New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-04-07
AMONG THE WILD BEASTS
IMPORTANCE OF THE MENAGERIE IN THE
MODERN GREAT SHOW.


OF INTEREST IN THE ANIMAL
KINGDOM SOME NOTE
WORTHY FEATURES.
Like a theatre without an orchestra. fashionable
church without an organ. or dinner cooked with
out salt would sorm now circus without a me
nagerie. The Wild beasts are no longer. "a IN the
early DAYS OF this class Of entertainments a mere
.xtrdncous attraction possibly useful an oNcus"
for srdight-laced persons to see III" circus under
pretence Of educating the children. They have be
come an intog~al and necessary part Of the whole
that not within many years pas mas any int'il-
gent Snowman even thought Of eliminating THIS
feature. on the contrary. - has grown greater
more costly and magnificent year hy year II no
longer sufFces have single animal as an eS-
hbt Of 81 class The public hay" been educated 90
expect numbers ~ each kind. for comparative" OBJ
servaton and study. or. perhaps the m"r" graih'h-
ton ~ an instructive desire for the impressycncSs
OF quantity.
Those Who have got % using spor;aclcs ana IN
dulging i'm autobiographiral excerpts beginning
about forty years asp rcc'Ile-i w"N thtt N"
old time circus had tho camel the elephant. Tho
hvena and ON. Nobody th"n dreamed ~ =
coming time In which would be seen hero Ia Amer-
On and under showman's banner AS in barnnm
Baley's tp-day-a drove az cam"ls. ho'h ~" ono
bumped and the two-hump~d kinds: not only one
herd OF elephants. but two. both Indian ans Nh
can hyenas by ,hc dozen exhibiting all tho different
varieties 81 those interestingly revolving beasts
which were formerly recognized only hy hunters
and naturalists. and as for l'ous. tigers l'oinrds
and tho Of the ferocious f"ii4a". they arc no"
20 Dee n families. even those which II mas been
customary 10 regard a. the IIr'st kinds 81 them.
The Interest evoked by Tics" hrIt"s is perennial
Tho srangIc- broochcI department ~ the show must
be constantly evolving now attrao tons To 'iri'Atc
popular attention. getting Itself chu'k"1 in the ar
from caiapulis. nroI out of cannon. flung about
from lofty frapez.s and in many and divers" WAYS
rsklng it, neck Even the clown. perennial delight
Of childhood De- Is In hts most primt'" form. to
aba,c the boredom Of adult spectators must con
stantly device nov mutations ana transformations
in his fantastic personality. Bat 10" BEASTS They
do not need 70 DO anything hut sho" themselves
TIE odor OF the ncuagori" &C. also or" that 'ypin's
circus delights 20 grown folks a. wcn as To- chill
SEARCHING FOR ATTRACTIONS
80, only * the modern m"naRcre many times as
great ~ the largest 81 f'w ycar' ago. hut IL -
Infinitely more comprehensive and consequently in-
structiye. Barnum Bailey have thor agents n
every quarter ~ the rlohe under orders to obtain
Al any cost everything that Is novel. rare dinirult
Of procurement In ;he animal world, 10 Increase the
value OF their wondrous aggregate Of obicci-essons.
Hence tho truth OF the apparent paradox that tho
more unlikely any bird. or beast or reptile may
to appear In this great collection tho moro Ger
tain It IS to be found. sooner or later in the Bar
mum & Bailey cages This applies 40 we'll to ex-
ceptional individuals Of species as 10 varieties
which by reason OF rarity. inconvcnlcnt bulk. con
sttutional decacy or Inherent cusscdnc-s are hard
10 get and keep When this firm procured Jumbo
from the London Geological Garden AZ cost that
would have paid for tive other I'm" elephants. the
outlay was simply to crafty the popular desire to
scc that particular beast Ana again. when they
imported a genuine white" elephant which nccos-
Stated expenditure three times as great AZ was
necessary get Jumbo the investment was made
10 give ocular proof TO the American public that
there was no such thing a really white elephant.
and That the much ovrrratcI brute. though unob-
tainable by everybody else IN the Western world.
was quite within reach Of the American Snowman
The first hippopotamus ever seen In THIS country
was imported great many years ago 10y a man
named Barry. who IS said 10 have cleared $No."o
by exhibiting 1t alone without any other attrac-
ton Then. for long time. not another specimen
reached this land bu, the Barnum & Bailey show
has two. one an enormous beast. whose open mouth
looks Ike a cellar door and who spends two-thiris
Of his time in the huge bath that has to Ice carried
along for his delectation; the other young one.
docic duck legged and stupid. who amblcs about
Ike an oycrgrown pet pig after his Keeper. There
are also in this mcnagcrie two rhinoccros"s Of differ
ent species heavy AZ an elephant and the
other only little smaller malcyolent, intr'cablc
and trcachcrous brutcs that have cost many thou
sand dollars.
BAD TEMPERED LLAMAS
rumluBui animals from Africa ana south
America nyhlgak gnu. blcss-bDk. ibcX. koodoo
Ilamas gianacos zcbu and various kinds Of ante
lopes other than those named, TINS collection ~
pcculhrly rich and the specimens Of each sort are
perfect with the exception Of the amas. they are
among the grntcst and most Interesting creatures
i'm the exhibition. but the lltmda have too much of
th vicious temper and aggr"ssycly offensive habits
OF the camcs to which they are closely related 20
ia = degenerate form Of the camel. which was in
troduccd in South America 10y Atantcan colonists |
some thousand centuries, perhaps |
II that Is correct the Hama abominablc habit
sniff ne I'm which do NOT please him, Is strk
Inc illustration of the persistence of hereditary vice.
ancestral camel from time immemorial to the pres
emf day and long as he continues II no senti- !
mental nonsense about him the ship OF the |
desert" Will commend HIM TO anybody but an Arab |
The excellent condition OF all the animals Is |
vorthy OF remark Those In the time wild beast
shnw,s were frequently generally, indccd-can, |
scrawny NANCY, depressed-looking creatures, Civ |
INC little idea, in many instances, Of what they |
me- turally looked Ike. But these fat. sleek. |
bcslthv vigorous and con:ented looking. thanks to
and The perfect knowledge OF their several require
n,ents gained by experience
In no geological garden. where the utmost efforts |
have been made establish the animals In approx |
~, teIv natural surroundings. are they In better
condition than those of iarnum & B1ey's travel |
in ming of the season. after winters in uxu-
rins,s retirement but at It's close after months OF
cnnfinuous iournaying and excitement And the |
heat possible evidence that this condition s real
afforded by the freedom with which TIE animals |
,rnd,1ce younr Not many years ago IL was popti-
So s1pnosed and even affirmed by naturalists that
Wild animals OF various species would not breed In