The Dalles daily chronicle. [volume] (The Dalles, Or.) 1890-1948, 1894-07-31
MAD ELEPHANTS.
The Peculiar Affection That Often
Seizes the Great Beasts.
Instances In India When tho Crazy Crea-
lures Have Gone the Rampage
and Killed and Destroyed Peo-
pie and Property.

pie and Property.
In the East Indies, where tame ele-
phants are classed as intelligent ma
chimes and are invaluable adjuncts to
civil engineering and transportation, a
rogue" elephant is as much dreaded
~ an outbreak of cholera, a tornado,
7o- Il man-eating tiger. It's very sagacity
.lalies it all the more dangerous, and
;-:ca started on career of destruction
ailsl life-taking its methods appear Gym
i.,.i 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 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
eyer, prove that, as n 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
tame elephant which had been docile
for years became demoniacal and tore
away trumpcting to the woods. Before
it was killed it had ravaged commu-
nifty and killed thirty-five persons.
In India the condition known, as
must which is Synonymous with
:-ladness, is heralded by an emulation
n the forehead of the bull elephant
IND swelling of the temples. Such an
ninal in captivity is shacl1led. and
c,-:tion is observed in appr roaching it.
Occasionally elephants with chronic
I Dsl tcmpers are found. but they, should
IT be classed with those who are
periodically dangerous. or the wild
5n.casts, which are also known as
''aolitaries. A typical ';rogue" ran
;.szl-.cl. near Jubbalpore in 1875, and is
spoken of as man eater, because in
killing some of its victims it took them
i'm its mouth and tore them to pieces.
}lany of the rogue" elephant stories
= n Asia are based on the doings of
either ostracised beasts or those who
escaped from captivity. who in hunting
agricultural neighborhoods to feed on
cr ,ps. 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
riI itself of a chain which it carried
;GyT-y when il escaped. It's presence
near the village was known by the
clank of the broken fetters.. All such
lnagauding brutes are simply preda-
tory and vicious, sleeping in the jungle
during the day and travelling at night.
They are not '.rogues'' proper,
elephants suffering from periodical
fury.
Cruelty sometimes makes ''rogues'
of elephants. In 1856, while an Gle
phant was being ridden by its keeper in
the district,of Su1tanpore, 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 q 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
Gan. He likewise killed Il bullock and
a pony and also destroyed new car
riage. The animal used to stand at the
door of a house, force his entry by de-
nolishing 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 a victim he sometimes
returned to the spot to see if life were
extinct. and would commence n1utilat-
ing the body afresh. He carried sew
cral bodies long distances and threw
them into ravines, etc. The elephant
found his way into the dehra rajahs
palace, where he tried to enter the
h;use of gardener, but some men,
rlountcd on three elephants, assisted
by sportsman. drove him off. He
then returned to Bebipur, where he
tried ta break down his masters house,
in which several persons had taken ref
ug.. The police got into the house
frc:a : back window and were obliged
to send for help to the dehra rajah,
who sent three elephants and some
Gpearsincn. The animal received two
@iInshots on the head at Bebipur,
which however, only temporarily
drove him off. He was ultimately cap