Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-05-11
The "Man-Killing Elephant" Was
Suspicious Of Tid-Bits.
FUTILE ATTEMPTS AT EXECUTION
Medical Experts "Guyed' by the
Waiting Throng.
HISTORY OF THE BRUTE


death two'days ago the park commissioners
decided that the easiest way to kill him
would be by administering a very potent
drug.
Since early yesterday morning crowds Of
people have gone to see the condemned ele-
plant. The great number Of the visitors
| sympathized with the big brute. and de-
clared that the commissioners had no right
to pass the sentence Of death upon him.
Meanwhile. the big fellow stamped around
| In his narrow quarters. with one Of his fore
| feet chained, and 1t seemed as II he had
| some fCreboding Of the fate which was in
| store for him. as he refused to eat the
| fresh grass given to him all day yesterday.
and simply nibbled at few crusts of bread
| which Keeper Prince threw to him. Prince,
| by the way has been attending to Tip"
| for the last few days, because Keeper Sny-
der who has had two narrow escapes from
death in dealing with the brute, was afraid
| to go into his cage.
| that an attempt would be made to poison
| the big fellow shortly after daylight this
| morning. About am. there was a crowd
of some 300 persons in the Geological Gar
dens. anxiously awaiting to hear whether
the death sentence would be carried out or
not. At o'clock Park Commissioners
| Clausen, Strauss and Bell accompanied by
Superin tendents Smith and Burns, arrived
| at the arsenal.
A few minutes later Drs. Huntington,
Allen. and Spitzka Joined them. and all
these gentlemen held long conversation
presumably as to the best means of dis
patching the man killer"
During this time Tip was rowing rest
lossly around in his cage, swinging his
Donohue looked after him carefully. but
the big fellow, who generally looked on
Donohue, with favor, seemed sullen and
morose. In the next compartment Tom. 3"
| the trick elephant, who made things lively
when he felt his muscle on the night of
| Barnum's parade in this city, was quietly
| niunching grass in company with the
| female elephant Juno.
few minutes after o'clock these two
| were driven out of their cage to the open
space behind the elephant house and chain
| ed there 80 that they would not be disturb
| ed or frightened by the expected trumpet
iEg or Tip when he would get his pill.
All Spectators Excluded.
The commissioners ordered a force of
| thirty park policemen to surround the
| building to keep the anxious crowds away
| from the doors, and none but newspaper
| n en- and visitors armed with permits were
| allowed to enter the building. At 6:30
| o'clock everything was in readiness but
| DIR. Huntington told the commissioners
| that 1t would be much better to put the
| specta tors outside, ds the animal was likely
to throw poisonous saliva over them. The
| newspaper men were very reluctant to
leave the building. as many of them had
been waiting for the past two days to wit
| ness the execution. Their protests were OF
no avail. however. and they had to leave,
as the commissioners were obdurate.
| Exactly at 6:5S:30 o'clock Otto Mopis.
who has been for years an animal trainer
| both in Germany and this country, walked
| up to the cage and handed Tip rosy
| colored apple. which had a big dose Of
| cyanide Of potassium hidden within Its
| surface. The big fellow nibbled at 1t for a
/ MOI yxifh N
| I'm his capacious mouth, but when he
| crunched II between his teeth he evidently
| felt that there was something wrong with
the taste and spat 1t out on the floor of his
| cage.
| Mopis then tried him with a carrot. which
was similarly drugged. but Tip refused
to taste 1t, as he did another apple and
| carrot. which were passed to him after
ward. Keeper Mopis then gave Zip a
piece Of bread containing about two ounces
| of the deadly drug. but the big fellow,
after munching it slowly a couple of times,
| threw Ii also on the floor. Tip undoubt-
| eddy had his misgivings about the dainty
| morsels which were fed to him, but the
| doctors said that he had certainly got
enough poison into his system to kill a
dozen horses. ...'
| Affected by the Poison.
The drug did net seem to have very much
effect on him until nearly an hour after
| ward, when the violent motions of his
head, body and trunk became less rapid,
| and his legs seemed to be getting weaker.
| This did not satisfy the doctors, however,
| and they retired to the arsenal to consult
| as to the best method of dispatching him.
| About a quarter of hour later DIR.
| Huntington and Commissioner Strauss re-
| turned to the elephant house. but they
| made no EFFORT to give any more poison to
| Tip" The latter was evidently regainins
| his lost vitality, and when Commissioners
| Clausen and Bell arrived they were sorely
puzzled as to what was the best thing to
Two repeating rifles. fully loaded, lay
| conspicuously in a corner Of the cage. but
\ at the direction of the commissioners these
| were taken back to the arsenal.
| Guying the PRISONERS.
| The crowd outside, which had by this
time increased to about two thousand, be-
| gan "guying' the commissioners and doc
tors, and many jokes were passed on the
liability of the latter to poison the man
killer
This guying evidently. annoyed these per-
| sonages, and the policemen were directed
| to drive the crowd back and to stretch
| ropes across the avenue thereby preventing
| any outsider from coming within fifty yards
| Of the building. Even the newspaper men
were refused admittance within this cha rm-
| ed circle, and the only Information to be
derived as to the condition of the elephant
came through the keepers who were attend
| ing him.
The latest reports were to the effect that
| Tip" looked little 'groggy," but other
| wise was vivacious ever. The Keep
| ers, under the direction of the physicians
| hoped to be able to induce the brute to
| swallow some more Of the drug this after
| noon. and thus end his life. Before the
| doctors began operations this morning 1t
was generally conceded that Tip would
| be an easy mark to their science of drugs
| but when all their efforts seemed to prove
| futile the medical experts looked to be sore
/ ly puzzled and disguised. -...
| Killer of Eight Persons.
Keeper Mopis told an Associated Press
reporter that Tip" was captured wild in
the jungles near Ceylon, India, in 1878, and
, was purchased by Victor Emanuel. The
animal was kept in the Geological Gardens
| in Toulon for three years. and during his
| stay there he killed his keeper He was
afterward sold to Hagenbeck, the German
| animal trainer and was brought to Ham,
| burg from Toulon in an iron box, accom-
! panied by Mopfs, who then made his ac-
| quaintance. Adam Forepaugh imported
! him to this country in 1881, and he arrived
! here on the 18th of March of that year
| The brute was always vicious, and during
| his career in this country he has added
| seven other victims to his death roll.
| CREATED A SENSATION.