The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1894-10-06
MANY WILD BEASTS.
A HAMBURG FIRM THAT IS READY
TO SUPPLY ANY ANIMAL.


A City to Which Merchants All Over tho
World Go for Wild Animal Supplies
and Rowing seamen Bring Their Strange
Captures-Hunting Expeditions.
The animal importers have their head
quarters in that part of Hamburg known
TO tourists and others rs "St. PauPs," an
i'll reputed suburb of the old Hansa town
where sailors of all countries meet. Here
the big building is situated, and from the
exterior one gets the view of q structure
which looks more like storehouse for cot
ton, oil and general merchandise than it
does like anything else. 1t isa plain build
ing but within there is enough to occupy
ones attention for months, that is If he be
possessed Of animal instincts. Within the
four walls is mammoth yard or garden,
and this is divided into 600 or 700 smaller
yards or pens, which are occupied by ami
mails from all zones and countries, crowded
together The strong, ferocious gorilla
from the primeval wood of Africa, the
cotton tails' from San Gabriel valley,
California, us we'll as the bold, soaring con-
dor from the highest mountain peaks Of
the Andes are represented by many speci-
mems.
Ordinarily only purchasers known or in
troduced to the firm are allowed to inspect
the garden, but a limited number of cards
of admission are issued every month and
presented to those who wish them. On
entering one passes the office, where are
l-c Of .bS,,
several are occupied in keeping account
Of the arrival and departure of animals, as
these only stay there few days before
leaving for their final destination. In the
garden there is an energetic corps of men
who, armed with sharp knives and pistols,
are willing to dare most any danger. Many
of the keepers have been there ten years or
more, and are accordingly acquainted with
all the peculiarities Of the profession. They
are, or ought to be for their own safety, eX-
cellcnt marksmen, acquainted with the life
of an explorer, they being sent as assist
ants in the searches for animals in all parts
of the world. Not few of these men have
been to South America, where they have
been sent to capture ostricbes. There they
were compelled to spend days and some
times weeks upon the llanos, the hottest
places on earth, and on horseback chase
the fleet monsters and throw the bola at
their necks.
Six, seven and eight expeditions are sent
out every year, but these are not made up
wholly Of experienced men. They general
ly consist of a few OF the old hands, few
apprentices and volunteers, mostly anna
teur sportsmen, under the direction of
staff officer. They start out maybe for
the plains of America, iungles of Africa,
Tasmania or Alaska and when they ar
rive at their destination they employ as
many natives rs they think necessary and
plan the work of capturing certain ami
mails in that district There is some diff.
ference between catching tigers and ele-
plants alive and shooting quail or squir-
rels, and if naturalist wants to have fun
and thrilling experience he should send
in his application to accompany the next
expedition in search of gorillas or grizzly
bears or some other animal known to be
no respecter of persons or anything else.
Through the large menagerie of the
house Of Hagenbeck are long rows of
cages, which vary from small wooden ones,
built one above the other, for birds and
other small animals, to high cages formed
of heavy bars Of iron, some of the bars of
which are two inches thick, running at the
/ top and bottom on small wheel or ball
bearings. Every cage or pen is marked in
| Latin. The keeper said it was great
sight to behold some wild quadrupeds ac-
customed to unlimited freedom confined
/ in cages or dens in which they could not
stretch their legs, much more turn around.
/ A few months seems to break many of
their savage habits, but they are never too
good to claw at piece of human flesh
| when within reach of their cages, and the
majority Of the keepers there can exhibit
marks of claws as well as those of teeth
upon their hands and arms made by
| ferocious tiger perhaps Tasmanian wolf
or some other species of the cat family.
The tanner animals are merely fenced in,
as it were, in small yards, and here and
there are groups of Japanese chamois,
Chilian alpacas, antelopes, deer, zebras
and the like.
The firm has no little difficulty in get
ting Asiatic elephants since the govern
ment passed bill for protection. But
there are their African brothers on hand
all the time, and occasionally visitor
there may see herd of u score or more OF
well cared for elephants. The expeditions
find it no easy matter chasing these mon
sters in the jungles, and it's only by sharp
games and traps that elephants are cap
tured. They can fight as no other animal
can, and one blow of an elephants trunk
has laid many sportsman low. The same
hardships are experienced in getting croco-
diles from the Amazon and upper Nile.
The firms expedition sent out for them
knows ofnosuch word as impossible" and
when it returns to the garden it carries
crocodiles some thirty feet long with it.
1t cannot be said that all of the animals
are secured by such expeditions for in
stance the dromedaries are simply ordered
from Crimea, while large number of
other animals fall into the concerns hands
by chance. Everything in the line of rare
and peculiarly formed creatures of the for
est, field and seas is bought by the Hagen
becks, and people who devote time to trap
ping are aware of this fact. The German
city is good place for bargains, as nearly
every deep sea vessel carries something to
that port which the firm is anxious to get
and for which it is willing to pay good
prices. Every sailor is armed with some
fine specimen from the tropics or arctic re-
gions, and from these rare and unlocked
for quadrupeds are sometimes secured
Providence Journal.
Professor Holden's Views of Mars.
Professor Edward : Holden the as