Milford chronicle. [volume] (Milford, Del.) 1878-1974, 1895-10-04
/ ABOUT ELEPHANTS.
BELIEF THAT THEY. ARE ENDOWED
WITH SUPERIOR INTELLIGENCE.

About Them-The First One brought to
This Country.
Elephants never go to sleep without
leaving one of the herd awake to keep
watch and give warning in case of in
trusion. Go into the big menagerie tent
Of the show any night after the ele-
plants have gone to sleep, or go into
one of the elephant cars on q night run,
and you Will find that, no matter how
quietly and stealthily you have entered,
the eve of one member Of the herd IS
upon you.
Conklin believes, as do most all ele-
phant keepers, that the animal can I'M
derstand what is said to it. Indeed,
trainers assert that it has more intelli-
Rence than any other animal, and that
il is the only one that can be taught to
mind BY word Of mouth, without other
cues. That it is endowed to a limited
extent with reasoning powers is certain
One German philosopher thinks he has
discovered that this mental development
is due to the fact that in the trunk the
elephant possesses a prehensile organ
he asserts, has played a more important
part in the development Of the human
intellect than any other agency, since it
brings its possessor into more intimate
relations with the external world than
any other organ. Some menagerie man,
with more practical observation than
the German professor and a smaller
bump Of theorizing, has pointed out that
the only flaw in this reasoning is that
If is correct-t the gorillas and chimpan-
ices ought to have a higher mental de-
velopment than man, because they have
four good hands instead Of two, and any
one Of the four is stronger than the
eight hands of four men.
Well authenticated stories Of the
sagacity of elephants are so numerous
that it is never necessary to resort to ex-
aggeration to say something interesting
about them. In their wild state the
leader Of herd has been seen when ap-
preaching swampy ground to extend one
foot to try its solidity before trusting
his weight to it. When satisfied Of its
frmness, ne would go confidently on,
and the whole herd Would follow in
single file, cautiously stepping in the
footprints Of the leader. so that when
the entire herd had thus passed the
ground would look as if a single animal
had gone that way. The same trait Of
caution is preserved in the domesticated
animal The sotiJn is not the result Of
training, but z Lfnte instinct always dis
played and bearing a striking resem-
blance to reason.
When Jumbo tried to bait a fast
freight off from the Grand Trunk tracks
in an effort to save the baby Of the Bar
mum herd, Tom Thumb, and lost his
life in the attempt, it was said that his
action gave unmistakable evidence Of |
reason, though it was poor testimony to |
his judgment that he so greatly under,
estimated the force of the locomotive.
1 In the matter of the food value Of diff
ferent materials the reasoning power Of
the elephant is very faulty, however.
he will eat almost anything that comes
his way. If a canvasman leaves a coat
or vest hanging ON a quarter pole with
in reach of an elephant the big brute
will edge over toward it and watch an
opportunity when unobseryed to touch
IL with his trunk Then he will begin
TO haul It toward him, putting IN rolls
Of hay and chewing them between times,
AS soon as the garment is at his feet the
will put one Of his ponderons
i've hoofed pedals on it and begin to
tear it up, rolling the pieces in his
trunk and stufing them into his mouth.
The sole Of a shoe is just as good for
him to chew on as a wisp Of hay, and
bis natural instinct Of mischief inclines
him to prefer that which he knows is
him.
The first elephant brought to America
FOR exhibition purposes was Old Bet,
and it has often been remarked that the
American circus was built on her shout,
iers. Different accounts fail to agree in
regard to the date Of her importation,
which is placed all the way from 1879
% 1888 by different writers Of old time ,
Old Bet was brought ,
)ver in the ship America, of which Cap {
ain Crowningshield was master, and 1
he landed, according to the harbor rec
lrds, in Philadelphia in April, 1898.
She was but . feet high, and the sum j
4 $40, 900 was paid for her, the largest I
rice that had been paid up to that time I
or any animal, either here or in Eu- {
ope. She was first exhibited in Phila- L
elphia and astOnished the public daily b
y drawing the corks from 80 bottles t
( beer and drinking the contents On i
be goth Of June, 1893, she passed L
trough New York on the way to Bos- a
on. Q
Old Bet had been bought ON the COM s
iunity plan by a number Of farmers Of v
'utnam county, N. Y, at the instance v
( one Ludwig Bistadler, each mortgag
~ his farm and putting $500 into the D
enture. They exhibited her under wag- {,
a sheds at hotels by putting a piece Of
Ide canvas up in front of the shed. The O.
omission was rs cents for adults and b
~ cents, or York shilling. for chill. b
rem. This gigantic geological institute, "
} the caravan was called, travelled east,
} far as Pawtucket, R. l., where the v
lephant, in spite of its docile DISPOSE h
on, was shot and killed. As the in sc
itute'' contained no other attractions ie
le show closed The same prOprietOrs II
len imported a second elephant which s,
icy also called Old Bet, and they en- Ii
rged their exhibition by adding 10 the
election lion and q two horse cage nC
i'd one monkey in a box strapped on TO If
le hind end Of the lions cage. The r.
eond Old Bet landed in 1888. Follow Oh
g her to these shores the next pachy- IA
nm to arrive seems to have been No
Il. a very big fellow with long tusks, -.
no was burned on the steamer Royal
AZ between st. Johns aud Portland. -
e. Chicago Inter Ocean. "