The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1895-11-21
THE wORTFIINGTON ADVANCE

ABOUT ELEPHANTS.
BELIEF THAT THEY ARE ENDOWED
WITH SUPERIOR INTELLIGENCE
They Have Mental Qualities Not Possessed
by Other notwithstanding Stories
About Them-The First One Brought 10
This Country. 6S,
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 night run,
and you will find that, no matter how
quietly and stealthily you have entered,
the eye of one member of the herd is
upon you.
Conklin believes, as do most all ele-
plant keepers, that the animal can nm
derstand what is\ said to it. Indeed.
trainers assert that it has more inteli-
gence than any other animal, and that
it is the only one that can be taught to
mind by word of mouth, without other
cues. That it is endowed to 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 prehensile organ
similar to the hand Of man. The hand,
he asserts, has played more important
part III 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 smaller
bump Of theorizing, has pointed out that
the only flaw in this reasoning is that
if it is correct the gorillas and chimpan-
ices ought to have higher mental de-
velopment than man, because they have
four good hands instead Of two, and any
one Ct the four is stronger than the
eight hands of four men. ,@
Well authenticated stories Of the
sagac:ty of elephants are so numerous
that il 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 APP
proaching swampy ground to extend one
foot to try its solidity before trusting
his weight to it. When satisfied of its
frmness, he would go confidently on,
and the whole herd would follow il
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 action is not the result of
training, but brute instinct always dis
played and bearing a striking resem-
blance to reason.
When Jumbo tried to butt 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.
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 canvasman leaves coat
or vest hanging on a quarter pole with
in reach of an elephant, the big brute
will edge over toward it and watch all
opportunity when unobserved to touch
it 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
elephant will put one of his ponderous
five hoofed pedals on it and begin to
tear it up, rolling the pieces in his
trunk and stufhng them into his mouth.
The sole Of shoe is just as good for
him to chew on as wisp of hay, and
his natural instinct of mischief inclines
him to prefer that which he knows is
forbidden 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
ders. Different accounts fail to agree in
regard to the date of her importation,
which. is placed. all the, way from, l776
to 1888 by different writers Of. old, time.
"reminiscences. Old Bet was brought
over in the ship America, Of which Cap
tain Crowningshield was master, and
she landed, according to the harbor rec
ords. in Philadelphia in April, 1898.
She was but feet high, and the sum
Of SO, 900 was paid for her, the largest
price that had been paid up to that time
for any animal. either here or in Eu-
rope. She was first exhibited in Phila-
delphia and astonished the public daily
by drawing the corks from 80 bottles
Of beer and drinking the contents. On
the goth Of June, 1899, she passed
through New York on the way to Bos-
ton. III '%-'l tss, e. ~ Ers-.- 3