The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1894-05-12
HARD TO KILL.
Old Tip Finally Succumbed to
Cyanide Of Potassium.
Poison Hidden In Bran BaII-wicked
Monsters Remains Divided Up.

NEW YoEE. May i2.-'rip is dead. He
Sled from the effects of poison at 4:19 p m.
yesterday. After he had given up the
ghost the authorities waited an hour to
be positive that Tip was not shamming
before they permitted the members Of the
press to view the deceased.
A dead elephant is an unusual thing to
see and might draw crowd of sightseers
under ordinary circu umstances, but this
dead elephant was something out of the
usual line. IL had been tried ex parte
and condemned to death, and had for two
or three days after sentence been placed
under death watch, and the public gen.
orally were excited over the matter.
Eight men, who had in turn become
the master Of Tip In bonds. were relieved
of their duties and sent into eternity by
their intractable charge. The last man,
Snyder. saw evidences of Tips intention
to send him on the same road, 80 to save
himself he became first the accuser and
then the executioner Of an elephant,
whose name and fate have excited the in
terest Of probably sc. 900. 600 people.
Everybody Was Interested.
Thousands of people In this city went
up to Central park to see the elephant,
and waited all day long. The newspaper
men. OF whom much was expected, could
give little information.
Whom the newspaper men gathered in
the elephant holse, Tip lay on his left
side in his cage, his head toward the
door, as II In his dying moments he had
looked for help or sympathy to his mates
Juno and the little bull elephant. which
were anchored on the lawn outside.
There were fecks of blood about his
trunk and mouth as IL he had bitten his
tongue as life nickered away; the red
hair all over his body showed plainly in
the light Of the setting sun. aud the frag-
ments of a chain on the floor of the cell
were an indication Of what might have
been.
Story of Tips Death.
George p. Burns. assistant superin-
tendent Of the menagerie. said: "All
through the day we tried to administer
the poison, cyanide OF potassium, by one
means or another, but did not succeed.
At last we decided on bran and using
small capsules Snyder made up balls
of wet bran, in each one of which was
placed a capsule containing about five or
six grains of the cyanide. They were
placed in the pail in which food had been
given him before Finally he put hi.
trunk in the pail, and taking up a ball
o. the bran, blew it down his throat. Sew
eral others followed and then he stopped,
something seemed to affect him.
"He moved to the front of the cage and
rubbed his side against the bars, then he
trumpeted once or twice. and at the end
Of four minutes seemed TO 20 into con-
vulsion, his body swelled, and In his ef-
forts to strain and retch, he burst the
chain that went around his body, the
chain to which his martingale was at
tached and extending up his breast and
to the tusks.
"He next seemed frantic, reared up and
paved with his forefeet against the outer
wall of his cage. Getting down on the
floor again he walked toward the door
until he reached the limit OF the heavy
chain which secured his foreleg to two of
the front bars, when he stumbled and
fell. He did not go down with crash,
however. but over on his side, front first,
stiffened out and died in just 10 minutes
from the tsne he took the first ball Of
wet bran"
Before the information was all impaired
the dissectors had commenced their work,
90 that before the sun rose this morning
Tip was divided up.
His hide and skeleton will 60 to DR..
William Wallace, to be placed alongside
Jumbo in the Museum of Natural His
tory; his viscera will go to DR.. S. Hunt
ington, for the College of Physicians and
Surgeons, and his eye to the eye and ear
infirmary.
The operation was, of course, q deeply
interesting one. but it was conducted at
night and with almost the same amount
of secrecy a. surrounded the poisoning of
Forepaugh's greatest Tip.