ostracised beasts or
those who escaped from captivity,
who in haunting agricultural neigh
borhoods to feed on crops devastated
plantations and killed people who
came in their way. One which wan
dered in the Doom district for fifteen
years, and destroyed rice fields and
killed many persons, was the prop
erty of the Government, and never
rid itself of chain which 1T carried
away when it escaped. Its presence
near the village was known by the
clank of the broken fetters. All such
marauding brutes are simply preda-
tory and vicious, sleeping in the jun
gle 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-
phaut was being ridden by its keeper
in the district of Sultanpore, in Dude,
the animal resented prodding with a
spear by pulling the man from his
back and throwing him some distance
away. Fortunately the man fell in
hollow and remained there undiscov-
cred by the elephant, who went to q
neighboring 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
Sardapur, Baragon and Jaisingpur
He killed six men in Bersoma, three
in Sora, four in Ganges, and four in
Mardan. He likewise killed bullock
and pony, and also completely de-
stroyed new carriage. The animal
used to stand at the door of house,
force his entry by demolishing 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 some
times returned to the spot to see if
life were extinct, and would commence
mutilating the body afresh. He car.
ried several bodies long distances and
threw them into ravines, etc. The ell
ephant found his way into the dehra
rajah's palace, where he tried to enter
the house of a gardener, but some
men, mounted on three elephants, as
sisted by sportsman, drove him off.
He then returned to Bebipur, where
he tried to break down his masters
house, in which several persons had
taken refuge. The police got into
the house from back window and
were obliged to send for help to the
dehra raiah, who sent three elephants
and some spe1rsmen. The animal re-
ceived two gunshots on the head at
Bebipur, which, however, only tenn
porarily drove him off. He was ul-
timately captured at imminent risk by
the raiah's three elephants and men.
Many panics have been caused in
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